Make your own lighting system

[splat]

I know the guy who wroter this and have seen the end product in use , by more than one person , it works very well.

http://www.crw.org/CheapLights.htm

[joe]

I've never seen any homebrew lights in use, but it's definitely been tried by more than a couple of people. Here's another page with some pictures from someone who did it:
http://www.bikeclub.org/lightspa.htm

[If_Rider]

After checking out the links I decided to give it a try. I made a few adjustments and for under $20 (not including the battery which I had lying around at work) here's the results:

It's not very pretty but it works great!! Anyone else have any homebrew lights?

[If_Rider]

Oops, the pic won't post?????

[splat]

Well

Since If Rider Started it !

here is my Collection of Home made systems ! You must remeber when I started riding at night. there were no comercial systems worth a dam!

as a Matter of an organized Night ride I did in 1990 Every system was Home made!

well Start with My first one ( I actually have 2 of these ) I No Longer use the Tail light Vista lights replaced that. The origianal Bulb was 55 watts ! it took 6 pounds of battery to light my 40 minute commute ! It has been replaces with 20 watt Halogen. the cases are that of Fog lamps which I modified with Aluminun Angle Irons and Pipe clamps to Mount that beast on my front Handle Bars.

Each one of those battery sticks weighs in at 2 pounds , they Are 4.0 AH 7.2 Volt Nicad packs.

[splat]

Next is a little Cat eye Comercial Unit , that I took out the Guts and replaced the Bulb with a 20 Watt Halogen Bulb. I would discover after several Mounths of use that that Much heat was damaging the Reflector, But since it was Cold Out it survivied. one warm March night riding home. I started to Smell Something burning and Sure enough My light was On Fire! The reflector and Back cover were Toasted and I wish i had saved them. Duct tape now holds the front togetherand a New reflector were installed But it has not seen Much Use. This too was Handle bar mount. it has Been retired from service. ( But WHo Know when I might reserrect it ! )

[splat]

This was an Early Attempt to Mach myself seen! I said If I'm Lit up like a christmas tree Cars would see Me! I Guess I got a little to Literal for my own Good.

[splat]

And this Is one of My lateest systems ! If anyone was on the Franklin evening ride In September, you will remeber My Light that was Mounted in a chezzy Flashlight case and SMoked and Burn thought the whole ride , well it finally melted to the point the Bulb fell out.

Here is one of the replacements

this is a Leftover Agricultural Spot light from a garden Project of my wifes, I removed mots of the parts till I was just left with the Bulb Holder then I cut to slits to put the velcro strap ! and it has a 20 watt MR-16 Halogen flood light.
I keep the batties in a fanny pack.

[splat]

and I just finished making this one ! It uses the same Bulb that Melted the Old flashlight Mount . It is a MR-11 28 Watt Spot light it is mounted in a PVC Pipe with 2 smaller pieces on both sides of the bulb to keep it in place. How this will hold up to the heat ? I don't Know I have not Tested it in Real life conditions yet!
it too is held on by Velcro

[splat]

and Here is the Final One I Am Working on.

First I must Say At christmas time you can find all sorts of Unusual Bulbs and at a fraction of the cost they cost in the hardware dept.

I Found this Bulb in Target for $1.99 it is a a 6 Volt ! MR-11 5 watt Bulb I decided to use light Lithium -ION batteries I have to Power it. Mounted IN a PVC pipe also

[splat]

Well I'm Back at it again ! that one above actually works very well! and for a 5 watt bulb is surprisingly bright.

the system Mounted on my Yellow helmet above , had a Slight melt down , OK it melted and melted part of my Helmet.

that is why I created this ! This one is Made using a MR-16 25 watt 12 volt bulb mounted in a track lighting fixture , I cut the Transformorer unit away , and strap on my helmet with a Velcro strap and way-la ! it has worked very well. and it is made from metal so it will not have the melting problem.

[splat]

But Could I Be happy with that ? Of course not .

the problem that all these light have is there battery source is HEAVY ! so Bright with Low power , is what I am looking to achieve.
well first I got a bunch of Hi -power Li-Ion batteries ( out of some Dell Laptops ) which are about 4 volts per cellcell at 1350 mAh , but you have to be carefull on the current draw.


and lately I have seen some Cat eye head lights Using ultra bright white LED's. they USe 4 -8 LED's while they look OK and have long lasting power and are light , they are not bright enough for my tastes. so I won an Auction on eBay for 50 Ultra Bright white LED's for $15

here is my first attempy , using 24 Led's with these 2 LI-ion cells they were drawing 1 .01 amps at 4.1 volts that is just over 4 watts ! and it is pretty dam bright . went Snow shoeing with IF rider and those 2 cells lasted far more than 2 hours and it was very bight ? Not sure if it is bright enough for Mt biking at night , definattly will work great for road riding . next I think I will add another 20 LEDs to that and some sort of reflector lens set up . try to make it blinding .

