MCE Triple Bike light BEAMSHOTS

[trout]

I have just finished my triple MCE stem mounted bike light and wanted to share it with the world


The Troutlight beamshots out on the trail

The Camera settings are as MTBR spec
I have reversed the direction to put my van in the picture for a comparison on size and distance
the objects are the same as the other beamshot pics but no Hivis stuff thistime.
Distance to the van is 100 metres

TRIPLE MCE - TROUTLIGHT
MAXFLEX SET @ 1200MA
HI - LO

A SINGLE MCE WITH CARCLO TIGHT 25 MM OPTIC
DRIVER 700 MA BUCKPUCK - one brightness only

AND FOR A COMPARISON
CUTTER QUAD Q5 WITH NARROW OPTIC
NFLEX @ 1000 MA HI - LO

THEN FOR A LAUGH OUT TO 200 METRES
THE SAME ORDER AS ABOVE

AND FULL ON DOWNHILL MODE i WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE RIDER WHO CAN OUT RIDE THESE LIGHTS

One conclusion from all this is the CUTTER QUAD / NARROW OPTIC / Q5
Is a fantastic bike light

 

[snaps]

Great work!
I've just started modding 3 Marwi nightpro MR11 halogens to take a quad with narrow & a quad with medium lens for the bars & a triple with narrow lens for the helmet, all driven at 700ma - seeing your pics should encourage me to finish them ASAP (hopefully before the clocks change)

 

[ifor powell]

Great stuff. Which my mce's would turn up, which I had not ordered all the different optict to play with...

What are the optics for the Triple Mce?

Can we have some close ups on the light? Whats tha final weight? how hot sitting still? actualy on the move?

Personaly from the picturs I would be feeling slightly disapointed...

Ifor

 

[trout]

Great stuff. Which my mce's would turn up, which I had not ordered all the different optict to play with...

What are the optics for the Triple Mce?

Can we have some close ups on the light? Whats tha final weight? how hot sitting still? actualy on the move?

Personaly from the picturs I would be feeling slightly disapointed...

Ifor

So many questions Ifor.
Weight the completed light which replaces the stem faceplate is 165 gms
the hope face plate is 24 gms

Optics that is the area I am disapointed in they are carclo frosted tight and 2 frosted narrow and the holders need their bottoms modding because they foul the solderpads on the stars so will buy preconfigured stars in future. for narrow optics they do a good flood job so for my light these get a :thumbsdow

How hot - just before I fitted it to the bike I ran it on full power on the bench in still air and it got as hot as I was prepared to let it in 2mins 20 secs only using my fingers for temp meter

I have had it running on full now for 20 minutes in the same still air and the light is just luke warm so I am more than happy that the bars can sink the heat away fast enough

pics can be seen here http://photobucket.com/trouts-pics



Disapointed no way I am delighted with how it has turned out
but if/when some better optics come out then they will get replaced.

I wish I had ordered more optics to play with

first ride hopefully tonight

 

[dom]

Great effort Trout.
Been following your thread at MTBR as well (as i'm sure many people are) -sorry about no input but you seemed well covered

So you didn't get any of the elliptical optics? I liked the look of the beam from the larger (25mm?) optic on the Carclo spec sheet.
Would be a good flood for road/trail rides and use the quad Q5 for helmet.

Well done.
Cheers
Dom

 

[Momato]

Yes, well done!

I agree with the quad R2 but I think the
"A SINGLE MCE WITH CARCLO TIGHT 25 MM OPTIC
DRIVER 700 MA BUCKPUCK - one brightness only"
looks pretty good too!

Could you maybe describe (or link) to how you did the lights?

I am still at the triple R2 level - feel free to check my Mag-mod thread

Best regards, Morten

 

[ifor powell]

Thanks for the answers trout.

An effectiv 141 grams and no heat problems if you stop is indeed a very good result. The bars as heatsink concept is clearly working very nicely. Have you got a dry contact or is there thermal paste?

Yes it was the optics I was refering to with regard to disapointment, the rest of the concept is clearly working magnificently.

I suspect that none of the smaller optics are going to work out too well for the Mce, whereas the 25mm one you have there is doing a very nice job...

My setup for the night stage at the Polaris the other week (which ended up being canceled) was well mesy with a map board and then a double and a triple mounted below the bars there was no space at all. With your setup things would of been so much neeter just the map board added...

Ifor

 

[trout]

Great effort Trout.
Been following your thread at MTBR as well (as i'm sure many people are) -sorry about no input but you seemed well covered

So you didn't get any of the elliptical optics? I liked the look of the beam from the larger (25mm?) optic on the Carclo spec sheet.
Would be a good flood for road/trail rides and use the quad Q5 for helmet.

Well done.
Cheers
Dom

Thanks Dom
I did order an eliptical but it was not in stock so it missed the boat
But it is well floody as it is but not ridden yet so the jury is still out

cheers Morten
get a six pack of beer and go read this
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=427669&page=14
The whole sad tale is there.



