DIy 700 lumen batteries inside light

I have been looking round for a handlebar bracket that could be bodged to take the homebrew lights, and I was in Halfords last night and they have a couple of different handlebar/helmet mounts for their lights (about a fiver each), which look like they could be modified to fit.
Anyone else got any suggestions for mounting to bars?

standard driver, switch, boot and dc connectors also here please

Slight hijack here…Blackcat, dropped you an email re driver for triple of quad xpg.

Did you receive it?

Thanks.

Hey up Scott .
He will be buried under solder by now .

if he runs out of this batch you can have one of my 5 ordered .

Sorry for being slow but with ths std driver, I assume that the 100k resistor will give roughly 50percent output and the 200k 33percent output?
Could you stick a potentiometer inbetween instead ( a lightweight internal pcb one might be better if such one exists)?

How should we pay you troutie?
I think I might call my light “The Edu-C.K-ator”

Good name Jazid

Paypal to troutie mail address in profile

add something on for postage
and don’t make me pay any fees

Cheers

Would something like this be suitable if so, what resistance/item order could could anyone recommend?
(http://www.rapidonline.com/Electronic-Components/Resistors-Potentiometer/Preset-Potentiometers/3-8in-Single-turn-vertically-mounted-potentiometer/73462/kw/pcb+potentiometer+500k)

Instead of screwing the LED stars to the aluminium bracket, could this thermal tape be used instead, it might make installation slightly quicker/easier?

Oi Trout … you copying me … ! 😀 😀 😀 just kiddin …

Mine from 2007:

Same wee box with 2x Seoul P4s @ 1A( was best value at the time in ’07 ) , each with a wide and narrow beam in. Runs off 7.2V batteries for RC cars in a water bottle. Cheap batteries to replace and I can have a bundle of them pre-charged for an event and simply swap them out in the bottle. Per light / battery = 3hrs run time.

I even built a rear one with 2x 3W LEDS …

BCT you got a price/list for the bits you are sending to Troutie? Would like whatever you can send – driver, switch & boot and the connectors please.

Troutie just about to send the PP over now (as per the list on the previous page).

BCT Steven has mailed me to give a info update.

Hi Chris,

Can you do me a favour? I can’t post on the list while I’m at work and I won’t be home until late tonight. Don’t want people to think I’ve done a runner!

I’ve found a temporary solution to the driver problems – I can get a very similar chip at not much extra cost which will do the same job. This has the benefit of lower losses as well so will be better suited to anyone who still wants to run from two lithium cells. This should keep me going for now then when the bare boards are starting to run out I’ll look in to other alternatives.

RS have just started stocking thermal adhesive pads for LED stars which may be of use to people, I’d still recommend screws for mechanical stability though. I’ll put together a price list later today for the ‘extras’.

Are you happy to take a bulk lot of parts to put in to kits? I don’t mind if you want to take combined payment and pass my share on or if you’d prefer people to pay me individually. Might it be easier to do a complete kit of driver, switch, boot and connectors rather than asking people to specify which parts they need? The extras don’t cost that much so for simplicity that may be the best approach.

Regards,

Stephen

Nice one fisha .

and still a good idea in 2010

Think lumicycle supply good brackets but you will need to drill and tap or use a nut to fix it on the box, worth a look. I will send monies tonight but I only need LEDs and lenses got the wife to cut out the platic cover for me at school as they use a laser cutter.
Edit I’ll wait till BCT comes back with prices etc and see what your going to do about delivery.. That driver sound ideal for me as I’m going to run a 5.2Ah li-ion battery.

Please can anyone who pays say what your stw login is too as getting mighty confused

Trout – didn’t want to interrupt this thread and go OT, but would appreciate if you could take a gander at this for me when you have a mo’…..?

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/question-for-the-light-gurus-driverled-confusion?replies=2#post-1853354

Think lumicycle supply good brackets but you will need to drill and tap or use a nut to fix it on the box, worth a look. I will send monies tonight but I only need LEDs and lenses got the wife to cut out the platic cover for me at school as they use a laser cutter.

Mine use the lumi-cycle light with a nylon nut on the inside. Works very well.

Plus, its an easy swap to change the clamp between an MTB mount and and oversize one for my road bike.

Wow crazy! Look forward to the build results! I think you’ve got them all allocated now troutie but if anyone changes their mind I’ll give a light a bash. Good work team.

Trout, I’ve sent the money through for you, hopefully.
Could you let us know please if bct goes down the road of supplying driver, switch connectors etc as a package, because it would be helpful to me- and how much and where to send payment to for his side.

what is the total cost then to be sent to Troutie, I’ve lost track.

Trout

I’d like to add 2 bits of angle and two bits of lexan please to my order. I’ve sent paypal gift to you and added a bit on for postage too 🙂

BCT

I’m going to be building two sets of lights so I would like two sets of standard driver, resistir, switch, boot, cable & socket please.

