Silverbear's Honker Headlight

SB, So you were the one who told the story about the girl down by the lake. I couldn't remember where I heard it.

Dan
 
Now I do remember for sure. You were telling me about Fasteddy and his girlfriend. Is she coming to bike camp with him. You do have a lake nearby.
Dan
 
silverbear said:
Yes, that's what it was! Part of a front wheel drum brake generator. Would one of your smart friends know what that thing is exactly and how one would wire it into a system in order to use it? I find the idea exciting because I don't like screwing around with batteries. A simple sidewall generator in 6 volts is easy to come by on ebay or off an old bike. Pretty cheap. Keep it oiled and only engage it against the wheel when you actually need the juice and it will go for a long time, at least mine have. Beyond a few miles per hour the light is nice and steady and bright.

While I don't want to pay big bucks for an ultimate system, I don't need the most powerful lights in the world. I use one of my little copper jewel lights with the business end of a nine LED flashlight inside and it is adequate for a tail light or a pair for turn signals. (Which reminds me, I do intend to do a little how-to on making copper jewel lights one of these days.) That and the much brighter 32 LEDs in the honker headlight and I'm good to go. I don't ride along a brightly lit thoroughfare in a big city... not a lot of competing light, so I don't need the very ultimate best. My headlight lights up the road in front of me nicely and most important it makes me visible to motorists... but not if I come to a stop. No juice... no light.

If this capacitor is not terribly expensive or difficult to wire in, then it would be the cat's meow for lots of us. An inexpensive system that pretty well negates the need for battery backup and lets us forget about trying to rig up a generator or alternator to run off a Harbor Freight or other four stroke with no electrical system to tap into for lights. Keep it simple, keep it inexpensive and keep us safe.

Can you find out?
SB
Click to expand...

I got to talk to my friend about this last night. He said all you need is a capacitor. The only question is how big. That's what he said, but now I thought of some more questions, because I think he may have been thinking about VDC.

I'm going to have to go back and ask him some more questions.

What I'd like to know is, do hub dynamo's put out DC, or AC?

I think it would work better if it's DC. The lower the current draw of the light bulb the better, and with DC the light bulb could be a LED that draws very little current. I guess a little trial and error will be necessary to figure out the size of the capacitor, but it shouldn't be very hard to do.

I would start with something like about 4000 uf. If the light doesn't stay on long enough then keep upping the size till you get the desired effect.

Where I think there would be a problem is if the hub dynamo puts out ac. A 4000 uf ac capacitor would be kind of big is all. DC capacitors are a lot smaller.
 
It is DC I am sure. I set up a Sturmey Archer dynamo brake for a friend and I'm sure the resulting light was without a flicker. Thanks for looking in to this...
SB
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mallory-400...058?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e706349ea

More like this, then. So let's say this is somehow wired in somewhere along the line of a setup where you have a six volt sidewall generator lighting up a couple of 4.5 V flashlight LED clusters... a headlight & tail light, neither of which draws much juice. You come to a traffic light and stop for a bit. Since the sidewall generator only runs when the wheel is turning it is no longer 'generating'. The capacitor has stored up some electrical energy and now measures it out according to the demand of the little LED clusters. How long the lights stay lit is determined by how much energy the capacitor can store and how much the demand is. Is that right? If the lights stayed lit for several minutes that would be fantastic. Would the capacitor be wired the same as if it was a battery?
SB
 
silverbear said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mallory-400...058?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e706349ea

More like this, then. So let's say this is somehow wired in somewhere along the line of a setup where you have a six volt sidewall generator lighting up a couple of 4.5 V flashlight LED clusters... a headlight & tail light, neither of which draws much juice. You come to a traffic light and stop for a bit. Since the sidewall generator only runs when the wheel is turning it is no longer 'generating'. The capacitor has stored up some electrical energy and now measures it out according to the demand of the little LED clusters. How long the lights stay lit is determined by how much energy the capacitor can store and how much the demand is. Is that right? If the lights stayed lit for several minutes that would be fantastic. Would the capacitor be wired the same as if it was a battery?
SB
Click to expand...

Yea that's more like it. The capacitor would just be wired in series to the headlight. I'm sure it will take a little trial and error to get the size of the capacitor just right. I'm thinking you would want a capacitor for the headlight, and one for the taillight.
 
Thanks! I may order one of these this week and try it with the headlight. If it works, then 'woohoo'!
SB
 
Hey 2Door. Head lights nothing. I think the woman's mother was a WW2 search light. Every time she turns around fast she cleans the kitchen counter off.

Tinsmith, bringing her would be like taking coal to Newcastle. Silverbear has that town stocked in the summer and one trip past the lake with the motor bikes and the net would be full.

fast:)eddy
 
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