Yay, new light on my commuter

[DaveB]

I'm on a break from MBA studies for a couple of weeks so bizarrely found
myself with some spare time today. Decided to have a crack at making a
light for my commuter MTB. So armed with various websites, a halogen
downlight, various bits of **** in my shed, and a battery from a
cordless drill I started out. First problem was connecting wires to the
halogen globe. Tried various electrical joiners but in the end went down
to the local lighting shop for the real thing which cost $5.50, yikes!!
That's a lot for a bit of plastic and two pieces of wire. Oh well at
least I now had a good connection. Combined a couple of hose clamps and
a switch and connected it all to the handlebars and some joiners on the
wires because this section will stay on the bike permanently. Then I ran
another set of wires along the top tube and down into a bottle container
to the battery (this section to be removed when I don't need the light).
Connectign the wires to the battery was a bit of a challenge seeing a
drill battery isn't exactly designed for this as was gettign the battery
to sit in the bidon holder, but it's amazing what you can achieve with
velcro and rubber bands (actually an old packet of various size
turntable belts).

Finally finished and time for a test run. Turned it on and holy hell it
was casting shadows 10m away during daytime. Okay a 20W globe may be a
little over the top but that was all the local light shop had. I did a
test run and the battery lasted about 55mins which should be fine seeing
I only need it for the last 25min of my commute. Can't wait for Monday
to try it out, might even leave work a bit later to see how it goes in
complete darkness.

DaveB

 

[stu]

> Okay a 20W globe may be a
> little over the top
what is this "over the top" of which you speak??

Just one question, have you painted or covered the back of the bulb in some
way?
A lot of light comes out the back.(i think i went for a test ride before
painting mine)

Glad you gave it a go, you'll love it. Sure, you could get by with less
light, but why?

stu

 

[DaveB]

stu wrote:
>>Okay a 20W globe may be a
>>little over the top
>
> what is this "over the top" of which you speak??
>

Well I waited till it got dark tonight, and from the bottom of my
driveway I aimed the bike up the driveway and discovred the light was
lighting up the house across the road. I better make sure I keep the
beam aimed low on the road.

DaveB

 

[Ray]

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> stu wrote:
> >>Okay a 20W globe may be a
> >>little over the top
> >
> > what is this "over the top" of which you speak??
> >
>
> Well I waited till it got dark tonight, and from the bottom of my
> driveway I aimed the bike up the driveway and discovred the light was
> lighting up the house across the road. I better make sure I keep the
> beam aimed low on the road.
>
Unfortunately that is the downside of the seemingly cheap halogen unit
in the towball cover, no real control on the beam spread.

Sure they look great from your side of the handlebars, I should know I
used to use one, but you can see the anguish on the faces of those you
approach at night coming the other way.

Not limited to homemade bike lights either, many of the DH cager's with
"fog" lights are using 50W versions pointing out horizontal and don't
they dazzle everybody

 

[DaveB]

DaveB wrote:
snip
> I only need it for the last 25min of my commute. Can't wait for Monday
> to try it out, might even leave work a bit later to see how it goes in
> complete darkness.
>
> DaveB

Didn't get to try it out last night. On the way in in the morning the
globe decided to fall out of the clamp on a bumpy bit of road. I saw it
go and started swearing (there goes 15 bucks). I couldn't go back to get
it because I was in pretty heavy traffic, but then realised I hadn't
heard it hit the ground. I looked down and found that miraculously it
had fallen down to the top of the forks and come to rest precariously
between the two gear cables and was sitting there as I bounced along the
road. So there I am trying to hold the bike upright in heavy traffic, on
rough road, with one hand while the other reaches down to grab the
globe. Finally got it without coming to grief (yes, the smart thing
would have been to stop but I was so surprised to see the globe sittign
there I wasn't thinking straight). So back to the drawing board for me.
I was thinking of putting a bit of old tube between the clamp and the
globe to give the clamp a bit of grip but am a bit concerned about the
heat from the globe melting it.

On a good note though, my elaborate system of turntable belts and velcro
held the drill battery into the bidon without any probs.

DaveB

 

[flyingdutch]

snipparge

DaveB

"gaffa tape cure everything"

F"dont ask"Dutch

 

[DaveB]

Gags wrote:
>
> You really need to get your **** to Gag's workshop and get all the bits and
> pieces that you need (I have got a few lights already made up that just need
> to be clamped on). Hit me up with an email at some stage if you are keen to
> have a look.
>

Yeah I know but just haven't managed to catch you on a Sunday BR. STill
want to see that water rocket in action too.

> If you want to check my site, do a search for "gagstronics" in google and go
> to the tpg one (I have not been with ozemail for a couple of years but they
> are still hosting my old site???). The "Lights V3" ones are currently
> sitting in the shed doing nothing.....all you need is a 12V battery and a
> charger that I assume you already have.
>

The Gagstronics site was one of the main ones I used. BTW what happened
to your SS page?

DaveB

 

[Gags]

"DaveB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>
> The Gagstronics site was one of the main ones I used. BTW what happened
> to your SS page?
>

I just had a look and it seems to work fine for me????

http://www.users.tpg.com.au/adsl4xun/SingleSpeed.htm

It is sorta hidden at the bottom of the home page........can you let me know
if it still doesn't work.

Gags

 

[DaveB]

Gags wrote:
> "DaveB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>
>>The Gagstronics site was one of the main ones I used. BTW what happened
>>to your SS page?
>>
>
>
> I just had a look and it seems to work fine for me????
>
> http://www.users.tpg.com.au/adsl4xun/SingleSpeed.htm
>
> It is sorta hidden at the bottom of the home page........can you let me know
> if it still doesn't work.
>
> Gags
>
>

Yep it's definitely there. I must have been off in la-la land the day I
couldn't find it.

DaveB

 

[DaveB]

DaveB wrote:
> Gags wrote:
>
>> "DaveB" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>
>>
>>> The Gagstronics site was one of the main ones I used. BTW what happened
>>> to your SS page?
>>>
>>
>>
>> I just had a look and it seems to work fine for me????
>>
>> http://www.users.tpg.com.au/adsl4xun/SingleSpeed.htm
>>
>> It is sorta hidden at the bottom of the home page........can you let
>> me know
>> if it still doesn't work.
>>
>> Gags
>>
>>
>
> Yep it's definitely there. I must have been off in la-la land the day I
> couldn't find it.
>
> DaveB

Ahaa now I know why I couldn't find the SS link, I was looking at
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~drgagnon/lights_4.htm . It looks almost
like the other page but no SS stuff.

DaveB