Building in CREE light

[Old_Dave]

The negative wires...

Can all be separated and marked identifying which one is what ...

Here's the kind of thing

These can be put on both the positive and the negative so you will always know whats going where.

Or... just twist them all together, solder, heat shrink

 

[103Alex1]

Nifty little tags those - would help if everything is all jumbled up for sure.

Dunno if these are legible enough but photobucket is down so hey ho ...





On the red (live) wire I'm figuring you don't like 3 (distribution block) so I can "multi-tap" or "single tap", or a combo of both. Are both approaches OK or are there some rules about branching supply wires I should know about ?

On the black -ve wiring all the blacks together is drawing one. Going to be one huge great blob of solder if I do that ...

so can I do it as the 2nd one (like multi-tap) .... or must all the black wires converge at a central point as in the 3rd drawing (or the 1st) ?

Drawings make sense to me in a way words often don't ...

 

[Old_Dave]

All methods work....

Use the method that is easiest and can be insulated .. Remembering that for service / mind changing you may need to be remove & replace wires easily.

Thus if I was doing this I would opt for the contact strip, to 2 fuses and then if there were 4 circuits ... 2 to each fuse, so you wouldn't be in the dark if 1 circuit were to fail, once every thing has been tested then tape over the strip to add a bit of extra security. Fold over the end of the tape so you can find the end if you ever need to unravel it all


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[103Alex1]

.. I am getting there ... fuses only go on the red circuit, right, not the black (-ve) ?

When you say 4 circuits 2 to each fuse do you mean if we're talking lighting only ? I'll have probably 3 other circuits in addition to the lights.... so get confused easy

Here is a drawing of what I understand from what you wrote as

Thus if I was doing this I would opt for the contact strip, to 2 fuses and then if there were 4 circuits ... 2 to each fuse, so you wouldn't be in the dark if 1 circuit were to fail

- is that what you meant ? ... (note I remembered the 1-2, 2-3, 3-4 loops on the connector strip representative block )

 

[hech]

Alex, this is the most insufferably tedious bike build ever known to mankind, not even the great Dostoevsky on a really bad day could be as boring as your light switching/aiming/siting problem and I have to say that your weeping procrastination and incessant indeterminism is unfair on humanity as a whole and 'Pedelecs' in particular. Really, after 798 different suggestions and 220 000 views, maybe it is time for you to bite the bullet and visit Halfords for a satisfactory solution to your night vision difficulties.

 

[103Alex1]

Alex, this is the most insufferably tedious bike build ever known to mankind, not even the great Dostoevsky on a really bad day could be as boring as your light switching/aiming/siting problem and I have to say that your weeping procrastination and incessant indeterminism is unfair on humanity as a whole and 'Pedelecs' in particular. Really, after 798 different suggestions and 220 000 views, maybe it is time for you to bite the bullet and visit Halfords for a satisfactory solution to your night vision difficulties.

I see you're in a charming, tolerant late evening mood tonight, hech.... and for some reason are tormenting yourself reading threads which you know are dredging depths of a loch you'd rather skite across. Well, some have to work out how to build their canoes in order to get to the other side and also turned up without a map. From all I've picked up it's easy to land yourself up the creek without a paddle ... and many have done so ... doing proper research to get to the right corner doesn't seem gratuitous to me.

I know exactly what I want - but am told it's too hard to achieve so simply trying to find the next closest thing.

Best of luck with lighting from Halfords btw... my last 3 "retail customer" lights from there barely lit the way to the lavy, didn't last a month and between them cost nearly £100 (all refunded). I've moved on from there.... which is why I have ended up here.

 

[tillson]

Alex, this is the most insufferably tedious bike build ever known to mankind, not even the great Dostoevsky on a really bad day could be as boring as your light switching/aiming/siting problem and I have to say that your weeping procrastination and incessant indeterminism is unfair on humanity as a whole and 'Pedelecs' in particular. Really, after 798 different suggestions and 220 000 views, maybe it is time for you to bite the bullet and visit Halfords for a satisfactory solution to your night vision difficulties.

I don't want to knock anyone's enthusiasm or their desire to learn and ask questions on subjects which they are unsure of, it's all good stuff and no one should ever be put off. I do have to agree with hech though, this thread does seem to be going around in circles.

I think that you are massively over complicating a relatively simple task and a lot of what you are trying to achieve is completely unnecessary. Powering the lights from the bike's battery is a worthwhile exercise because it means that you do not have to charge a multitude of individual battery packs. Creating a multitude of individual lighting circuits is not a worthwhile exercise because its complicated and achieves nothing. If you must insist on this futile dipped beam exercise, just get hold of the light and twist it so that it points at the floor, when you want main beam, twist it back so that it points down the road. Dead simple.

Although these LED lights are bright, they somehow don't have the penetration of a car headlight in terms of a dazzling effect. I have been using various incarnations for a few years without a dipping mechanism and no one has died as a result. It's a bicycle with bicycle lights on it, and bicycles are simple devices, so maintain the spirit of the machine and strive for simplicity.