I’m going down the AA battery pack route to start with and then plan to upgrade to smudge paxks when I can afford to. How would you best advise wiring the AA pack to the light?

Could I take the driver along with a connector and the switch plus boot, oh and a resistor from BCT? And a piece of the lexan from you if that’s ok Troutie?

I have a 14.8v 4.4Ah Lith-ion battery pack. Would it be ok to run it off this and what sort of run times could I expect?

I’d like the driver and the other parts mentioned in trout’s post, lexan etc.

Did we agree if we’re doing all this in one payment yet ?

Boy am i confused .

best way certainly for me would be pay me for my stuff
and pay BCT Steven for his

and probably less confusing too if Steven mails his stuff out to the user and I mail my stuff out .

to recap and add a little
I will be supplying

2 xpg leds on 20 mm stars @ £5 each
2 Regina reflectors @ £1.82 each
1 piece of aluminium L section @ £0.50
and can also do the front clear 1.5mm thick lexan @ £0.50
plus postage ?????

steven did say he was working late today and would get his bits and pieces sorted asap .

Couple of quid for postage ok trout and what email do you want the payment to?

Trout I underpaid you for two reflectors, sorry bout that dude have sent extra to you 🙂

Payment to the address in profile I take it?

Trout – you must have the patience of a saint. Have you got time to do anything except answer these e-mails and try to understand who has ordered what? VERY MUCH RESPECT fella.

Its great to see say many taking the plunge and building this light, this is when the fun really starts and hopefully lead to you building more lights of your own. Wait till you hit the trails for the first time with the very light you built 😀

Hats off to troutie for spending his valuable time on this as well, I know personally how busy he is at the minute so good on him for also taking on this project 8)

Trout have sent payment

Sorry for the delay guys, can’t access the forum at work and went straight over to see the missus from there…

My proposal is to supply a kit of useful parts – if anyone just wants the driver please let me know but otherwise I’d prefer to supply just the kit to save confusion over who wants what!

The kit will include:
970mA output driver
Three-way switch
Weather-proof boot for above
2.5mm power socket
2.5mm plug with 1.8m of cable
160k resistor to give a low power mode of approx. 450mA

I’ll try and remember to throw in a few bits of wire for those who may not have this to hand.

I’ll do the lot for £7.50 per kit plus £1 postage per order. Paypal payments to address in my profile please. (As with Troutie, sending as a gift rather than payment for goods would be appreciated as it means I don’t pay fees) I’m hoping to have the extras in to send out on Tuesday – I’m away this weekend and won’t have time on Monday to post anything I’m afraid.

One point here – if anyone is intending to drive this from 2x lithium cells, please let me know as I’ll ship a slightly different version of the driver which is better suited to running from low voltages / limited headroom. Three lithium or 8 NiMH is fine with the standard driver.

As an aside, I don’t know how you’d charge them but you can get lithium cells in AA size these days – 14505 size. I’ve seen ones with 2Ah capacity which would give you over three hours run time if you used three of them and you could use a standard AA battery box.

Just to clear up a few other points…

The dimming resistor on the driver – the lower the resistor value the lower the output current. If you do R / ( R + 200k ) then this gives the approximate fraction of full power you will get. You will need a fairly large value pot if you want the level variable, again the above equation will help you work out what current you will get. A logarithmic pot is better as it gives a more linear response.

The spec of the resistor isn’t important – you are passing microamps through it so it doesn’t need to be high power or anything like that.

Ermm… Someone mentioned sticking the LEDs down rather than screwing them – I’d not recommend this as there will be a lot of vibration so a mechanical fixing would be more reliable.

Steelfan .
perfect battery for an allnight ride on full 😛

Steven cheers

That price for those bits sounds a real bargain .

Oh, one other thing – the switch operation is Off / Full / Dim, not Off / Dim / Full. No way around this without adding complication I’m afraid.

BCT/Steven paypal payment sent from me for all the bits. Thanks 😀

BCT you have funds

I’m not adding any markup on the bits so it works out pretty cheap. (I sometimes wonder if I’m too nice to be a businessman!)

I’ll be in touch about the ‘spare’ drivers once I’ve worked out how many I’ll have left from the batch I’m building. I’m owed four ICs by my supplier – I’m not sure how they manage it but each lot I buy I get a couple of empty bags that I have to send back to exchange for ones with a chip in…

BCT Ive already sent this on an email but I will be using 7.5v 5.2Ah li-ion battery hope this helps with getting the right driver.

1961Bikie

Thanks I guess its the devil making work for idle hands .

I am a flooring fitter and work is not very busy at the moment .
I never expected such a great response when I started the thread .
must have hit the blokes like making things nerve in a few members .

it a great little light and the guys will get a lot of satisfaction building it and using it .
OK the cost may be getting close to a Bastid but if it breaks at least the owner will have a clue how to fix it and have a rosy glow when using it. 😉

BCT have sent paypal gift to you for two sets.

Thanks to both you and Trout am really quite excited about this.