old bottle generators and lamps
 

I have an older bottle generator and a headlamp/taillamp.

The tail lamp has no bulb; the headlamp has a bulb and works great.

My question being what is the typical voltage for forward/aft lights when run off a generator? I tried putting a 2.2v in the tail lamp, but in this configuration neither lamp would light.

Does a tail lamp use an even lower voltage bulb? Or is the generator to blame?

Thanks,

philip

If your generator is a 6-volt 3-watt one, which is the most common, you want a 6-volt, 0.6-watt taillight bulb and a 6-volt, 2.4-watt headlight bulb. When (not if) the headlight bulb fails, it will probably nuke the taillight bulb in a matter of seconds. When (not if) the taillight bulb fails, it will cause your headlight to run extra-bright, but failure is hastened. So you may want to consider a set of LED lights instead of incandescent... they don't burn out.

Where can you get LED replacements for the screw-in bulbs?

That's the question I came to ask :)

that, and where do you get a 6V 0.6W bulb? Walmart only had 2.2V and 4.4V bulbs... bike shop didn't carry bulbs.

philip

I've tried some experiments with Radio Shack bulbs but can't find bulbs with the exact ratings needed.

I think the most practical approach is to just get an LED light. The emission pattern of an LED is nothing like the emission pattern of an incandescent filament, so even if you could find an LED replacement, the resulting beam pattern would be all wrong.

For a cost-effective LED headlight, how about the Lyt N: http://harriscyclery.net/product/bus...light-3200.htm

For a taillight, how about... *drum roll* ...a Planet Bike SuperFlash. Or if you really want a generator-powered one, this one's cool: http://harriscyclery.net/product/bus...light-3133.htm

I am fixing up an older bike with older lamps. I would like to keep the vintage look. Thanks, anyways...

philski

My interest lies in replacing bulbs on a 1966 Raleigh 3-speed. To be honest I would prefer incandescent replacements if I could find them. The look of a DL-1 just isn't the same with new-fangled lights. I already have one of those Toplights on my commuter though.

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~stein...erchandise.htm
Has screw in LED replacement bulbs. Though at the time of this posting he's out of stock.

back to the basics ... load : 6v, 3w. typical split, 2.4w headlight, + a 0.6w taillight..

[NB: voltage is the same, it's the wattage that is higher front/back,
once shared load is reduced , the remaining filament gets all the power, so overheats]

screw base headlight bulbs^ seem to be quite sparsely available of late.

My Led bulb replacements,have TTS-1WP on the box,lots of light,no-standlight.There is one with the standlight available(details are on here somewhere).IF NOT
Lots of old style bulbs especially for this purpose on Ebay.

What is typical of a bottle generator for an old 3-speed? 6V? I measure 13-14, rolling at moderate speed, on mine (if I recall correctly). I think this was loaded (light bulb on). Or is 6V just a nominal and the system is designed to run at a higher voltage?

6v models were (and are) much more common, but 12v models were made as well. If you examine the generator closely, you should see it marked either way. If you've got a 12v generator, in some ways you're in luck -- you can use LED bulbs that were made for 12v car systems and they'll be brighter than they would be on a 6v system. I had a thread about my adventures in updating old Raleigh 3-speed lights, here:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...dynohub-lights

Since then, I actually got a friend in Germany to send me a couple of the rear-led-bulbs-with-built-in-standlight -- they work great, so far! Unfortunately, the seller won't ship to North America. No equivalent headlamp bulb is available, AFAIK.

I've got a vintange-headlamp-with-serious-LEDs-and-standlight project on the back burner; it looks like it'll be a pain to build.