I'm going to try to not look at this thread again.

 

[Old_Dave]

is that what you meant ?

Almost..

From the contact strip.. there only needs to be 1 wire to supply each fuse.

fuses only go on the red circuit, right, not the black (-ve)

As you asked

Convention says that its the positive wire that has the fuse, but in a two wire circuit such as we are pondering, it could be fitted in the negative side and work just as well. However.... we don't do that cos convention has its reasons, in circuits where the voltages can be harmful or a chassis / frame is used as part of the circuit, the last thing we want is a neutral fuse blowing which leaves the positive voltage still available in the circuit to be touched or short circuited, which can be kinda harmful in high current or higher voltage situations which can be quite shocking

 

[103Alex1]

Almost..

From the contact strip.. there only needs to be 1 wire to supply each fuse.

OK ... one wire in, two wires out. Makes sense.

Convention says that its the positive wire that has the fuse, but in a two wire circuit such as we are pondering, it could be fitted in the negative side and work just as well. However.... we don't do that cos convention has its reasons, in circuits where the voltages can be harmful or a chassis / frame is used as part of the circuit, the last thing we want is a neutral fuse blowing which leaves the positive voltage still available in the circuit to be touched or short circuited, which can be kinda harmful in high current or higher voltage situations which can be quite shocking

Makes sense too. Thanks Old_Dave. Understand the rationale now.

I think that you are massively over complicating a relatively simple task and a lot of what you are trying to achieve is completely unnecessary.

I respect your views, tillson, and those of others. However I'm entitled to mine too and don't think I'm over-complicating things at all, just exploring the mechanisms which drive motorbike and car lighting setups as compared to bicycle lights with conventional light-mounted switching options before deciding which style of lighting I want to fit on to my bike.

It's my detour towards the car/motorbike style and approach which has set hares running and I think in fairness that is simply a bike versus motorbike culture thing rather than anything to do with the objective academic analysis of lighting options and power supply which I've been focusing on trying to understand before selecting an option which suits my own end project and the use to which my own bike is going to be put.

What I think is personally derogatory and uncalled for is statements such as "procrastination and incessant indeterminism" (not attributable to you of of course) ... I like to understand what I'm doing and for that to fit my objectives before doing things so when I appear to procrastinate it's because I don't fully understand. I am very decisive and although it may not come across that way also pretty pragmatic and accepting of many things, once I understand and they are fully explained.

We got quickly to the options of rigging up conventional bike lights and that was great. I appreciate the product links you provided and have ordered some of them. Others like the waterproof switch box are perfect for something else I'm doing too. So all good and I'm grateful for the help which is being put to good use.

When I asked about motor/ dirt-bike style lighting / switching things went round in endless circles. I draw my own conclusions. Nothing to do with complicated versus simple, just different. The drivers in multimode LEDs are what are complicated !!

I appreciate you don't like the motor vehicle style switching mechanics on a bicycle. That doesn't mean they are wrong.

 

[Old_Dave]

objective academic analysis of lighting options and power supply which I've been focusing on trying to understand

Of course to anyone with a back ground in things electronic / electrical / automotive the task undertaken by Alex is a bit of pi** and could be done whilst asleep, blind folded and with one arm tied behind ones back... whilst standing on one leg, rolling a cigarette and singing god save the queen.

However... to some one who hasn't got electricky skills the only way to learn is by asking and asking and asking until the penny's drops, unfortunately as well as the basics, Alex has been trying to get his head around things like constant current / constant voltage effects on leds and their drivers which can be difficult even for some electricians to grasp

With learning comes wisdom, and learning means asking questions

 

[tillson]

Well if you are learning as you go along Alex, no one can criticise you for that. It's only by delving into the unknown that we do learn. More power to your elbow.

 

[Scimitar]

Alex, this is the most insufferably tedious bike build ever known to mankind, not even the great Dostoevsky on a really bad day could be as boring as your light switching/aiming/siting problem and I have to say that your weeping procrastination and incessant indeterminism is unfair on humanity as a whole and 'Pedelecs' in particular. Really, after 798 different suggestions and 220 000 views, maybe it is time for you to bite the bullet and visit Halfords for a satisfactory solution to your night vision difficulties.

Damn. Has that big forum brute being forcing you to read it?
Down, Mongo! Down, I tell you!
Don't force reading!

 

[hech]

Hi Alex, hope you will excuse my foolish and intemperate comment late last night. As no doubt you are aware, dipsomania is always most acute on a full moon, which is ironic as the bright lunar light these last couple of nights is more than adequate for bicycling. Keep up the good work. h

 

[103Alex1]

^^ Pretty much similar story to the last time, hech. As you'll see from another thread I have more serious issues to worry my little head about.

I put myself on a ban of sending e-mails to work colleagues after a few too many drams many moons ago - got fed up grovelling in the morning ... have tried to carry forward the same approach to forum posts.

It might get worse before it gets better btw ... so might be as well to look away when you see 103A.. for next few weeks to spare yerself the torment