[steve_b]

This was an Early Attempt to Mach myself seen! I said If I'm Lit up like a christmas tree Cars would see Me! I Guess I got a little to Literal for my own Good.

LOL. Now that's funny. Did you actually ride with the Christmas light on? :o

http://www.dslreports.com/r0/download/477373~6c52d079a46c8aa155e1fa785cb39b19/xtree.gif

[UncleKenny]

Splat, You're too damn funny. ... and relentless.

You're last entry piqued my interest, though. I'm eager to see the final version with the reflector and additional bulbs. The lightness of the twin Li-ion cells has me fascinated. Keep us updated.

[Jisch]

I made a helmet mount last year. It works great, but I'm really not doing much night riding this year. Have to get back to that!

Here's a pic:

[SloMoJo]

Yea..the homemade stuff is quite interesting.

And I don't really mind waiting while these guys fiddle with the faulty wires on the trail. I actually enjoy the break. ;)

[I Are Baboon]

I know the guy who wroter this and have seen the end product in use , by more than one person , it works very well.

http://www.crw.org/CheapLights.htm




Sweet. I think I am going to give this a try. I really don't want to spend $350 on one of those fancy schmancy Nite Rider systems.

Me messing with electronics.....somehow I get the feeling I'm going to blow up the apartment, or at the very least scare the **** out of the cats. ;D :D

[splat]

As usual I am Up to No good. But not for too Much longer

I did 24 Hr of adrenilin with My home made system , the 45 LED light on the handle bars and Halogen on the helmet . worked great
then At Pedro's fest , I demoed a HID , and It blew My mind . I still had my BAr mount LED on and I couldn't even tell I had it on.
so I bought a Nite Rider HID , long story short on the 3rd ride it Freaked out and it is in the process of being exchanged.


But during the summer I bought a Specialized Proview on eBay for $10 , really not a good system , Helmet and Bar mount , made to be used with 5 D batteries , well it sucked . But IT had a Great Mount ! so I havea Helmet Mount and Bar mount ( the later will be used in conjuction with the HID)

any WAy I took this Specilized Head , Modified it to use one of My Ni-cad Packs as Power and now it is a Respecable light !

I have used it solo The last 2 nights.

here it is.

[radair]

This looked like a pretty good write-up on DIY lights, thought I would add to the pile:

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=52685

[C.P.]

But Could I Be happy with that ? Of course not .

the problem that all these light have is there battery source is HEAVY ! so Bright with Low power , is what I am looking to achieve.
well first I got a bunch of Hi -power Li-Ion batteries ( out of some Dell Laptops ) which are about 4 volts per cellcell at 1350 mAh , but you have to be carefull on the current draw.


and lately I have seen some Cat eye head lights Using ultra bright white LED's. they USe 4 -8 LED's while they look OK and have long lasting power and are light , they are not bright enough for my tastes. so I won an Auction on eBay for 50 Ultra Bright white LED's for $15

here is my first attempy , using 24 Led's with these 2 LI-ion cells they were drawing 1 .01 amps at 4.1 volts that is just over 4 watts ! and it is pretty dam bright . went Snow shoeing with IF rider and those 2 cells lasted far more than 2 hours and it was very bight ? Not sure if it is bright enough for Mt biking at night , definattly will work great for road riding . next I think I will add another 20 LEDs to that and some sort of reflector lens set up . try to make it blinding .






The very mention of LED stuff got me searching - so I had to find more LED stuff on line:
Here's what looks like a good supply house: http://www.theledlight.com/

[splat]

Looks like this thread could use a Bump!!!

[If_Rider]

I've been thinking about this (http://www.nightlightning.co.nz/endurenz%20details.htm) DIY kit lately. The Blaast looks like it may give a HID some competition. Plus no expensive bulbs to replace.

[splat]

I have seriously been thinking aobut this one

http://www.danolight.com/index.php

saw him at Pedros fest and it was impresive.

[splangy]

I know the guy who wroter this and have seen the end product in use , by more than one person , it works very well.

http://www.crw.org/CheapLights.htm

Did that page say to use a 6 (SIX!) pound battery?!?!?!?!

[C.P.]

More do it yourself stuff

http://www.instructables.com/id/E2K9BN5EDKEUBYRD9V/?ALLSTEPS