TriLux Bike Light

Sawtooth

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Here are some pix of a MagD-based 3x3W luxeon bike light I am working on.
Its not finished yet -- still waiting on a few parts (power cable, UCL lens,
pot /w switch, mount, etc.) -- so I haven't ridden with it yet. But Ive sparked
it up and I'm pretty amazed how bright it is.

dscf4543.jpg

dscf4542.jpg


I'm using 3 TX1K Lux III's, 1000ma BuckPuck (with external pot),
modamag's PTS2-D, IMS20 reflectors. Plan to run on Li-Ion 2400mah
batteries in a water bottle.

Cheers,
Mike
 

LEDcandle

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Looks darn nice... I love cut-down mags... did you buy this like that or did it yourself? You have the capabilities to re-thread?

Nice job and there's more flexibility to bike lights as there's quite a bit of space to play with :D
 

sp5it

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That`s what I`m going to build but mine will be powered from 4xAA and shark driver. Witk external power socket in tailcap. And I will use it as bike light, and as EDC :D
Mike
 

Sawtooth

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LEDcandle said:
Looks darn nice... I love cut-down mags... did you buy this like that or did it yourself? You have the capabilities to re-thread?

Nice job and there's more flexibility to bike lights as there's quite a bit of space to play with :D

Thanks LEDcandle. I cut a Mag 2D down myself with a hacksaw (carefully -- I taped the tube fully with masking tape first). I didn't rethread the tailcap. Instead, I filed down the tailcap threads just until the color disappeared from the lowest depth on the threads. It fits almost perfectly into the cutdown tube. The tailcap is kept in place with a single 4x4mm cup-point set screw I installed in the tube (you can see it in the photo). Since my batteries will be external, I wont need to open it regularly, so I'll seal it with something (maybe just teflon tape or paste will work...).

There is definitely tons of space left inside. You could easily fit multiple drivers in there if you needed to (perhaps for a quad K2 or Lux V or extra heat-sinking??)
 

Sawtooth

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sp5it said:
That`s what I`m going to build but mine will be powered from 4xAA and shark driver. Witk external power socket in tailcap. And I will use it as bike light, and as EDC :D
Mike
Thats cool -- best of both worlds: EDC + long run times if you want!
 

OddBall

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May I suggest sealing it up but putting a bag of that moisture soaking silica gel stuff? I think it might prevent fogging up just in case... :)
 

modamag

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Sawtooth: Nice Job. :twothumbs I like the intriging idea of using set screw to hold the tailcap. Great for those home made mods w/o a lathe :D
 

ktronik

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Nice one!!! Looks great... :rock:

This is what I came up with, running 14w from my dyno hub...


dynopic.jpg



Enjoy

Ktronik
 

Sawtooth

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DUQ said:
Nice job. Beam shots with it on the bike?
Thanks DUQ. I received the UCL (its *much* nicer than the plastic stock 'lens'). I also have a power cord (not the final one though -- I was planning on using the one with a waterproof/lockable connector at batteryspace.com). I am also waiting on a handlebar mount. I have ordered (but not yet received) the Niterider universal handlebar mount which is adjustable in 3 different directions - should be more than adequate (it was also $21 + $8 shipping :-{ ). I will try to get some beam shots soon.
 

Sawtooth

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Krit: It is pretty bright, but maybe Ive been bitten too hard -- I want more! Im thinking a multi K2 is on the horizon....

modamag: Thanks. The set screw seems to work just fine for my application. I think with an appropriate sealant, the light will be essentially waterproof. Probably the weakest part of the seal will be the external pot. Im not at all worried about the approaching monsoons here in New Mexico -- I think the light will be plenty watertight for that...

OddBall: Interesting idea. I grew up on the West Coast of Canada (Victoria, BC) where it rains *alot*. If I were still there I'd be more enthused, but now I live in a high altitude desert where moisture is almost non-existent. I think I'll wait to see if its a problem. However, despite the ad-hoc nature lof the mod, I think its still pretty watertight. I think the external pot might be the weakest link. If it werent for the pot, I dont think Id have too much trouble submerging the light completely. Maybe Ill try it anyway...:grin2:.

ktronik: Thats a very cool mod you have there! :rock: I opted for the longer tube because I wanted the tail pot to be easily accesible behind the handlebars.b
 

Sawtooth

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Here are some photos of the light on my bike -- mounted in two different positions.
It now has a UCL lens, a longer power cord, and a Niterider Universal Mount.
dscf4564.jpg

dscf4550.jpg

dscf4552.jpg

dscf4553.jpg

dscf4554.jpg

dscf4556.jpg

dscf4558.jpg
 

Sawtooth

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I kind of like having the light out of the way under the handlebars. But its probably more effective to mount it above (in terms of illumination that is -- the higher the better).

I have another cutdown Mag-2D (grey color) that I want to use as well, but Im waiting to do it as a quad K2. Ultimately, the pair should be quite bright together. The TriLux III is probably around 230 lumens (3x T-binned Lux III). A 4x U-binned K2 would add another 400lm or so. And a 4x V-binned K2 would add another 480 lm or so. So I could end up with as much as 710lm out of the pair which would would be quite nice. (A light-weight single or double helmet-mounted Lux-V would be a nice addition as well :naughty: ....)
 

Sawtooth

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andrewwynn said:
magnificent, VERY clever solution for the threads.. and is that a pot+switch so works like a radio volume knob? all the way down is off? (that's how i did my http://mega.rouse.com (megasonic)).

-wr
Thanks andrewwynn. The pot+switch I will end up using is still on back-order from Digi-Key . I ordered one without a switch at the same time, so Id have something to put in there. Thats what is in there now. It still 'kinda' works like a switch in the sense that the BuckPuck is designed to be "off" when there is no (or small?) resistance through the pot. So turning it fully CCW turns off the light. I'd rather cut the primary power via a proper switch though (safer)...

I think you can also get multi-ganged pots/switches. These might be useful for dimming multiple drivers with the same knob.
 

andrewwynn

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the buckpuck draws extremely little power when 'disabled'.. but you'll prefer the operation muuuch better if you do this: put a small trim pot internal (or you can use one temporarily to find the resistance and use a resistor..) in series with the dimming pot, so you have a MINIMUM level of maybe 50-100mA.. then use a LOG or AUDIO 5K pot.. they are hard to find, 10K is easier.. put a 10K resistor in parallel with the pot to convert 10K into 5K audio pot (i found one at radio shack with a switch!). I put the main power through the switch on the audio pot with the switch on my megasonic.. check out the pics here: http://rouse.com/mega i think you can see how the pot is attached in the pics.

-awr
 

Sawtooth

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Hi andrewwynn,
Thanks for the suggestion! I agree totally! I had thought of doing exactly that as well. It turns out that there is a threshold minimum current through the Lux IIIs -- i.e. I cant dim them down arbitrarily low. At their dimmest they are dimmer than I would want so it's not a problem, but I do want them to come on as soon as I turn the pot/switch on, so an internal trimpot to set the threshold would be just the ticket. Im currently using linear taper but I think its brightens the output too fast. The solution is exactly as you suggest (log taper + internal trimpots). Using two internal trim pots -- one in parallel with the main pot and one in series with the paralell combo would allow min and max thresholds to be set...
 
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