Ifor
I have put some paste on the bar /light interface

I have plans for a twin using the Ledil EVA 35 mm optics also

 

[Momato]

Thanks - already been there

Actually, I am most interested in the single MC-E. How are you running that?

I would like to run it from a 14.8 V li-ion, but I cannot figure out what constant current circuit to use?
I guess I would need to run it 2s2p so I do not get too high Vf?

Best regards, Morten

 

[Zero_Enigma]

Trout,

I love those lights and the crazy lighting. Holy crap.. DO WANT!!! This thread is fricking -SAVED-!

'I love you man... ' Wayne's World.


How is the temp on the tri-MCE? Stand still say 5-10 min temp readings? Did I say I love you man? I love you man!

When I come to England make sure you point the bike upwards. :laughing:

 

[Nos]

wooooaaaah crazy :green:



............wow

thats for sharing, thats a nice project :twothumbs ..... short on time....

thats just awesome, will comment later

 

[trout]

Thanks - already been there

Actually, I am most interested in the single MC-E. How are you running that?

I would like to run it from a 14.8 V li-ion, but I cannot figure out what constant current circuit to use?
I guess I would need to run it 2s2p so I do not get too high Vf?

Best regards, Morten

Hi Morten
I just threw together an mce in an old housing I had with a 700 ma buckpuck and an 18 v drill battery .
the MCE wired in series and its VF was 12.32 .
I would be happy to run it with a Bflex and a 14.8 Li ion you would get a reasonable runtime before it went out of reg and then still enough light to get you home .
I have been running a quad like that since they came out and my rides are about 3 hours . mind you I do dim it when climbing and on the road .

 

[trout]

Trout,

I love those lights and the crazy lighting. Holy crap.. DO WANT!!! This thread is fricking -SAVED-!

'I love you man... ' Wayne's World.


How is the temp on the tri-MCE? Stand still say 5-10 min temp readings? Did I say I love you man? I love you man!

When I come to England make sure you point the bike upwards. :laughing:

Zero there is absolutly no heat problems it has been on full in still air for 20 mins and only just skin temp the bars suck the heat out of the housing so well .
the only thing I dont like is the carclo 20 mm optics they spread the light out to much for my liking
so I will be trying other optics later.

 

[trout]

OK I switched the carclo optics for 3 Ledil XRE optics the square ones in the smooth spot spec
after I had dremeled the corners off

and to me the results and a lot better a tighter beam which I like .

just the Maxflex hi and low settings

my distance markers are too small so
nearest is 35 mtre
furthest is 75 mtrs

 

[Momato]

what beam angles did you go for? It looks like plenty of light from one light, don't even need a helmet mounted one

 

[trout]

what beam angles did you go for? It looks like plenty of light from one light, don't even need a helmet mounted one

Smooth spot s were the ones I chose I would have put a real spot in but I didnot like the hole down the middle of the optic it would fill with muck

 

[greenLED]

OUTSTANDING work, trout!

Is there a chance you could post details of how this light is wired? I'm having trouble picturing where the wires are coming/going to and from inside the light's housing.

Also, how are the optics held in place?

 

[trout]

OUTSTANDING work, trout!

Is there a chance you could post details of how this light is wired? I'm having trouble picturing where the wires are coming/going to and from inside the light's housing.

Also, how are the optics held in place?

I will do my best greenled

First the easy bit This light was built as a bit of a test bed really to see if the stem and handlebars would be ok for the heat removal nothing scientific just a feeling it would cool 3 MCE emmitters without fins and nice and minimalistic
so as I have tried a few optics it has had a fair amount of modding so there will most likley be a mark 2 version when I have ironed out all the details
so the optics are just glued in place with silicon a bit messy but easy to swap them if needed.

The driver for this light is a Taskled Maxflex heatsinked to a piece of copper pipe which is a nice snug fit in to the bike stem .

power coming from a 14.8 volt Li Ion pack in a water bottle .

When powered up from the Maxflex at 1200ma the forward voltage of the package was 18.6 volts

the driver is waterproofed with some silicon and the wires exit the stem through a small hole into the small plastic box .and the 2 wires coming out are the led wires.

A few pics of the early design and construction

The 3 MCE are wired each one 2S2P with the 3 wired in series

Wires then go into the box via small holes in the back of the head and downwards through the mount .
Then some thermal paste and some small bolts hold the 2 parts together.
and some more paste when the light is fitted to the bike and ready to go .


A small shonky video of the light in action




The end result Has far exceded my expectations both in light output and thermal performance

 

[dnlwthrn]

I keep saying to myself how cool this idea really is. Have you given any thought to making the angle of the lights adjustable (maybe they already are)? All it would take is slotting the holes a bit to allow you to rotate the main part (holding the emitters) a few degrees to fine-tune the angle.

 

[Krit]

Cool light and compact design.