rode my bike today with MCE modded L4, dedicated bikelight build

I need more light!

I parked by bicycle in the garage three years ago, when I graduated from high school and had to drive to campus because it requires going over a couple bridges on the highway.

While cleaning out the garage I found the darn thing under a couple layers of tarp thrown over from previous hurricane emergencies. So i took it out, pumped up the tires, lubed the chain, made sure the brakes contacted, lubed the gears, made sure the differential shifter was free of dirt, lubed the sprockets. After adjusting the seat and mounting the L4 on the handlebars I'm off...and crashed when I nailed a dent in the pavement.

dang...I've grown fat:candle:
Then its riding fine, soon the daylight dimmed to almost nothing [:devil:] and the KL4 putting a even ball of light with some spare spill around. For good measure I clipped my zebralite to the rear brake reflector and rode down the streets for only a couple miles.

at ~10 mph there's enough air flow for that KL4 to stay warm enough to be held in my hand but as soon as I slow to jogging pace it would become burning hot...not only is there a thermal issue, the wide reflector of the L4 cannot support my full peripheral vision and I got swatted by a low branch in the face because it was around a curve and just outside the beam corona. Since the light was clipped onto the front brake line and wedged between the handlebar and the rear brake line the light would pivot left and right whenever I turn, so I never know whats ahead of me until I run into it.

I think the verdict is clear, [pardon the caps but...] I NEED MORE LIGHT!:devil:
but not so much that I start competing with car's.

Now I'm thinking of building a dedicated light for the bike now

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

Then you need a helmet mounted light
http://chows.smugmug.com/photos/162921717-M.jpg


and a handlebar setup like these!!!!!!!
http://www.ruscelli.com/biking_fenix.htm

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

Illum said:

I think the verdict is clear, [pardon the caps but...] I NEED MORE LIGHT!:devil:
but not so much that I start competing with car's.

Now I'm thinking of building a dedicated light for the bike now

Click to expand...

Well, you're certainly in the right place!

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

well, I've seen many projects here sporting quad or more LEDs..
On a power-saving/KISS note, I think more LEDs doesn't necessarily mean its better, I think using a few LEDs at certain places might aid to a better advantage.


LOL

I totally forgot about that pic

For now I'm thinking of using 3 LEDs pointing forward:
MCE with LEDlil boomerang reflector for flood
XRE Q4 with 20mm Plain Tight Carclo Lens for throw

I could use some ideas to mount a 1-1/2" L bracket [I'm just using what I have here] onto a round handlebar and some ideas to power it if its all wired in series [6 dies total, ~20V, 350ma preferred, but I wouldn't mind if it went down to 200ma]

I was able to test out the E2L and on high its pretty much what I was hoping for.

As for the tail end I have a spare LXHL-MD1D I could mount to something and resistor it to drive at very low current.

Parts I have currently that could be used for this project
5" of 1-1/2"x1/16" L bracket
2 XRE Q4 "cool white" stars
1 MCE NW "320 Lumen" star [series circuit]
2 Luxdrive 350ma Micropucks
1 12V 3AH SLA
1 spare mag85 battery pack 9AA Eneloop

Now that I graduated from my community college they've taken my software privileges away...so now I can't even put illustrate my ideas by software modeling now ='(
I'm thinking of mounting everything to the existing stock reflector out front, since my bike handle pivots a bit I figured I don't need a secondary pivoting device added on to the wear and tear list. The "light engine" and wiring schematics is [very terribly sketched in a spare hour] shown on the picture shot. The rear red luxeon will be mounted in place of the rear reflector as well. does anyone know of a flasher IC that can be wired linearly to the luxeon and be able to take 150ma of current?

