Lights

My MagicShine MJ-880 uses two XM-Ls. I run them on low (with a rear MJ-818 on constant, the centre LED is burnt out), but use high when riding in heavy traffic to avoid SMIDSY. 2 x 900lm = BEHOLD MY RETINA BURNERS!

£135ish for MJ-880, MJ-818 and a 6-cell Li-Ion battery.

What's the cheapest rear silicon light that takes aa or aaa batteries?

so my cateye el135 broke after 3 years of commuting usage so went with moon mask 5 after reading the reviews etc. hope they are good

I just picked up a moon comet rear and cant figure out how to get it to blink :) it seems to only scroll through 3 modes - did i get some dodgey chinese knock off?

I just picked up a moon comet rear and cant figure out how to get it to blink :) it seems to only scroll through 3 modes - did i get some dodgey chinese knock off?

Figured it out!

Rear light I put together

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA0nWw4gMRc

i liked the end bit

Jesus thats awesome

If home made is acceptable...

Original Ever Ready used 2xD cells = space for 4xAA cells, resistors, switch, 3 red (rear) and 1 white (front facing 'marker') LEDs.

Not exactly l'eroica, but an easy conversion for '70s period machines?

Resistor-regulated LED power supplies >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Buck driver FT(homebrew)W, or IC if you're lazy and like chips.

Resistors - cheaper than chips?

Birds nest circuit rather than pcb...

Personally I did not enjoy teaching Electronics or the electronic aspects of Systems & Control. Retirement has not changed this.

Suum cuique?

Buck driver is only 4 parts: Coil, capacitor, Schottky diode, transistor. Easily made boardless.

I consider the time spend replacing burnt out LEDs to be more costly than getting it right in the first place, also a Buck would waste a lot less energy than a resistor. The limiting factor in Buck efficiency is how fast a schottky you can afford.

NEU is there a CP for that?

CP? You mean a central processor?

I just used a prebuilt driver, link is in the video description. It's a bit ad-hoc really, and more just assembly than DIY, but you got to start somewhere.

Buck driver is only 4 parts: Coil, capacitor, Schottky diode, transistor. Easily made boardless.

I consider the time spend replacing burnt out LEDs to be more costly than getting it right in the first place, also a Buck would waste a lot less energy than a resistor. The limiting factor in Buck efficiency is how fast a schottky you can afford.

-still using the alkaline batteries and LEDs as fitted last October, so no problems with blown components or battery life (yet)

I'm sure you're right - I don't remember Buck drivers being on the syllabus when I stopped teaching - I was more floating the possibility of retro fitting a bit of this century to a bit of the last, and used what I had to hand.

Just out of curiosity, will a Buck driver cope with a change in supply voltage? I'm thinking of alkaline batteries running down over time and also the possibility of replacing alkaline cells with NiMH.

Those Cree T6 LEDs are nice and bulbous and seem to give a fairly good spread of light from all angles.

I've been thinking about making some front and rear lights that give 180 degree visibility by simply getting some more cheap T6 lights, chopping (or more rightly, lathe-ing) the fronts of the aluminium bodies off, and finding some hemispherical lenses to stick over the front. The LED could actually stick further out than the lens, so if you designed the lens correctly it should provide more than 180 degree visibility. Helps with the dreaded dark roundabouts.

Companies are offering 3D-printed transparent resin, so fabricating custom lenses would be easy (the design and CAD work for the lenses is the hard/expensive bit, and I can do that myself). The resin is supposedly quite impact-resistant but requires a coating to protect it from UV.

Food for thought, anyway.

Just out of curiosity, will a Buck driver cope with a change in supply voltage? I'm thinking of alkaline batteries running down over time and also the possibility of replacing alkaline cells with NiMH.

Yes. Buck drivers are often used with Li-ion cells, nominally 3.7v but drive up to from 4.2V at full. The point of the buck is to keep the current constant, as LEDs aren't linear, so the output voltage can vary too.

ok thanks

(returns to shed to ponder)

CP? You mean a central processor?

I just used a prebuilt driver, link is in the video description. It's a bit ad-hoc really, and more just assembly than DIY, but you got to start somewhere.

Ha somehow I meant to write "thread in cp" but brain farted.

Has anyone got any decent ways of flashlight mounting beside the usual generic clamp things?

I've adapted generic ones, but they are pretty weak and shitty. The saddle mount I made isn't very durable.

Mounting a flashlight to the rear of your bike? Or have I misread this?

Undoubtedly an unworkable idea, but how about this:

0mm stem - use the bar clamp as your seatpost clamp (might need modifying to suit your seatpost), and then clamp your flashlight in the steerer clamp bit (might need a sleeve to suit your flashlight diameter).

Would work if you have a 22mm seat post, BMX/jump size, or you can find a standard 25.4 version of the stem and can run a USE post with a 25.4-27.2 (etc) shim.

Doesn't help that the angle will be 90 degrees to your post.

Silly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Nfk1-XMASrk#!

Look good - new range - supposedly made in same factory as big boys

Phaart

http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/LIPHAEN3W-SIL-WLED/phaart_aeon_3_watt_led_front_light___silver___white_led?utm_source=The+Planet+X+and+On+One+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=1dbdee2551-Snowmageddon&utm_medium=email

just another +1 for these

i have the 3w front and the dual bleep rear - very very bright for very little money. also good customer service from planetx, the rear didn't work (only one led lit up) and they shipped me out a new one, no questions asked, i didn't have to send the other back either!

low build quality but what do you expect. i've put electrical tape round the seams

Id like to see a vid of those front ones in action.