lights, from the battery pack, tail light, head light

Chas,

Where I ride I have a lot of street lights, visibility in the evenings has,nt been a problem. My battery pack is 24 volts consisting of 4 batteries. So far I hav'nt had a problem in 8 months and 2000 miles keeping them in balance using a single 24 volt charger and I charge all four batteries at the same time. The bulbs are 12 volts, would like to drain the batteries evenly to keep them in balance. I need a tail light and a headlight. So I do need both bulbs to be on at the same time wired in series.

Today it just struck me, if one bulb blows that opens the circuit to where the second bulb turns off. The bulbs are cheap at home depot. Replacing them won't be expensive. Figuring out what to use for lenses is my problem. Those little reflectors on the mr 16's will have to stay clean, and dry. I need a clear lense for the front and a red lense for the rear. And, they can't melt.

Thanks,

chuck

Thanks for the information,

Went to home depot, purchased some electrical connections for emt pipe, wish I had seen the pvc section before I went. Spent $22 on these parts, 2 housings, standoffs, some reducing washers, a switch, electrical rosin core solder. I have a bunch of wire, need to get a fuse, forgot that.

I will be at home depot again today, may switch to the pvc housing. My problem is that the mr 16 bulbs I purchased don't come with lenses.

I am going to try some lenses from some old flash lights for the front light. Maybe just glue a red reflector to the rear light.

Made up one light last night, not real pretty but I think it will be sufficient.

I don't have any soldering skills. Tonight you will all get a good laugh when I show you my soldering irons. Taking Monday off to complete this project.

chuck

First pictures are coming

But first, I need to check my facts before I post anything. Againnnnnn I have my facts wrong. A ways back in this forum someone said mr 16, I purchased my mr 16's a few months ago, thought I had purchased a 10 watt and a 20 watt. But in reality, I purchased a 20 watt malibu outdoor light with a mr 16 bulb inside that does not have a lense cap attached to the bulb, and a 50 watt spot Phillips halogen mr 16 that does have a lense cap attached to the bulb. That lense cap on the 50 watt makes me think I'll be ok in the rain, won't pop that bulb.

I put one fixture together, in the first picture it is in the back center, below here it is up close

Here is the front light exploded, those washers are from the electrical dept, they are made from pretty thin steel, I used a aviation snips to make them the right size to fit that pvc cap on their outer dimension, used a file on the rear washer to make its inner dimension the same as the back of the mr16 dimension just behind its lip. I was getting close to the proper dimension then I just cut the washer so it would expand into its proper dimension when I screw the cap on.

I think the above light will hold the 50 watt bulb and be used on the front as is. It will hold the on/off switch, that tube is 2'' in diameter, plenty of room for wiring, I'll even put the fuse in there, wait, shoot, I forgot to get a fuse. Well, another trip to the depot for that.

For the back light, thanks to the response I got on my first post, I think I'll use pvc, hopefully, 20 watts won't melt it, got a red reflector and will use screw just like the guy in the link did. Here it is exploded and not started yet.

Now, a long time ago and far far away, I acquired these tools to solder with, pulled them out of a drawer, along with that birds nest of red and black wire. That gun, whoeey, I put my finger on the end of it and pulled the trigger, , , it works. Now that skinney red thing, tip is corroded, does'nt look to healthy, plugged it in,, and,, and,, and,, after about 10 minutes I think it might melt solder.. Is there a better way of testing for heat on a soldering iron?

Another question, I bought bernzOmatic electrical solder, lead free rosin core solder, is this the correct solder to use, I am going to solder the wire directly to the pins on the MR16's?

Chuck

Mag,

Good advice, re read the post I'm getting my information from, he had tried soldering those 50 watt bulbs, and it did melt the solder.

http://www.bike-recumbent.com/headlight.shtml

Dave,

Those kerosene lamps won't work for lights, but those kerosene lights on those old electric cars you posted will, next time your in the old car museum see if you can sneak a couple of those out for me and I'll give you free welding for life.

chuck

The lights on these old cars and carriages used kerosene, I believe before the lights on cars went electric they used tungsten or something as a filiment which made them really glow. I have hunted far and wide for a nice complete lantern of this type, very hard to come by. Have found many rusted out carriage lights, frames were usually brass, the inards steel that seems to deteriorate with age.

The lanterns on the rolltop desk, the green one is a Blue Grass Air Pilot,, the blue one is a common old Dietz No. 20. Never have been able to find a lense for that Air Pilot.

I have a nice old Valor kerosene heater, works very nicely, fire it up a couple times a year

In the backround thats one of the last Dietz lanterns made in the usa. Production is now overseas.

Today I searched the internet, I had saved some websites on my favorites list that dealt with MR16 bulbs as bike lights. The more I read the more I was persuaded to abandon soldering the wires to the prongs on the lights. Went ahead and built the pvc housing, painted I think it will be a good looking light.

You can see four screws holding that light in, used a 5/64" drill bit and 1/2" #4 stainless screws

Drilled three more holes in a reflector and attached it to the pvc, used a set screw to hold the two halves together, drilled a hole for the wire in the back

I went to Lowes today, found 24 volt MR16's 20 watt. What I don't like about them is they are a flood light with a 38 degree beam angle. I bought three, will use 2 on the front and 1 on the rear. Now if a bulb burns out, these will be run in parallel, the other 2 will remain on.

