I have an inova 12 volt led on my quest carbon velomobile. All you need is a LI-PO 11.1 volt rc type
battery and the li-po charger. I get a few days of run time if you run the light 4 to 5 hours a night after dark. I'm also running a whelen vertex light head flasher on the rear.

here's a short clip of the rear 12v flasher. I don't have any pics of the headlight, but you can check it out at bluevelo.com

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The high powered LEDs I'm using are also designed around lithium cells. So is the electric bike I'm driving. Interestly enough - neither one is 3.7V. The lights aren't considered novelty items as they were in use by NASA before there were LED bike lights. But thanks for your opinion.

Okay, I came up with something new, to update this post.
A photo of a 12 volt MR16 socket, fresh from the electrical supply house on the other side of town:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...5-07at1752.jpg
(This photo was shot using the computer's built in camera)
The socket is ceramic, with a mica faceplate, and asbestos insulated leads. It is obviously meant to take high temperature, Though the LED MR16 is only 6.7 watts. The ceramic block actually says 250 volt 75 watts.

I can make a fixture out of a coca-cola can now.

Second item, The supply house now has a lot more variety of LED lighting, including an 8 degree beam angle version of the LED MR16. (The one I currently use is a 35 degree beam angle).

So I will soon have both the wide and narrow beam lights.

Used to be a lot of us, back before LEDs got cheap. It used to be common to run MR16 halogen spots.

The problem I see with that is that until proven otherwise I'd bet those were extremely inefficient. The current limiting might be really crude in those which would lead to a lot of power being spent as heat. When you're designing to go onto a car, you can afford to just dump power as heat, nobody cares if it draws an extra 5 watts, but on a bicycle or flashlight it's a big deal.

If you look at REALLY OLD posts in the lighting forums here, you'll find dozens if not hundreds of DIY MR16 halogen setups.

This album from 2004 shows my solution, whipped up in about 20 minutes at a home improvement store. It ran great for 2 years until I upgraded.

http://www.hauntedfrog.com/gallery/m...g2_itemId=2636

Yeah, but what is new is the LED replacements for the older MR16 bulb. And no, they won't generate the heat that the ceramic socket is designed for. The LED bulb I'm using is made by Toshiba, and is the equivalent of 20 watts halogen, but uses only 6.7 watts.

So, yesterday, before I updated this post, I was riding a recumbent bike that I keep in a shed in my Mothers back yard, and I happened to swing around the Electrical Supply house, so I parked the bike in front and went in, to see what they've got. Let me tell you, this LED thing is growing, they have more LED bulbs and fixtures than the last time I went there. (Same is true for the auto parts store, where I bought the marker lights, 12 volt red and amber.

So I bought the two pin socket , and last night / this morning I built a fixture to house the new MR16 bulb...

I don't have any new pictures, but since I forgot to show you all the old pictures, let me show you them now:

TAIL LIGHTS-12 volt LED, with "Signal Stat" brand name on them, from the auto parts store:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/IMG_1292.jpg


Amber Marker Lights on the front of this Utility Bike:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/IMG_1290.jpg

Let me say a few words about fairings: while fairings have been proven to reduce aerodynamic drag, they are primarily a Protective Shield. Also, I have discovered that fairings can house electrical and electronic gear.
Then I painted the shark teeth and eyeballs on it:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/IMG_1288.jpg

These Photographs are from 19 December, 2011.

In the photos , the LED headlight is the 6.7 watt with a 35 degree spread angle. I plan to add another 6.7 watt LED headlight, on the left side underneath (I mount my lights on the bottoms of my fairings so I don't get blinded by the glare) But with an EIGHT (8) degree spread angle, so I can see farther up the road.

Some radio innards, the Shark Bike has a radio:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/IMG_1828.jpg

Sorry, I'm behind in shooting photographs, I will try to update this post later.

I have already installed two Toggle switches in the faceplate of the iMac. I used an Apple iMac computer case for the fairing, which saved me like 300 hours of work in the fiberglass booth. The Apple Computer plastic can be drilled without shattering , FYI.

