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magnic light- contactless dynamo lights
Good Idea ,but side view is lacking though due to placement of the light.They now have a shop where you can buy the lights (£200 for a full set - ouch!), and more interestingly a patent published:
full text translated to english: http://www.google.com/patents/WO2013004320A1?cl=en
key image: http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?CC=WO&NR=2013004320A1&KC=A1&FT=DIt's both cleverer and simpler than i'd imagined.
The problem is not "does it work?" (it obviously does) or "can we have enough light to see by?" (maybe), but "what is the overall efficiency?"
By using a rotor designed for bridging the gap between spokes and tyres, not optimised for use as a generator, they are immediately cut off from any of the design efficiencies available to ordinary dynamo/alternator makers.
According to their patent, they can reach 60%: 1.2W of electrical power for 2W of braking at 20km/h, and because they seem to be using the pair of LEDs as their rectifier they are about as efficient as they can be converting that to light. They claim the system works up to 10mm from the rim (although presumably the above power requires closer operation).
Having the magnets rotate with the rim (with some slip) means that they aren't creating the full eddy current brake effect, and by using rare earth permanent magnets they get away with all the big air gaps. (Air gaps are bad when you're making your field with coils, because air's low permeability means you need more current and so more resistive losses to make the same field strength in air compared to iron. But with permanent magnets there's no on-going energy cost for the field. The air gaps clearly harm power output, but i think have only second-order effects on efficiency.)
I'm a bit dubious about their installation design, but i think they have a great product idea there.
As for my initial speculations that their system might just use coils with no magnets and on it's industrial applications to train braking, well, the Japanese are ahead of me: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/rtriqr/50/3/50_3_173/_pdf
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Super-cheapo Phaart lights currently at Planet X ... Buy a ton of them and give them out to passing Ninja-idiots, random children etc etc.....
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/LIPHRMRL/phaart_red_mist_5_led_rear_light
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This arrived today, it is ridiculously bright! I tried it alongside my moon mask and you couldn't even tell the moon mask was on. Definitely need to be careful about dazzling drivers etc, even the low setting could be too much I think. I haven't had a proper play with it yet but the quality doesn't seem too bad either
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=140744146377
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Fuck no wonder my lights aren't selling.
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Super-cheapo Phaart lights currently at Planet X ... Buy a ton of them and give them out to passing Ninja-idiots, random children etc etc.....
http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/LIPHRMRL/phaart_red_mist_5_led_rear_light
Holy shit! Get one of these from wiggle and that's a complete light set for under £3 (not including P&P)
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Wiggle have the Exposure WhiteEye front light for £12, down from £40
Not in the market myself, but was browsing their reduced section and it stood out as a potential bargain
Edit: Also the Hope Vision 1 for £58
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From the DD thread:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cree-Q5-LE...item3f11f3f83f
Should be getting mine in a few days, but if you like their facebook page you get 5% off.
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Ok, im shortly becoming a poor student again so Im trying to buy long lasting, good quality stuff over the next 2 months while I can afford to to last me the rest of my student life. Bought some good cycling clothes, stocked up on stuff that wears quickly.
~£25 rear light rec?
Im going to get a hope vision 1 off ebay if I can over the next few weeks. Unless theres something else better in the 30-40 bracket
I had a cree off ebay before that filled with water, and the battery life was awful, however it didnt look like the ones linked on this page.. was a fair bit larger
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This arrived today, it is ridiculously bright! I tried it alongside my moon mask and you couldn't even tell the moon mask was on. Definitely need to be careful about dazzling drivers etc, even the low setting could be too much I think. I haven't had a proper play with it yet but the quality doesn't seem too bad either
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=140744146377
Cool that it has a flashing mode. I have often wanted a bright light like this for daytime to increase visibility, is it bright enough to do this?
I think bright lights for night are a little redundant.
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This arrived today, it is ridiculously bright! I tried it alongside my moon mask and you couldn't even tell the moon mask was on. Definitely need to be careful about dazzling drivers etc, even the low setting could be too much I think. I haven't had a proper play with it yet but the quality doesn't seem too bad either
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=140744146377http://rover.ebay.com/roverimp/1/710-53481-19255-0/1?ff3=2&pub=5574889051&toolid=10001&campid=5336525415&item=140744146377&mpt=4661527
ltc - do you know what's the battery life like for this? Quite fancy one of these.
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From the DD thread:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cree-Q5-LE...item3f11f3f83f
Should be getting mine in a few days, but if you like their facebook page you get 5% off.
Yeah I got one of those... There seems to be an extension that makes the touch longer, why?
My only guess is to fit some find of larger cylindrical battery(s) in?
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Anyone using laptop batteries should be aware that Li-ion batteries need a protection circuit to run safely. Unprotected batteries are liable to explode or catch fire if overcharged. If you're going to harvest batteries from a laptop you should know that they are protected by a separate circuit in the casing, so if you remove them each cell is unprotected. They're perfectly safe if you use a charger which protects against overcharge and you don't use them in series.
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Or buy my set pukka set....
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Wiggle have the Exposure WhiteEye front light for £12, down from £40
Not in the market myself, but was browsing their reduced section and it stood out as a potential bargain
Edit: Also the Hope Vision 1 for £58
Looks like the Whiteeye's sold out, but the Vision 1 is down to £49 with a charger
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So my SECOND Cateye front light has carked it, more battery leakage. It was an EL530 and pretty decent, is there any saving these things with a soldering iron or is it RIP and another £50 I could be spending on more fun things?
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About
Lights
Posted by
@Skülly
The first ones you mention here are great. I bought the identical model from China off eBay. Total was about £27 which included a rear LED which was very bright too. If they break after a year as someone said then still way cheaper than the equivalent european or american version. The build quality isn't quite as good but the burn time on mine is around 10 hours on full charge. I have 2x 1800 lumens on the front of my bike and it is amazingly good.