K2 / Proflex Riders Group
General => Tech Forum => Topic started by: AndySV1K on January 04, 2008, 08:12:21 am
-
Does anyone on here use either high power LED or HID ligting for night rides?
I used to use a set of Cygo lights that were modified to quadruple the power, they were great but ate batteries like nothing on earth.
The light unit could keep your hands warm in winter though!!
Im considering making some HID lights as the price to buy a set is ridiculous.
Anyone else interested in a HID light that will probably be slightly heavier than a comercially built one, but probably more powerful and certainly cheaper!
Ive not started yet, im just gathering ideas together but i have a plan, will try one and test it first before offering them to anyone.
Andy.
-
I use some Cateye Triple shots. £99 from Evans cycles. Bright enough for me but I'm not that quick when I'm in the dark.
-
I use Light&Motion HIDs. You cannot beat HID for night riding - they don't get dim, awesome battery life, and far more light than anything else.
-
I've done a few homemade lights using Halogen bulbs available just about anywhere. The only expensive part is the batteries (got mine for about $35), but the rest costs less than $20.
The light is amazing (brighter than my buddies' $400 HID systems and without that annoying blue hue that only SEEMS brighter), and my batteries last for 2-3 hours, which is long enough for most of my night rides. If I wear BOTH a helmet mounted and a handlebar mounted light simultaneously, I swear it's almost like riding in the daylight! Lots of ideas on MTBR (just do a search for "DIY lights").
-
i use a cygolite hid on the bars with a 225 lumens cree led on my lid that i got off ebay for £14, the cree torch is an absolute steal for the money as its more reliable and nearly as powerful as my hid, if i had a choice again i wouldnt buy hid as its overpriced and led is catching up quickly.
-
i use a cygolite hid on the bars with a 225 lumens cree led on my lid that i got off ebay for £14, the cree torch is an absolute steal for the money as its more reliable and nearly as powerful as my hid, if i had a choice again i wouldnt buy hid as its overpriced and led is catching up quickly.
ahhh the old 20;20 hindsight
-
ahhh the old 20;20 hindsight
are there lights that can give you hindisght now? :o
-
I've done a few homemade lights using Halogen bulbs available just about anywhere. The only expensive part is the batteries (got mine for about $35), but the rest costs less than $20.
The light is amazing (brighter than my buddies' $400 HID systems and without that annoying blue hue that only SEEMS brighter), and my batteries last for 2-3 hours, which is long enough for most of my night rides. If I wear BOTH a helmet mounted and a handlebar mounted light simultaneously, I swear it's almost like riding in the daylight! Lots of ideas on MTBR (just do a search for "DIY lights").
Same here :)
On a 35w lamp (over-volted by 20%) it's bright. If I'm just going for a short evening ride though, a 50w lamp makes it silly bright!
(http://img158.imageshack.us/img158/1055/85664001bb4.jpg)
-
Hi Ziggy,
Is that a homemade?
I assume that its using an automotive 35w as thats what seems to be the norm with cars.
50W HID!! you could probably weld with that!
What battery are you driving it from and how long do you get from a full charge?
Andy.
P.S your 856 looks insanely red, have you just polished it?
-
See the quote - it's just halogen & tbh I don't see the need to change it for anything else! 4ah nimh battery pack gives enough burn time for the kind of riding I do at night, & it's bright enough even with a '20w' lamp :)
I have contemplated doing one with an automotive HID setup, just because it wouldn't be very difficult really. I'll be installing a HID setup in my car once I get round to it (ie it's back on the road with the new engine working!), & am tempted to order 2 sets... Over-volted halogen is surprisingly efficient though, & I'm worried that I'd be disappointed with the gains!
-
I have bi-xenon HID in my car and they are by far the best lights ive ever had in a car. by a long long way.
plus they are still just a little bit trick (as far as putting them on a bicycle anyway)
Im gonna go ahead and build one, its just the battery life that will be the biggest issue. I can get nicad bat packs cheap as chips (and i mean a bag of chips that someone gives me for free) so i will trial with those, but think i will have to invest in a lipo pack or somehting to get some serious performance and range.