Oh well, I suppose a hand drawn one wouldn't be too bad. Don't complain about the inconsistencies, its been 4 years since I last drafted anything by hand

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

Just my .02c. (Over the past month I've started building lights and I've worked my way up from 2 'C' alkaline direct drive, 2 and 3 eneloops, 500ma micropuck, 800ma boards. Not that this means much but I feel I've got a good sense of low output under driven emitters.)
I've got the luxdrive HO 500ma micropucks. Don't get me wrong, I think it's an awesome little driver and I love the little AA light I made with it. But, for urban cycling, you're really gonna want more output. With an optic I'd say 500ma is minimum to get decent range. You've got things like street lights and house lights keep your eyes from dark adjusting fully to your nicely constructed beam pattern.
Have a look at the MG PLI for an mc-e bike light. It goes for a medium distance with its deep reflector. I'd suggest this as the best use for mc-e on a bike. Close flood isn't really needed as the mc-e is naturally floody enough. Try and throw it some.
the xpg's, imho it's hard to turn these into decent spots, your cycling equivalent of high beams. While we all know they work nicely for a torch, cycling you'll want a wide beam dispersion at distance, but the horizontal target (the road) is a **** poor reflector. It's a lot easier to shine lights at vertical white walls than horizontal black roads. At low the only thing I've found so far is an aspheric, defocused ~40%. It makes a uniform beam that is tight enough to be revealing at 30feet.

re: output - the afformentioned PLI is 350ma on low (1000 medium, 2400 high)
fyi two 2009 micro-pucks can be parralelled to boost output.
keep it up, especially the drafted plans. I'm interested to see what you come up with.

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

I would recommend doing a P7 Mag mod, or getting something like this: http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=8681

~Brian

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

linger said:

But, for urban cycling, you're really gonna want more output. With an optic I'd say 500ma is minimum to get decent range. You've got things like street lights and house lights keep your eyes from dark adjusting fully to your nicely constructed beam pattern.

Click to expand...

Around where I live, the roadlights taper off from being one per telephone pole to about one per 5 telephone poles and the best illumination for over a 2 mile stretch is little LED garden lights from a nearby trailer community.
Come to think of it, we are pretty rural if you want to consider it as an "urban community"

Have a look at the MG PLI for an mc-e bike light. It goes for a medium distance with its deep reflector. I'd suggest this as the best use for mc-e on a bike. Close flood isn't really needed as the mc-e is naturally floody enough. Try and throw it some.

Click to expand...

At this point instead of buying more stuff I figured whatever I can do to dispose or use up what I have is in the best interest of my inventory, but :thanks: though I'll make sure to look into that. Always good to know theres a side option
From the beamshots of the MG PLI review, it looks alot like what I saw with my KL4-MCE. I figured since I won't be riding fast for very long [still fat] that maybe throw is not the utter most importance than flood, depending on the power supply capabilities and wiring constraints I might have an array of discrete 5mm LEDs whose sole purpose is to illuminate the gear differentials [just about the only thing that could break that hasn't already broke on this bike] and the ground underneath the bike. If that goes well maybe I can avoid the need to wire the luxeon out back...those buggers are quite dazzling even at 150ma

the xpg's, imho it's hard to turn these into decent spots, your cycling equivalent of high beams. While we all know they work nicely for a torch, cycling you'll want a wide beam dispersion at distance, but the horizontal target (the road) is a **** poor reflector. It's a lot easier to shine lights at vertical white walls than horizontal black roads. At low the only thing I've found so far is an aspheric, defocused ~40%. It makes a uniform beam that is tight enough to be revealing at 30feet.

Click to expand...

Whats the word on these "elliptical" optics some LED distributers sell around here?

fyi two 2009 micro-pucks can be parralelled to boost output.
keep it up, especially the drafted plans. I'm interested to see what you come up with.

Click to expand...

Yep, I noted the icropucks ability to be paralleled, while on the fairly simple side of things the efficiency averages about 78%...which I think due to the nature of boost circuits, could use a little more thought on.

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

Illum said:

Parts I have currently that could be used for this project
5' of 1-1/2"x1/16" L bracket
2 XRE Q4 "cool white" stars
1 MCE NW "320 Lumen" star [series circuit]
2 Luxdrive 350ma Micropucks
1 12V 3AH SLA
1 spare mag85 battery pack 9AA Eneloop

Click to expand...

