MR11 lighting project potential?

[kristiancyclist]

Nashbar recently had a sale on Minoura Swing Grip accessory bars. I picked one up for more light mounting potential. It mounts real nice to my tall folding steerer tube of my Downtube folding bike.

I also have a MR11 based bike light fixture. It's an older ViewPoint (Performance bike shop brand) fixture. It can hold two bulbs and each bulb can be individually turned on or off. Here's a pic of it mounted on the Swing Grip, with the Swing Grip mounted on my steerer tube.

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I'd like to find a solid and bright LED based MR11 bulb that is not oversized. This fixture can barely swallow a standard halogen bulb! Most MR11 bulbs I have seen on eBay are made for wide flood patterns (60 degrees) and they are too big. Are there any MR11 bulbs that make a tight hot spot?

Or am I doomed to find nothing?

-- Boris

 

[matt303]

You might just be able to squeeze a cutter upgrade in if the housing is metal, I managed to fit (with some filing and grinding) a cutter upgrade and driver PCB into some electron MR11 lights.

 

[kristiancyclist]

Do you have a link for that cutter upgrade board? I did a search for "cutter lights" and got a bunch links for cigar lighters and cutters.

-- Boris

 

[snaps]

The link to the Cutter kit is on this lights thread http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/read.php?f=2&i=3808460&t=3808377#reply_3808460

 

[oa330man]

I also have a MR11 based bike light fixture. It's an older ViewPoint (Performance bike shop brand) fixture. <snip>
I'd like to find a solid and bright LED based MR11 bulb that is not oversized.

You've got a Marwi NightPro clone.

Cheers over at MTBR wrote up some info on his conversion to a Triple LED.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=363044

There's another link there on someone else who did the same thing, but used a copper pipe end-piece.

My personal opinion is that you should strip it of parts (mount, switch, cables) and either a) make a housing or b) find someone on this (or MTBR) forum to make one for a price.

 

[kristiancyclist]

I took a look at the Cutter website. That's a pretty expensive kit to make a "bulb". I was hoping to find a $30 bulb or something like that. The kit starts at $68 US!

Hmmm.. I might have to reconsider the fixture's potential.

-- Boris

 

[russellg]

Matt303,

Any tips for modifying the electrons? I'm planning the exact same thing, I have bought the 4-led cutter kit and 3 Led cutter kit, one set for each.

I also plan to pop a capacitor in there as I would like to run them from a Dynamo.

Do you think there will be room?

 

[matt303]

The main problem I found was getting the LED PCB to fit which in the end required me to file the edge of the PCB down and dremel the inside of the housing wit a sanding drum. The driver PCB is floating around wrapped in insulation tape ( I used a fatMan ), not sure you'll fit a cap of any size in there along with a driver PCB. Really I should have put a metal plate on the back of the LED PCB to increase the contact area and improve heat conduction to the housing. I think you'll be pushing it a bit heat wise with a quad LED setup if you drive it at 1000mA, I run my triple at around 700mA which seems to stay at a reasonable temperature on my normally cold night rides.