Andy.
-
Same here :)
On a 35w lamp (over-volted by 20%) it's bright. If I'm just going for a short evening ride though, a 50w lamp makes it silly bright!
how do you over volt ..if its a 6v lamp do you somehow have a 8v supply..... ???
-
Same here :)
On a 35w lamp (over-volted by 20%) it's bright. If I'm just going for a short evening ride though, a 50w lamp makes it silly bright!
how do you over volt ..if its a 6v lamp do you somehow have a 8v supply..... ???
If I wanted to over-volt a 6v lamp by 20% (8v / 33% would be pushing it, I'd have thought) then yeah I'd make/buy a 7.2 volt battery pack... I use 12v lamps & 14.4v packs! Well, actually 7.2v packs in series, but that's just because they're easy to get hold of & I'm lazy :)
It's a fairly well documented / proven technique for getting more light/efficiency out of a halogen lamp... at the expense of the life of the lamps of course.
-
yes i have heard of it but wondered how it was actually done!
-
yes i have heard of it but wondered how it was actually done!
Nothing complicated! :)
7.2v chargers are all over the place... Mine does upto 14.4v nimh packs, but if you connect 2 packs in series you could still charge them separately on a normal 7.2v charger. No need of course, if you're using a '6v' lamp!
-
wht is the actual voltage of a fully charged "12v lead acid"
-
fully charged with no load attached you should be looking at 12.5-13v
Andy.
-
**update**
Those that have posted here who have HID lights, im after a bit of info.
How do they cope with heat dissipation?
Can you run them for long while stationary?
I know that the old Cygolight halogens that i used to run with double the output to stock couldn't be run for long whie stationary as they got hot very quickly! they were fine when moving and dissipated heat quite nicely, they would happily run for a full charge worth while cycling. I never overheated them, but i just had the feeling something was going to melt if i ran them too long while stood still.
Well, i have just finished a prototype HID, its in a very compact fitting with an external ballast.
I have very roughly tested their operating life using a 7Ah battery (lead acid at the moment) it will run for just under 2 hours from a full charge. That was just the lamp on its own, now its in the fitting i dont want to run the same test again as i think it will generate too much heat to run safely indoors. The next batt life test will have to be on the bike (when its built)
I opted for a 35w xenon at 6000K its a nice white light with a hint of blue, but not so much that light output is badly affected.
Just carried it to the garden and it lights up the whole garden nicely! cant wait to try it on the bike.
Still to do...
Find a handlebar mount for the light fitting.
Find a frame bag of some sort to house a battery and the ballast.
Oh, and fit a switch to it.
If anyone knows of some handlebar mounts that might help i'd be grateful for a link or info. the fitting has a flat plate with holes for fixing.
Andy.
-
maybe have a external cooling fan fan running while you test??(fine if you have one!)
-
Could do, although to be honest its not far off being able to go onto a bike.
then i can test it properly, as that will give realistic airflow, vibration etc to test everything
Andy.
-
Carry a spare (cheap light) when using a HID. Some of them have finicky ballasts.
-
How do you mean finiky?
Do you mean they fail?
I cant vouch for the long term life of the unit im using yet, but its an automotive product and therefore designed for pretty tough conditions.
Ive pullled one to bits and couldnt get any further than taking the lids off as the whole thing is molded solid in silicone so theres no movement at all.
Andy.
-
How do you mean finiky?
Andy.
Friend showed up with this $400 HID system. Super bright and impressive. Went on a ride. Half way through the ride after a rest stop the HID would not restart. Loaned him my spare I double AA battery light I carry as a back up. Dam thing started to work when we got back to the cars. Like I said Finicky. He had one of the first HID system so it might have been bugs that hopefully got worked out.
-
Maybe it was battery life.
They consume an awfull lot of power on start up, most have a strike time of around 20 seconds and the ballast has to initially generate very high voltages. Perhaps by the time the you finished the ride, the battery had recovered slightly.
who knows!
Andy.