Well, I just thought I'd drop a note about the latest developments with my dual-3W Luxeon array that I've been posting about for a while now. Just yesterday I finally assembled all the hardware I needed to swap the old aluminum bracket for a steel one. The aluminum bracket had broken at the bend due to metal fatigue (bumpy roads!!) so I replaced it with a much stronger steel bracket. The bracket itself was from the cabinet section at the home depot.

Unfortunately, my titanium coated drill bits weren't enough to drill through that steel, so I had to buy a cobalt bit. Then I needed new hardened steel hardware to hold it all together, since the old screws were garbage.

Anyway, everything got put together last night, and I took my newly-illuminated bike for a spin after dark. I can't say that I'm blown away by the performance:

The dual 3W luxeons do indeed light up the road, but are still drowned out by the street lights. Their blue-white light makes it harder to see contrast and holes, compared to the orangish light of the street lights. However, these lights can illuminate street signs over 200 feet away, and are quite bright to oncoming driver's eyes. Great for being seen, which IMO is more important than being able to see, at least on a bike.

So, I would consider these adequate for night time riding on streets, but would not take them on trails and such where the danger of obstacles and stuff is greater.

My next project will probably put quad Luxeons on a trike, though I haven't ruled out other illumination technologies yet. Well, and I need a trike first too. ;)

Hello again!

Couldn't find the time to make the MR 11 or MR16 mounts like I wanted so dug around in the spare farm parts pile and came up with this.

Steel 4" farm style light housing, Haligen trapazoid pattern worklight= 18 oz, I think I can mount it and keep it under 20 oz. There are 25 and 40 watt bulbs out there and flood style too.

Gotta 5 amp/hour SLA battery from napa for 20 bucks, its supposed to be for emergancy brakes on trailers=3 and 3/4 lbs. Too heavy and too big for a waterbottle cage.

10 AA NiMH batterys weigh 11 oz and a 12v pack would have 2.3 amp/hours.

Tried to find red beehives local but no luck, ebay is my next choice, I really like the idea of a 3D tail lite.

Such statements puzzle me. Of course they are going to be drowned by street lights, but there you don't need them, see?

Well, I find that street lights are only barely enough to drive/ride by. Sure you can see peds and cars and large obstacles in the road, but it's harder to see potholes and cracks. Potholes aren't usually dangerous for a car, but they could mean disaster on a bike.

Will this is 12V, 4500 ma, work on my 12V Cygolite HID. I'm thinking about getting a backup battery for the one that came with it. Thanks.

It looks like it'll do the trick and only 1.5 lbs!

Thanks.

I got the 19V one for my laptop. Give it a good workout in the first month to test it, because I had to get my first one replaced because it blew a bad cell in the pack. Also, be careful not to let it overheat while charging - it gets pretty hot charging off that cheapie charger. I'm thinking of rigging up a heatsink and fan for charging it.

In regard to the Rural Lighting. Has anyone tried using a standard floodlight from an autoparts store with a wetcell battery for a lawntractor or small motorcycle? There are some advantages with power and illumination - the main disadvantage is the weight and the possible acid spill.. The life for a wetcell should be considerable and can be recharged repeatedly.. Dave

Thats more or less what I am doing, cept the battery is a spillproof/sealed type.
There seems to be no econimic reason not to use the SLA type battery.

See my post #771 in this thread, that's pretty much what I have, just a sealed cell instead of a wet cell.

Anybody ever adapt the battery from a 12V cordless tool to use for lighting? My Makita came with a smart charger, and I've vowed to try it if I ever come across a broken Makita with a usable battery connector.

Just wondering if anyone's rigged their own, since I'm not an EE, nor do I play one on TV.

I looked into using a 12V Black and Decker battery but there didn't seem to be enough amperage on those. I suppose a 12V could run a couple of LED 12V trailer markers though.

Hooray, I've brought up an old thread.

Would it be a good idea to make a headlight from leds? I came across 10 white leds, 20000mcd each, and I should recieve them from mail tonite. I currently have Cateye opticube headlight, with one led. This leaves a lot to be desired. If anyone has any information about building a led headlight, I'd appreciate your advice.

You should have bought a single Luxeon 3W or 5W LED. The 20cd LED will probably be brighter than the one in the Cateye right now, but it probably won't be suitable for illuminating the path in front of you.

Now, if you rigged up all 10 of those LEDs, well, you'd still only be very visible to oncoming traffic. ;)

Thanks jeff-o, I presumed that. I haven't had a chance to order a Luxeon led yet, but maybe that time will come. I tried 20k led, and it's good enough in my opinion. I'll try and see, how it works out. Few busy evenings soldering ain't gonna hurt either.

Here's my contribution:

I replaced my server's UPS batteries every year. This year I saved the batteries for use on the bike. They are 9ah 12V. (I think they are 9ah) I am using one of them with a 55W halogen driving light and a tail/stop signal light wired to the brighter stop lamp. The battery and automatic charger are located in the "cooler" on the back rack. I'm getting around 30 minutes run time before I get a hint of dimming. I'm going to make some changes to get longer run time. My commute is only 6 miles one way so the 30 minute run time works fine for that, but if I have to run errands after work, then I may be pushing against the run time before I can make it home.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...5-09-01004.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...5-09-01002.jpg

Good job Zin. That's a pretty heavy load for the battery and may reduce its longevity. Also be careful not to overdischarge the battery since this will permanently damage it. Here are some (no load) voltages for a 12V lead-acid battery and the approximate corresponding remaining capacity:

12.65V = 100%
12.45 = 75%
12.24 = 50%
12.06 = 25
11.89 = 0%

A 20W headlight would reduce the current draw and would still be very bright. You didn't indicate whether your tail light is tungsten or LED, but either way you could have the tail light on all the time, and connect the stop light filament to a switch on your brake. I did that and the drivers keep their distance.

Hi Multibiker,
Thanks for the reply and info. The tail light is tungsten. I re-wired the tail light today and now run the tail light constant. On the brake light I wired it to a signal stat and have it flashing. Run time test gave me around 45 minutes. The head and tail lights were still bright. However, the signal stat stopped functioning at this point. I'm going to run another run-time test making note of the voltage at which the signal stat fails to switch. Thanks for the voltage capacity info. It will prove to be useful.

I'll have to look around for the 20W lamps. This was my first pass as a low cost solution to keep me on the road during the dark days of winter. Now the fun comes playing with making it better. :)

Hey Zin, where there's a will, there's a way! Have fun my friend. I have some photos of the lights I made on my site. (20 watt) Peace, Ritz.

WWW.TOURDEPANTS.COM :eek:

Thanks Ritz,
Hey, how about a link to those photos on your web site. You have a TON of information there and its going to be rather time consuming to track down those photos. Thanks

Here Ya go Zin: http://www.tourdepants.com/page_11.htm This is the only one I have up on the site right now. I'll add more Photos of the set-up when I get another digital camera. Peace, Ritz.

:eek: WOW that's bright! What sort of reaction do you get in traffic....:beer:

I'll bet they think he's a motorcycle! :D

Adding to Jeff-o's comment. With that you'll want to try for a good silver colored reflector in the housing to amplify the light. Perhaps you can make one from a thin foil like tape that they use for heating and ventilation ducts.