I'd use the two micropucks with 4 of your eneloops. Hook them up into the Parallel, Boost circuit and drive the two XR-Es(same as the Luxeon V in the app notes):
http://www.leddynamics.com/LuxDrive/content/Page_Micro_App.html#Two 2009s Paralleling, Boost

Switch one of them so you get a dual mode light. 200/400lm.

Optics, these guys from Kai
http://www.kaidomain.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=5253
These are a very nice beam for a road light.

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

znomit said:

I'd use the two micropucks with 4 of your eneloops. Hook them up into the Parallel, Boost circuit and drive the two XR-Es(same as the Luxeon V in the app notes):
http://www.leddynamics.com/LuxDrive/content/Page_Micro_App.html#Two%202009s%20Paralleling,%20Boost

Switch one of them so you get a dual mode light. 200/400lm.

Click to expand...

thats a wonderful idea, with one issue. I would have to set the batteries to a 2S2P configuration. If its set at 4S1P the resulting voltage will be 6V, if I shutdown one of the two micropucks I will immediately burn the other one out [3Vin max]
With two parallel micropucks that'll give ~315ma to each LED and draw about 900ma from the eneloops, connectively. For conservative estimates 1A current draw from 2S2P eneloops, thats still over 3 and a half hours of runtime

I'm inclined to begin the whole bikelight build with just 2 XREs until I can figure out how to power the MCE

The mockup sucked because my entire scale is offset, I redrew the idea with real scale [graph paper is 1/4"]


Heres my idea for now:
Disassemble the stock front reflector of the bike from the handlebars and mount a L bracket on trimmed to approx 3.5" long, with the bottom of the L on top where heatsinks with fins parallel to the road will be epoxied onto.

A picture of the front might be better than me trying to explain things, the pedstal is mounted in the rear of the L bracket holding footprints for three stars.


From the front, the two paired stars to the right will be the approximate place for two XREs.

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

Illum said:

Whats the word on these "elliptical" optics some LED distributers sell around here?

Click to expand...

I dunno. It'd be interesting to see how it works aligned vertically.

re: build your own - I could have been more clear. I named that light as an example of a successful application of the mc-e emitter, an example to consider when designing your own.

re: micro-pucks - yeah, while versatile they aren't multi-mode compatable. Seems you get one configuration choice and have to wire it in, but no option of switching while in use.

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

I think 2 TK-40s mounted on your handle bars would do quite nicely.IMO.

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

Lightcrazycanuck said:

I think 2 TK-40s mounted on your handle bars would do quite nicely.IMO.

Click to expand...

not to mention blowing out the budget.
I have to keep in mind that the bike was bought for $100 originally...

Seeing these LED bike lights reminds me of the time when I installed a $50 Everled in a $1 Eveready

the build is totalling [2x(Q4 stars $7.50) + 2x(Micropucks $10) + 1x(4 Eneloop AAs $10)] = $45 not including salvaged parts or hardware

After testing the paralleled micropucks and a simulated road condition in a windowless shed I think the previous value of 350ma might not be enough for a floodlight, so now I'm looking around for a 1A capable boost/buck driver that I can share the current between two LEDs.

Also....keeping things simple I'll be using two Q4s only, and keeping the MCE for something else, there is simply not enough thermally absorbing mass available on the light "body" to dissipate the heat created if I drive it at spec. If I don't drive it at spec then it would be too costly compared to just using XREs.

Since I have no control how long this bike can remain functional [there's a layer of rust on almost everywhere] I'm keeping the build to a low footprint and can easily be disassembled and installed on another bike.
Two main parts:
*Light engine mounted on a handlebar mount for the stock reflector
*Driver/power supply installed in an ABS enclosure to ensure water resistance in the event of a downpour

the "light engine" hardware part is done...


LED placements marked with sharpie


Proposed heatsink areas [soon epoxied], the center top part I might mount a small enclosure holding a switch and the micropucks in.