Well, heading the above advice, I am searching locally for those MR16 sockets, I salvaged one from that landscape light. If the hardware store does'nt carry them, Lowes and Home Depot down here don't, I guess I'll have to order them online.

Thanks for the advice everyone,

Time to wire up my fuse and switch

chuck

Also found some better fitting conduit connectors at Lowes. Per the link from above, the edge of the connector needs to be chamfered, he used a drill priss, I used a chain saw file. I put a towel in my lap and started filing while watching tv, each took about a 1/2 hour to chamfer. What they said in that link is that silicone caulk will hold glue this in, just put a bead of caulk on that chamfer and push the bulb in.

I am going to try to find those MR16 sockets here locally, will try the ace hardware down the street and there is a "John Deere" landscape Supply not to far, if they don't have them I guess I'll have to wait on mail order.

chuck

I'm done

Just have to zip tie a few wires and tidy up their routes. Turned them on inside, tail light very bright, probably as bright or brighter than an auto brake light, front lights seem very bright, it is raining so I won't be able to ride tonight.

Found these MR16 sockets and pigtails, not at ace hardware, they did'nt carry them either, but at a lamp shop, paid a premium at $5 each, but, I hate waiting on parts. There is that chamfered 1 1/2" conduit connector in the upper right corner.

That is my old cateye,, I was told more than once by drivers that it was barely noticable at night. I have also read this on other forums about the weakness of these red flashing leds. My main reason for wanting lights is for others to see me. Bye Bye, you're going away. I'll put that reflector that is above the cateye on the other side.

Here is the tail light turned on, I'll have to get the camera book on to learn how to turn off my camera's flash, it is surprisingly bright, used 3 screws to hold the red reflector on, only time will tell how long that housing will last. It was very easy to build and will look good painted. If it holds up I will recommend this as being extremely easy to build and looks professional.

Here are the front lights, seem to be very bright, I will report back on my next night ride on how they work.

Above the contactor you can just see a spst switch. That is my light switch. To the right on that heavy 8 gauge wire with yellow terminal rings is a little black box that has a mini blade fuse purchased from radio shack. I put a 10 amp fuse in there. I am running three 20 watt 24 volt bulbs. Thats about 2.5 amps.

It quit raining, streets are just semi wet, rode the bike about a mile with the lights on. The rain has really cooled things down, probably about 70F. Rear light housing is cool, maybe just 10 degrees warmer than the air temp. Front lights, no perceptable increase in temp. The lense on the rear light is quite warm, not enough to melt it, had the lights on about 15 minutes.

I did discover something strange on the rear light. Standing directly behind the light about 30 feet or so, it has a nice orange red color, bright enough to be seen well I think. But, if I go about 15 feet sideways from the rear and still stay 30 feet back, that red reflector glows, I mean no one would have trouble seeing the light, it is really bright. This must have something to do with the prisms cut into the reflective lense. I will hunt for an actual lense off of a taillight. They must account for this refraction of light when they design those tail light lenses, I should have some laying around the shop, we used to build trailers.

chuck

Dave, how bout a couple pics of that RR lantern, maybe that lense will work,,chuck

Drew this in paint so you can get the general idea.

One problem when using those emt conduit standoffs is aiming the lights. Once the bracket is attached and fastened to the light and the handlebar, you can't get to the screw to adjust the angle of the light.

Another problem is that those brackets are not designed to be tightened down enough to hold the light in place on the handle bars, I knew this would be the case, I put several turns of black tape on the handle bars before mounting the lights.

An L bracket with a pipe clamp would work well, that is what that picture above is, the rectangle represents the light.

Chuck

It has finally quit raining here, went out on a ride, I like the lights.

I had to drive a while in Richardson TX to find some place that was dark, no street lights, no porch lights, found a spot finally, turned the lights off

with the lights on, believe me, the picture does'nt do justice, I can see really well

From the rear the light is brighter than a automobile brake light

a shot at the front

The above 2 pictures were shot from a distance of 50 feet. The pictures do not do justice at all to the qaulity of the light. I had no problem driving at 20 mph. These lights have a 38 degree beam angle, way to much, I can see the top of the trees, I can see the sidewalks on both sides of the road. The angle of the beam is such that there is no need to adjust the aim of the lights, you could practically turn them sideways and still see forward.

Specifications:

Bulbs, 20 watt, 24 volt MR16 with a 38 degree reflector, flood light

Voltage, from a 24 volt lead acid battery pack

Bulbs, 3 @ $8.00 each

Switch, $8.00

Conduit connectors and pvc, about $10.00

Screws, $1.00

Reflectors, $3.00

Wiring, $6.00,, including solder

Connectors, crimp on, probably a $1.00

Fuse, I think about $5.00 including fuses, 2 spares and fuse holder

PS,

Also,

I was concerned about heat, there is no way that 20 watt bulbs will melt the pvc on the rear light. The reflector lense does get warm, after a half an hour it did not get hot enough to melt, the pvc was barely warm. On the front lights using the metal conduit connectors, just a perceptable increase in temprature, probably not enough heat to melt butter.

chuck