Or as we called them back when: "Generators"

Whether a Soubitez mounted on the fork, a Union rear mount with F/R lights or my favorite the Schwinn Approved "Super Sport" set bottle dynamos ruled the night for generations. The box w/ my Super Sport and other bits & bobs went missing a move or three ago, anyone running this kit now (pics of course)?

-Bandera

The old kits? No, but I do use a modern BM Dymotec. It's a great piece of equipment.

Marc

I'm sure that it is, just wondering if the Classic bottle dynamo is still in service.
I'd not hesitate to use one, good reliable kit.

-Bandera

I took a Schwinn-approved generator off an old bike and put it on my own old bike, a Raleigh Twenty. I hooked it up to a modern LED dynamo headlight. It works well. This thing will still be kicking for a long time.

My commuter. The generator ("Schwinn approved", I think) is almost as old as the bike. The lights are modern B&M.



Our tandem has a Cibie, also as old as the bike, I believe, and B&M lights.

Headlight/bottle combo with a cool rear light.

That looks like the old (20+ yrs) Anlun I use on my utility bike. Still works OK.

Brent

My '47 Maclean has a braze on for a bottle generator on the right seat stay....need to find an old Miller I guess

Great pics guys!
A nice variety of bottle dynamos: Schwinn Approved Unions, Cibie, Tudor and a Miller to come.
Pairing one w/ modern LED dynamo lights will make an interesting winter project.

-Bandera

I have a Schwinn-approved Soubitez with integral incandescent headlight. I've used it from time to time on my Trek 610 town bike (current incarnation of my 610!) It's still kicking, I bought it around 1969. I think I'm going to take off the Soubitez "golf ball" and use it with a lower-priced B&M light or my spare halogen Edelux.

I've found that they just work. Wire up the bottle output to the LED light and presto! Fiat lux!

The nice thing about a generator (or dynohub) is that you never worry about batteries. As long as the wiring is good the light will work. A dynohub avoids the mechanical drag of a bottle generator, but when a BG is disengaged it is just extra weight producing no drag. A dynohub is always "on" even when the light itself is off. Being on, it creates a tiny drag apparently due to turbulence currents in the windings. That drag is measurable even if tiny, and some people say you can feel it.

Not all dynohubs and BGs are created equal. For example, our tandem's Cibie seems to produce less drag than the UO8's, which is actually a Union, I think. However the Cibie's output is lower. The Union will charge the headlight's super-cap (for the stand-light feature) and light up the headlight almost immediately when I'm walking the bike; the Cibie requires 40 or 50ft.

A worthwhile link:
https://www.blayleys.com/articles/lights/index.htm

This is Schwinn approved off a Le Tour and is available. PM if interested.

My '80 DL-1:

The old DC generators are like dragging an anchor , through the Mud, as a functional light source,
in comparison with the recent AC Bottle Alternators produced now ,By AXA and B&M.

but if you have them just for period correctness and use something else, in the Dark, fine..

+ Incandescent Screw base, 6v 2,4w bulbs are getting as rare as an 1 faced Politician .

My wife has a Sankyo bottle dynamo on her Raleigh Sports, and my daughter has a Lucas bottle dynamno on her's. Being an elitist, I have a Dynohub on my Superbe.

I used to use them a lot, but I stopped messin' with the 20 inch muscle bikes. I still have a few kickin' around the garage but they're all keepers. Im going to shoot on over to my local stash spot tomorrow and pick up a few more.

Incandescent bulbs are definitely scarce, have been for a while. Back "in the day" I gave up on running my headlight as light, used it only for being seen, since it really wasn't all that bright even at 6w. But the new LED lights make it all better.

As for the newer generators, the main reason to use an older one isn't for period-correctness. It's because new one are expensive compared to the generator one already owns!

My UO8's generator is worth about one click on the RD most of the time, and for an hour or even two I'm happy to run it if necessary. Wouldn't want to run a century that way though. The TH8's Cibie is much easier to spin, and of course the load is shared by both of us.

As far as I can tell, the old Soubitez were AC machines, not DC. Do you have an example of a DC bottle generator?

All bottle "dynamos" (alternators really) I know of produce AC.

I ran a Miller set from the 1950s or 60s for several years before replacing it with a SA Dynohub. They're both pretty anemic, though the Dynohub runs smoother. I had them set up with the original lights but swapped the headlamp bulb for a Halogen. It helped a fair bit.

DC only used a + wire, ground was the frame.. Alternators use twin lead, wires . put rectifiers in the circuit.

I used Union headlights with DIY battery packs thats Verboten with SON E6 Halogen headlights .
Both use same kind of bulb. flange base 2.4w, 6v.

Sorry, your understanding of electricity needs some help. DC means "direct current", and that means that the current always flows in one direction. A dry cell or a storage battery puts out direct current, and it always measures some steady value. AC means "alternating current", and here the current changes direction as time goes on. Power from the wall is AC, and it changes direction 60 times per second (60 cycle or 60 hertz). Bike dynos produce AC, with the current changing direction more often as you go faster. The term "alternator" is accurate for such a generator, but it usually applies specifically to the three-phase AC generators designed for cars and other vehicles. Both AC and DC require a closed circuit, i.e. two continuous current paths. Wire and bike frame are both capable of carrying AC or DC, and do not care which one they are carrying.

Dynamo lights containing LEDs are designed to run off of AC power, but the LED itself is energized by DC. LED battery lights don't contain a rectifier. A commercial dyno headlight will contain a device called a rectifier (the bridge, which can include the LEDs) to "straighten" the current flow from alternating to direct, or unidirectional. Based on efficiency and other functions, such as pulsation and having a standlight, there is also a filter (the capacitors) which smooths the pulsing unidirectional current the rectifier produces.

DC generators can and have been made, but are not common for bikes, if they have ever been used. They are basically an AC generator with a built-in mechanical rectifier called a commutator. The commutator requires slipping contacts called brushes. In Thomas Edison's day these actually looked like brushes, with the bristles being short copper wires. Today they are usually chunks of carbon. No matter what the material, a brush/commutator adds weight, cost, noise, sparks, electrical interference (often), and the need for servicing. Brushes wear and need replacement, and commutators need cleaning. They are really not suitable for long term reliability in the hands of users who do not know how or when to service electrical machines, which includes at least 99.9% of all cyclists.

But fundamentally the wiring arrangement is not an indicator of an AC or DC system, at least for small power systems like bike lighting.

I don't know what benefit your battery pack gave you, but it seems to have done no harm if the lights still worked. And as an electrical engineer that does not surprise me.

I Set up Mans of my Bikes in Europe with Dynos... Did. You know there is supposed to be a rubber Cover in the Wheel. My Old Boss still has them, i should äks ihm to send me some

just saying union bottle dynos were like putting the drag brake on
they are Alternators Now, but not forever in the past.


I'm a hub dynamo convert now on the bikes I actually ride.