Bike Forums - Total Geekiness

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Originally Posted by jeff-o (Post 5323901)

Lower than brazing rod, you mean? Yeah, I think you're right. It melts at a higher temperature than regular solder, though.

And yeah, someone IS doing this... Dinotte. ;)

This is the rod, works very well with a propane torch......I've used it for about a year to fix several things...:)

Ok, this isn't total geekiness, and I doubt it even counts as minor geekiness, but it has geek elements in it. I was curious to see if the Energizer Energy to Go battery packs for cell chargers would work to charge a Garmin 305, so I plugged it in tried it out. Not only did it work, with some help from velcro, I was able to run the GPS off of the Energy to Go battery pack while riding. No interference, nothing. So now I can run at night, with the backlight on the entire time, and not worry about the GPS crapping out halfway into the ride.

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Originally Posted by diff_lock2 (Post 5317234)

I would suggest beefing up the thiner wires, like from that 9v thing. I used wires that small for my 20w halogen and they caused ridicules voltage drops (resistance). And its basically a free mod and better batt life.

So the fatman can handle up to 1A, and 3 seouls is like 10v (series), and you are feeding the fat man 7.2v (right?). So are you sure the leds are getting 1A? I am sure its really bright either way since its 100lm at 350mAh (per led).

I'm not sure it's driven at 1A max, I don't have a voltmeter to measure such level (the one I have only goes up to 500mA, anymore it will fry my voltmeter). I can be certain as the trimpot on the Fatman is adjust to full. How do you suggest I beef up the wire? I can't seem to find any 9v snap connectors with bigger wires.

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Originally Posted by KLW2 (Post 5326408)

This is the rod, works very well with a propane torch......I've used it for about a year to fix several things...:)

Cool, I'll have to check it out if I ever need to stick two pieces of aluminum together...

Im also running 12 AAs for my LED setups. I use 2 6 packs, they have quite tight springs so it difficuly to pry the batteries out for recharging...but I found that on the MTB over rough stuff the batteries can rattle out so I use a velcro tie around the whole thing to keep em in place. The light will sometimes blink out as the batteries momentarily lose contact. Only once have they gone out completely with this setup (yay for helmet lights). The battery pack sits in a neoprene pouch under the top tube.

Would like to find a nice 12 pack with a cover to securely locate the batteries.

What light set up (how many leds, what Vf, and current) are you running and what kind of AA cells are you using?

I ask, because it would be interesting to compare run times.

I am using a single 20w halogen 12v lamp (mr16), and the AA cells are rated at 3400mAh.

I got 40min of bright operation and 20min of dimming light. Then i shut down the light cause
i was worried about too much discharge. This sounds like the batteries did not perform as rated. It was the first charge and i didn't charge 4 of them fully so that might have contributed to lower run times.

My black 5x2 holder is really snug... the white 2x1 holder sucks i am thinking of making an other 12 cell holder with all black ones.

Well,just got done reading this thread,only took 2 days! I'm doing some research in order to make some commuting lights myself.I wish to thank everyone for there time and commitment to diy lighting.There is alot of good info here.I don't own a camera but my buddy does,so when I get mine finished I will have him take some pictures and show me how to post them(computers aren't my thing).

No questions really,but I do have a couple things that may be of some help.In the automotive world,there are some connectors called "weather-pak",first used by GM.They are weather tight,small,come in different wire sizes,lock together,come in 2-3-4 pins(maybe more),indexed and will take anything you can throw at them (you could hang a SLA battery from them).

I don't understand why most people use SLA batteries.The only thing they have going for them these days is shelf life and cost,and that's open for debate.There heavy,they start losing there brightness the second you turn them on (discharge curve is not real good).NiCads or NiMH have a much flatter discharge(better light for longer period) and can be recharged 3-5 as many times,as long as you don't mistreat them(a smart charger will take of that).So I'm not sure SLA's are all that cheap in the long run.

MR-11 and MR-16 bulbs come both covered and open,6 and 12 volt.MR-11's come 5w-35 watt or so,MR-16's come 5w-100w+(not as big of a selection in 6v as 12v) but still plenty for bike lighting.I'm still up in the air myself on which to use,MR-11 for there size or MR-16 for the light output for the same input.Seems like a no-brainer to me to over-volt these bulbs at 7.2/14.4(almost twice the light).So they only last 10% of what there rated,there 3 bucks!

Whipping up a couple of aluminum housings for me is no big deal (been running mills and lathes for 30 years) but if I were to pick a housing out of all the ones I have seen,the Harbour Freight "Pond Scum" lights would be my choice.Not sure they would hang with 20w overvolting or some of the bigger bulbs,but they sure look good!

One last thing,did your know that if you sink your car/truck up to the roof in FRESH water,that all of the electicals systems with motors still work? Starter cranks,electric windows work,wipers work,door locks work,headlights work.Don't ask me how I know this,but have done it MANY,MANY times.You can drive your car/truck right in to a lake and roll down the windows and swim to the surface.

Thanks again everyone,best diy thread on the net!!!

Booger1

Well on second thought I do have 1 question.Has any one thought of using the frame as ground if the batteries are not next to the lights,you could get rid of one of the wires.

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