Will post pictures later.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/IMG_1885.jpg
Photo above shows the new red marker light, on the left rear pannier. For some reason, all these pictures were flash photographs. The camera won't flash when I want it to, then it flashes when I don't want it to. Maybe I changed a setting on the camera.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/IMG_1884.jpg
Photo above shows the new lighting fixture, which I made using the ceramic MR16 socket shown in an earlier photo, and a soup can.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/IMG_1883.jpg
Detail of Toggle switch. Yes, I thoroughly marred the paint with the pliers while installing it. These switches are getting mighty expensive these days, so I salvaged two switches from the 1982 Suzuki Fairing. Price went up when the price of copper went up. they cost five or six dollars each now.

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/IMG_1882.jpg
Photo above shows the position... excuse me, installed location of the left side toggle switch. The position is "OFF".

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/IMG_1881.jpg
Photo above shows the front tire/tyre, chromed fork, the front edge of the battery rack, and the two LED Headlights. The right (my right, your left) is 6.7 watts with a 35 degree beam spread angle, and the fixture can be rotated in any direction, if I cut the white plastic zip-tie. The left Headlight has a 6.2 watt LED bulb, with an eight degree beam spread angle. It really casts a beam far ahead. This bulb is mounted in the fixture I made this morning, and it is held to the bottom of the battery rack with quarter-twenty hex bolts; I added three washers to the front bolt to keep the light aimed down, so it doesn't blind other drivers. There is some foam-board glued to the bottom, and the bulb is retained by two small blue binder clips at the top. Amazing what can be built just from the junk one finds on ones desk!

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/IMG_1880.jpg
The inside of the shark's mouth was blacked with India Ink and a small paintbrush, last week. I always have a bike that is a "work-in-progress", and this is it.

A new Fiberglass Battery Box is planned for the Type Eleven. The LED Lights on the Type Ten are a complete success, and the bike received many thumbs up and compliments at the Car Show last Thursday night.
The location of the new battery box is shown in the embedded video (above). This should be an ideal location on account the center of gravity will be kept low.

Has anyone installed a battery box in this location before? It will be mounted on a fiberglass keel hanging from the downtube.

I will keep you all posted .

Can't access your video but imagine you're talking about a mount in about the same place as a third bottle cage on a touring bike. I don't see any issues but think an off-the-shelf bottle cage and battery would be a lot simpler.

I guess you have a dial-up modem? Anyway, in the video, the 12v12a/h is placed exactly where I intend to install it, and I rotate the pedals to demonstrate that I have clearance.

This is a Trek 720 Ladies frame, so there is only ONE set of bottle cage bosses. I think I will have to use longer screws to mount the Bottle Cage, to reach through the Fiberglass.

I really want to see how it works with the weight of the battery placed so low. Also, I think I can mount some kind of Chain-Guard to the side of the Battery Box.

Thanks for your suggestion, I assume you mean a Nickel Cadmium battery, like the Night-Sun system?

I have built a mock-up of the battery box using foam board, and I will wrap it in Epoxy Fiberglass soon.

Actually I was thinking more along the lines of 11.1V polymer lithium-ion battery packs. There are lots on the market, but I think I've got the best source currently available. Two 5.6Ah battery packs will fit inside a Cage Rocket, which fits a standard bottle cage. The batteries are wired to be linked together so you can actually end up with the smallest 11Ah form factor on the market. And some pretty amazing run time.

I'm afraid the situation is NOT as you have assumed. The fact is, I have THREE 12v12a/h batteries sitting around, and I don't really have enough money to buy Lithium Batteries.

I have made a mock-up of the battery box, but now I think I will mount it Inside the frame, using the bottle cage screws . In fact, it might be more like a cage to hold the Battery, as there is an issue with inserting and removing the Battery once the box is attached to the bike.


I wanted to keep the Center of Gravity low, but the box would be so low, I'm afraid it would strike, or get hung up on, the curb, if I was to go over a curb. And while test fitting, I realized the battery would get blocked by the Kickstand, unless I make the fiberglass keel longer by about two inches, which would make the box even lower.

This series of short embedded videos is intended to be a "How To Guide" for the Do It Yourself'er (DIY'er) .