One of my Q4s went missing and I'm missing part A of my arctic alumina

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

Illum said:

thats a wonderful idea, with one issue. I would have to set the batteries to a 2S2P configuration. If its set at 4S1P the resulting voltage will be 6V, if I shutdown one of the two micropucks I will immediately burn the other one out [3Vin max]
With two parallel micropucks that'll give ~315ma to each LED and draw about 900ma from the eneloops, connectively. For conservative estimates 1A current draw from 2S2P eneloops, thats still over 3 and a half hours of runtime

Click to expand...

The datasheet isn't set up very well.
the 1-3V is for a single led, with two XR-Es the battery voltage for 4 cells will be below the LED Vf.
You can see the chart goes up to 6V input for the luxV. Note the drivers are in parallel so they always see the full battery voltage.

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

I've set it back up in parallel and hit it with 6V...:wow:
just simply a wow, apparently I was under driving the micropucks at 3V

for the purpose of night time navigation, what tint of LEDs do you guys usually prefer? neutral or cool white?

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

Illum said:

I'll set it back up in parallel and hit it with 6V...hopefully I'll see some sort of increase and be impressed

Click to expand...

Make sure the XR-Es are in series or

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

znomit said:

The datasheet isn't set up very well.
the 1-3V is for a single led, with two XR-Es the battery voltage for 4 cells will be below the LED Vf.
You can see the chart goes up to 6V input for the luxV. Note the drivers are in parallel so they always see the full battery voltage.

Click to expand...

Can you explain this again for me?
I've gone over the 4 configurations on the data sheet but I don't follow you (obviously if you say there is an issue with the sheet)

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

Illum said:

what tint of LEDs do you guys usually prefer? neutral or cool white?

Click to expand...

Actually cool. I know, I only use warm for anything wilderness, but I find the black ashphalt (or pot-holes there-in) shows up best with cool. Nailbender warm mc-e dropin with the mg pli driver, and a cool mg pli. YMMV, this was not done with exactly equal output, as my warm tints have less output than their sister cools, but both I have the same driver in both lights.

Re: rode my bike today with MCE modded L4

linger said:

Can you explain this again for me?
I've gone over the 4 configurations on the data sheet but I don't follow you (obviously if you say there is an issue with the sheet)

Click to expand...

See figure 11.
http://www.leddynamics.com/LuxDrive/content/Page_Micro_App.html#Two 2009s Paralleling, Boost
The thick line shows the input/output for a luxV (equivalent to two XR-Es in series).

As long as the input voltage is below the led Vf (~6-7V) you'll be ok.

linger said:

Actually cool. I know, I only use warm for anything wilderness, but I find the black ashphalt (or pot-holes there-in) shows up best with cool.

Click to expand...

While looking for the missing Q4, I found a neutral white CREE star...so I was under the dilemma of whether to order another Q4 or another NW to pair up.
I have also found a couple of these, XRE 8 degree optics with holders [bought for a failed attempt to retrofit a 6V lantern]...they seem to work well from my rather primitive tests, I'll try them on before seeing if I need new optics


Input is wired in parallel, which allows the input of 6V between two micropucks. The output, on the other hand, is wired in parallel but that would mean output voltage is for one LED at twice the drive current, not twice the output voltage at single LED current...:thinking:

Illum said:

I have also found a couple of these, XRE 8 degree optics with holders [bought for a failed attempt to retrofit a 6V lantern]...they seem to work well from my rather primitive tests, I'll try them on before seeing if I need new optics

Input is wired in parallel, which allows the input of 6V between two micropucks. The output, on the other hand, is wired in parallel but that would mean output voltage is for one LED at twice the drive current, not twice the output voltage at single LED current...:thinking:

Click to expand...

Those are the same optics as I linked at Kai (but I bet you paid more than a buck each for them).

I think I have a few micropucks around, I'll wire up the circuit when I get time and run some efficiency tests too.
I'm actually a little annoyed I didn't use that config in my dual helmet light. Instead I powered each separately.
The micropucks are still the smallest drivers out there as far as I know so are useful for microscopic builds, even if the efficiency sucks.