Hi Folks,
For a few years I've used a Bell Muni 'city' helmet which has mounts front and rear for the tiny Blackburn Flea 'be seen' safety lights. I like the concept of these little lights - they're very small and have just enough output to gain a bit of extra attention at night without blinding other riders or drivers. Overall I've been happy with the helmet and the Flea rear light, which has proved easy to remove and charge. However the Flea front has always been a problem. It has a somewhat insecure and fragile slide-on mount on the visor and has not always worked reliably. It has now failed altogether. I've taken it apart and noted what appear to be powder-like corrosion products on the board where the battery is connected. I suspect that the battery has failed I plan to put in a new coin cell just to establish that this is the case and that the charging/discharge circuits still work OK.
However my longer-term plan is to get rid of the coin cell altogether and connect the front light to an external battery and charge/battery protection board. I already have an 800ma tagged Li-ion 14500 cell which nestles in quite neatly to one of the helmet's rear vent openings. My plan is to:
- find a suitably small USB charge/battery protection board
- connect it to the battery along with a suitable very short USB connector cable & a lead to the light
- plasti-dip the lot and velcro or otherwise fasten it into a rear vent.
The idea of the short USB cable was just to avoid mechanical stress to the board and to facilitate weather protection. I'd permanently glue the front light to the visor.
So... I've been searching for a suitable USB charge controller/BPC board but it's all getting a bit confusing with a wide range of features (and costs) to contend with. Can anyone recommend one please? It needs to be small, doesn't need to have led charge indicators nor an on-board USB socket. Anyone have experience with this one - is it suitable for my purposes?
Any help much appreciated.
thanks,
Savvas.
For a few years I've used a Bell Muni 'city' helmet which has mounts front and rear for the tiny Blackburn Flea 'be seen' safety lights. I like the concept of these little lights - they're very small and have just enough output to gain a bit of extra attention at night without blinding other riders or drivers. Overall I've been happy with the helmet and the Flea rear light, which has proved easy to remove and charge. However the Flea front has always been a problem. It has a somewhat insecure and fragile slide-on mount on the visor and has not always worked reliably. It has now failed altogether. I've taken it apart and noted what appear to be powder-like corrosion products on the board where the battery is connected. I suspect that the battery has failed I plan to put in a new coin cell just to establish that this is the case and that the charging/discharge circuits still work OK.
However my longer-term plan is to get rid of the coin cell altogether and connect the front light to an external battery and charge/battery protection board. I already have an 800ma tagged Li-ion 14500 cell which nestles in quite neatly to one of the helmet's rear vent openings. My plan is to:
- find a suitably small USB charge/battery protection board
- connect it to the battery along with a suitable very short USB connector cable & a lead to the light
- plasti-dip the lot and velcro or otherwise fasten it into a rear vent.
The idea of the short USB cable was just to avoid mechanical stress to the board and to facilitate weather protection. I'd permanently glue the front light to the visor.
So... I've been searching for a suitable USB charge controller/BPC board but it's all getting a bit confusing with a wide range of features (and costs) to contend with. Can anyone recommend one please? It needs to be small, doesn't need to have led charge indicators nor an on-board USB socket. Anyone have experience with this one - is it suitable for my purposes?
Any help much appreciated.
thanks,
Savvas.