Headlight Installation 31 seconds:

Battery Installation 14 seconds:

New Headlight Test 31 seconds:

Later on, red LED tail lights and marker lights will be installed, as well as amber LED marker lights. Perhaps a second headlight, with a wider beam pattern...

Night Ride:

Just got around to an actual road test of the 6.2 watt LED, with 8 deg beam pattern. This was shot at 00:30 this morning, 01 June, 2012.

UPDATE:


The bike now has two headlights, with different beam patterns, and different color temperatures.

Watch as I turn the switches, you can see which light is which, and then I turn them both off, so you can see how dark it is on this, Piping Rock Road, on Long Island.

i use 8aa batteries, and put green LED lights on the dragon slayer, then did red on my huffy marathon. gonna add white ones to the front forks for visability

Here is something new, or at least new-ish:
http://www.amertac.com/details.php?t...binet%20Lights
[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD="class: photo_viewer"]http://www.amertac.com/product_photos/USL11HBCC.jpg

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

I put one of these white LED strips on the bottom of my Fairing, on the Type Eleven, described earlier in this thread. It only draws 80 milliamps.
I copy and paste the picture direct from the manufacturers website.
http://www.amertac.com
I "winged-it" though, since the package or product gave no clue as to the correct polarity. I guessed that the BIG prong would be the negative ground, and I was correct.
Product was $14.99 at an ACE Hardware store, but I had a 20% off coupon.
This is good to have, since my other "beams" cast their light up ahead, but leave the area of my front wheel dark.
The strip was sold as an "Expansion" kit, which means it came without a "wall-wart" transformer.
I am happy with this purchase.

I have a 12V 6W generator. If I can find a headlight with that wattage, I would use it.

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...1/IMG_2101.jpg

http://www.toshiba.com/lighting/file...s_Cutsheet.pdf

This pdf lists the Toshiba 12 volt MR16 LED equivalents that I use. You might be able to use a 6.2 watt bulb, they are "dimable", you'd likely get 85% brightness.

Your generator looks tres ancienne, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

It was on my 1966 Raleigh DL-1 when I got it a few years ago.

Sir,
this is a photo of a ceramic socket for the MR16 style bulb. I paid eight dollars and change for each of these:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...5-07at1752.jpg

And this is a photo of the box the LED Bulb came in:
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q...e/IMG_1252.jpg

Says 6.7 watts.

Now for our feature presentation:


This brings us up-to-date.

:thumb:

No dial-up modem - in fact no Internet access other than via iPhone because I spend so little time at the house and there's WiFi access at the shop to support the store anyway.

The suggestion is to post a link SEPERATELY from the embedded video. Apparently some embedded items aren't always recognized by iPhones. Obviously there are two classes of smart phones that providers don't want to tell you about - smart smart phones and stupid smart phones.

Here is the Direct Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSU0FctRKhI

This video is only 30 seconds, but it gives a good idea of the lighting, on the front end of the bike.

Used the 'reply with quote' option to isolate, copy out and access the link from the original posts. A seperate link would just be more convenient.

Understand you have budget restrictions, but still can't see driving comfortably with that configuration. The spot is bright enough but doesn't give any real coverage. Have you considered mounting multiple 35 degree bulbs instead?

Sorry I forced you to isolate, copy, and paste the link, my bad.

Budget Restrictions? I have GOOD News, I quit smoking 27 days ago, and I am saving ten dollars a day. that money will go for new wheels, and additional lights, and more bike and non-bike stuff generally.

The current setup has a 25 degree on the right, and an 8 degree on the left. Yes, I am thinking about adding more. I want to mount a light on my tripod, so the light goes wherever the camera is pointed. I have the lights on the bottom of the fairing, which minimizes glare in my eyes, but It might be better to mount some more lights *Higher*, which will light the road ahead better, and maybe be more visible to mootorists.

Yes, I quit smoking, and I'm spending money like crazy on other stuff. Yesterday, I bought a small wheelbarrow, one with two wheels, so "maybe" I can tow it behind my bike, but don't quote me on that. We are stil cleaning up after Hurricane Sandy, which struck late October, 2012. I am cleaning up a sidewalk this week, which is on a blind curve. with a ten foot high concrete retaining wall on the right.