Niterider digital patrol led conversion

[leo84]

Guys I recently purchased a used nightrider digital patrol light setup and I am wanting to see about converting to LED if possible. I am using the light for my assignment in bike patrol for my PD. The system consists of a 13.2 volt water bottle battery. There are two bulbs at 20 watt flood that runs only at 20 watts and a 12 watt spot that runs at 12 watts, 9 watts, and 6 watts. The modes it can run in are below.

Mode #==== ===12 watt bulb== ==== 20 watt bulb====
1 On- 12 watts Off
2 On- 9 watts Off
3. On- 6 Watts Off
4. On- 12 watts On- 20 watts
5. Wig Wag Flash On- 12 watts flash On- 20 watts flash

Heres a video (not mine but same system) showing the modes.
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The light is controlled by a digital keypad. I believe the bulbs are mr11's but not for sure, pic below.

What I want to get is the ability to run LED replacements in what would be the equivelent of the 12 watt bulb at 12 watts for 12 hours (my shifts are 12 hours) if possible. The 20 watt I would like to get a brighter LED conversion for but if thats not possible then I can leave that one as halogen as its normally not on, however it would be great to be able to run that as an LED also. The only concern is that the actual light housing is a very high quality plastic so heat dispersion could be an issue. I would think making a new front piece out of metal is an option to make into a heatsink type device. Also the front glass of the bulb is the part that is exposed to the outside so I many have to make a lens for the new led if there is a high quality drop in that can withstand the rigors of bike patrol use. The bikes take alot of abuse from jumping curbs to getting laid down hard to riding up and down stairs.

Is there anything out there that meets these requirements already or is it something I am going to have something custom made for. If custom what would be a good source for a vendor to manufactuer same. Also im planning on building an Li-Ion battey back for this at some point with a new rapid charger but for right now the battery pack I have runs great.

Thanks,
Mike

Pics: below

Basically from all the research ive done im not finding a similar brightness solution and am concerned on if it will effect the flash pattern, but not for sure on that one.

I can make a heatsink out of the siren mount on the bottom and tie the bolts that go into the housing to the LED emmitters somehow I would think. Maybe some thick copper wire ran to the bolts for the bracket from the light housing. And also fin the angle bracket (make it out of aluminum.

 

[AnAppleSnail]

The first question is: Can you use the control circuitry in the Niterider package? To get the most out of an LED, you want constant-current regulation. If your batteries aren't the limiting factor, their voltage will drive too much current through the LED, killing it. The current through a cree jumps about 25% when driving it 0.1 volts over spec. If you consider that the current goes through the hair-thin bond wires (JUST visible on the LED), it's no wonder that many modders toast LEDs electrically. To answer the first question, use a multimeter and check the voltage at the bulb socket (with the bulb in and the light on). Incandescent lights that are regulated want constant-voltage, because the filament has a fixed resistance (V=IR, and too much I will kill a filament). So, LED = constant current, incandescent = constant voltage. Without knowing how the Niterider sets levels, it'd be hard to design an LED light to use its controls.

Heat will be an enemy. A moving bicycler will want something like (broad rule of thumb) 1 to 2 square inches of exposed metal per watt of LED. As LEDs get hotter they become dimmer, and at high temperatures they die faster. The best DIY bikelight housings are a slug of metal with holes drilled for wires and a cover for the LED - all waterproofed. It'd be easy to attach a metal housing to the plastic; you definitely won't reach plastic-melting temperatures there with a functioning LED.

Why do you want to make it LED instead? Brighter, longer runtime on the battery, coolness? If you don't mind losing the wigwag and can do a bit of wiring, connect a multimode flashlight head that you like to your bike, waterproofly wire a battery pack of near-appropriate voltage to it, and you're done.

 

[leo84]

The first question is: Can you use the control circuitry in the Niterider package? To get the most out of an LED, you want constant-current regulation. If your batteries aren't the limiting factor, their voltage will drive too much current through the LED, killing it. The current through a cree jumps about 25% when driving it 0.1 volts over spec. If you consider that the current goes through the hair-thin bond wires (JUST visible on the LED), it's no wonder that many modders toast LEDs electrically. To answer the first question, use a multimeter and check the voltage at the bulb socket (with the bulb in and the light on). Incandescent lights that are regulated want constant-voltage, because the filament has a fixed resistance (V=IR, and too much I will kill a filament). So, LED = constant current, incandescent = constant voltage. Without knowing how the Niterider sets levels, it'd be hard to design an LED light to use its controls.

Heat will be an enemy. A moving bicycler will want something like (broad rule of thumb) 1 to 2 square inches of exposed metal per watt of LED. As LEDs get hotter they become dimmer, and at high temperatures they die faster. The best DIY bikelight housings are a slug of metal with holes drilled for wires and a cover for the LED - all waterproofed. It'd be easy to attach a metal housing to the plastic; you definitely won't reach plastic-melting temperatures there with a functioning LED.

Why do you want to make it LED instead? Brighter, longer runtime on the battery, coolness? If you don't mind losing the wigwag and can do a bit of wiring, connect a multimode flashlight head that you like to your bike, waterproofly wire a battery pack of near-appropriate voltage to it, and you're done.

I need the wig wag, same brightness (brighter would be nice though as long as I can still dial it down) but still adjustable (if possible), and want longer run time (12 hours with the lower wattage bulb running at 12 watt equivelency would the ideal). Im not worried about heatsinking, I think that is the easy part to fabricate even if I have to open up the bottom of the light and graft a heatsink on. My expierence with LED's is basically limited to my malkoff and the surefire led modules. I am pretty decent at soldering and fabricating items. I can get the voltage out of my lights but I sent them off to niterider since im having them fix an issue with the cord on one and convert the other one over to a digital patrol at the same time. I may have to get a better multimeter to get a current reading though since my current one does not do amps. Why i didnt get the better model is beyond me.

As far as wattage goes not really sure would at least like to get the same amount of light would be fine as it is perfectly bright when running at full power . Especially with both lamps running its very very bright with the current hallogens, however the runtime goes to crap.