head light battery?

[garynuman]

hi, i bought a really sweet headlight with a dynamo generator. i used it one time and it was amazing, the light is extremely bright. problem was that the next time i rode it, the dynamo fell off somewhere on the road, it wasn't until the next day that i found it all smashed in the street. i ordered a new one, fastened it on with some wore so it wouldn't get lost if it fell off, well it broke and so did the wire. now i'm ready to give up the dynamo and just use battery power. i still want to use the same head lamp.
is there any suggestions on how to wire it up to some type of battery harness. the dynamo was 12v6w. what do you think?

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

There is either one or two wires to the light. One a ground (-), one a positive (+). Hook the pos. to the pos. and the ground to the neg. on the battery, or if it has one wire, hook the pos. to the pos. on the battery, and make sure its grounded well. You might want to add a switch if there isn't one there. 12v motorcycle battery or a R/C car NiCad pack of 12v (10 cells).

 

[VaporKing]

My solution is heavy, but suitable as long as the engine runs.

I use a 12V 5Ah sealed lead acid (SLA)battery (Batteries Plus)that powers a 12V halogen ATV floodlight, brake and tail lights, and "beefy" motorcycle horn. It runs after a full trickle-charge for 1.25 hours, before the lights yellow-out. The batery is about the size of a medium-sized box of crayons, and weighs about 4 pounds.

I hammered a round aluminum Schwinnn bicycle water bottle bracket (from WalMart) into a square shape that neatly holds the battery. My work commute is about 1.25 hours (by bike) round trip, so it works-out pretty good.

A depleted battery has to charge overnight, so I have two of them, and carry one as a spare in my backpack, in case I decide to go "cross country".

No need to worry about light while motionless (like with a generator), or overloading the ignition system.

Toal light package cost (2 batteries, charger, lights, bracket, wire, connectors, etc..)= about $100 (US). (A little pricey, but this is not an cheap hobby)

The bike is a real chick magnet. Works for me.

 

[jasonh]

How much was just 1 of those batteries plus the charger, vaporking? That's not a bad idea...those don't sound too big or heavy.

 

[VaporKing]

Here's the scoop:

Anything and perhaps everything a bicyclist would want to know about lighting may be found at:

Bicycle Lighting Systems

There's a section about batteries, including a nice one on SLA's. Here's the link for that specific section.

Starlight 78 Bicycle Lighting System

In that section, you can click on the price button for a 5Ah SLA, and it will conveniently redirect you to zbattery.com, where you may order it, and trickle charger. I can't "vouch" for this company (zbattery.com), but the author of bicyclelighting.com recommends it.

One last thing, as I stated before, you will intantly be a "chick magnet" after installing your lighting system, and the autor of bicyclelighting.com has shared many of his encounters on his website. You may ignore the pictures with blacked-out censoring on various areas. So if you are squeamish about about nudity (religious, etc..), you may consider avoiding this site. However, the viewer also has the option to further investgate the photos, if desired, by double clicking on them.

It is imperative that you test the SLA battery (if purchased over the counter) before you buy it with a voltmeter. It should have a full charge (13volts for so or 12V, depending on your meter) on it, because SLA's stored for any length of time without a full charge will soon not be rechargable. 12 volt is nice, because cars and bycles run it, and lights/horns are easier to find. The author of bicyclelighting.com discusses the pros/con and things to watch for when buting batteries. I glad that he did, because I almost purchased a quite overpriced battery that was "dead from the start" at a local Radio Schack. If I would have purchased that setup, I would probably only have 20 minutes of lighting time instead of the 1.25 hours, and probably would not have known any better.

Personally, I paid full retail at a battery convenience store near my residence. (Batteries Plus) They offered a full one year guarantee with the stuff, but I had to pay about double price up front to avoid shipping delay, but did not have heavy shipping charge and got the 1 year guarantee.

Warning: Some minor nudity on site, so if squeamish or religious about it, you may consider avoiding site.

You may want to also consider Norm's lighting system. I haven't seen it, but hear that it is pretty good.

 

[nogoodnic]

Ah yes, Sheldon Brown (RIP), this man was a genious when it comes to bicycles. If anyone has any questions on anything bicyccle related it will be covered in more detail than you ever imagined on this site. I have been using his site for years as a reffrence tool and this is the first time I've come accross nudity, he must have been sipping on an adult beverage that day...Kelly

 

[Dave31]

Ah yes, Sheldon Brown (RIP), this man was a genious when it comes to bicycles. If anyone has any questions on anything bicyccle related it will be covered in more detail than you ever imagined on this site. I have been using his site for years as a reffrence tool and this is the first time I've come accross nudity, he must have been sipping on an adult beverage that day...Kelly

Sheldon Brown pasted away?? I had no ideal...that suck's.

 

[nogoodnic]

I think it was over this past winter, fairly recently anyway...Kelly

 

[motor_head]

could you maybe run the dynamo directly off the engine instead of the tire?
maybe a beefed up mount

 

[old motorbike]

hi, i bought a really sweet headlight with a dynamo generator. i used it one time and it was amazing, the light is extremely bright. problem was that the next time i rode it, the dynamo fell off somewhere on the road, it wasn't until the next day that i found it all smashed in the street. i ordered a new one, fastened it on with some wore so it wouldn't get lost if it fell off, well it broke and so did the wire. now i'm ready to give up the dynamo and just use battery power. i still want to use the same head lamp.
is there any suggestions on how to wire it up to some type of battery harness. the dynamo was 12v6w. what do you think?

Where did you find a 12v dynamo? All I ever found were 6v ones. I'd like to find one to keep my battery charged while riding. Thanks.

 

[old motorbike]

Thanks, garynuman for the idea. I just found and ordered one on e bay. I'd like to run it while the lights are on to help the battery stay up a little longer, if I can keep it mounted on the bike.
I use a batteries plus small battery and keep it charged with a Battery Tender. Then I got greedy and went with an HID light system. Now the battery lasts about 1/2 hour. I had a 55 watt bulb that would go dim. The HID flashes off at lower voltage even using only 35 watts.