Universal Dynamo Setup to accept most lights

[Notsure Fire]

I've tried searching a bit but gathering all the information that I need for my specific setup is really difficult.

While making this post, I did some research. I thought that at first I wanted to take a dynamo generator for a bike, and use some circuits to adapt the power into a form that an eneloop AA battery would accept. I wanted the eneloop to be seated in my MTE 1xAA flashlight. But I realized that this mod would actually be too hard for me to complete.

What I basically am interested in Now, is a reliable dynamo assembly for a regular bike. I need to keep this project on a budget.

After seeing this auction. I wondered what could be done with this schwinn generator setup. I see that the body of the headlight is metal. Hopefully, inside the body is also metal. Has anyone done any mods to this dynamo assembly?
http://cgi.ebay.com/GENERATOR-BICYCLE-BULLET-LIGHT-STYLE-SCHWINN-OTHERS_W0QQitemZ250141870130QQihZ015QQcategoryZ22689QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

I'm interested in picking a powerful LED that could be powered by the generator with the least modding work. At first, I'd like to see what I could make of this generator by just swapping the incandescent bulb for an efficient CREE or SSC emitter. After that, if I see that it's not too complicated, I might go into more advanced modding such as adding a small battery to store the excess power, adding modes to the LED, perhaps even utilizing an SSC P7, and sweet things like that.

Please, if you have some knowledge, share it so that I can make a "Great Success" too

 

[ktronik]

Dyno is the way to go...

This is my dyno setup...& my hybird powered LED light

6 /Q5 cree, driven by a martin 6 LED auto switcher ( on the down tube ) or a Maxflex 2.0 via a 14.4v battery...

Its about 850lm output Max...

heaps of dynamo info in this forum if you know where to dig...

See www.pilom.com for how to drive leds off hub dynamos.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=169531




Ktronik

 

[Notsure Fire]

I'm really interested in taking something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/GENERATOR-BICYCLE-BULLET-LIGHT-STYLE-SCHWINN-OTHERS_W0QQitemZ380028572077QQihZ025QQcategoryZ22689QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And switching the incan bulb in it for a high power bulb. I am in no way as advanced as some of you guys are, having seen some of the mods done here. At first I just want to try to add maybe a circuit if needed and a modern LED to be powered by this cheap dynamo setup. Does anyone know what is required for this specific mod?

 

[ktronik]

See www.pilom.com for how to drive leds off hub / bottle (what you have) dynamos.

& use a 'drop in' LED... it look like a bulb & has a bulb fitting... ( ebay ) this is the easiest option

K

 

[n4zou]

it's best to simply start from scratch when your building an LED headlight. You can get optics here.
http://www.luxeonstar.com/category.php?id=121&link_str=121
Make sure you order optics that Fits Lambertian LEDs as all the high power LED's from DX use Lambertian domes. You do not need to melt the legs as shown in the link at the above site. Hot glue around the legs on the back side of the heat sink works fine and allows pealing it off for upgrading to brighter LED's when available.
Get your LED's and if battery powered drivers as well.
http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.917
This LED will fit the above optics and produces a very bright light even when powered with a dynamo.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.2394

I used a standard wet location outdoor aluminum electrical outlet box and cover.
There is a clear plastic cover between the cover and optics to waterproof the internal LED assembly. The aluminum box is also used as a heat sink with copper straps bleeding heat from the copper sheet metal heat sink the LED's and optics on which they are attached. A bridge rectifier and 1,000uF capacitor are on the perf board. this allows direct connection of the light to a dynamo and allows an external battery pack to be attached with proper driver circuits of course without regard to polarity. I use one 15X30 elliptical and one 10 degree narrow optic. Here are photos of my setup.

This light is on my touring bike so I did not want even the slight drag of a hub dynamo so I used a Schwinn bottle type type dynamo I only paid $7 for.