How I Built My Own MTB Light

That's definitely an upgrade I am looking at. But with Li-Ion or Li-Polymer batteries, you must have a PCB to control the power output, otherwise they can supposedly catch fire or something. I've read this, I don't know it from experience. The PCB thing intimidates me because I don't know what I would need or how it would work. I guess someone here could tell me or one of the electronics shops listed in this thread.

 

I just skimmed the thread so I'm not sure if someone mentioned it. But some thermal paste will conduct electricity, which could be a problem if the LED's legs are touching the thermal paste. I would recommend arctic silver ceramique, it's cheap, works great, and doesn't conduct electricity.

 

I think you can buy the Lithium batteries that are "smart" that have electronics integrated with them.

 

I've bought a good amount of LED's from these 2 places:
http://www.allelectronics.com/
http://dragonmodz.net/

DragonModz has a smaller selection but there service is top notch and they ship with USPS so shipping cost me about $1.40 for my last order.

Here are the DragonModz UV LED's I used in my current computer case, and they are still bright 2 years later.

 

What is the name of the place that rebuilds old batterey packs, the name was mentioned in the old thread about making this light.

 

sick job sam!!!

My dad is an EE, i will see if he and i can come up with a nice compact housing design for a helmet mount.... and then i will make one

 

http://wcbatteryrebuilders.com/

from this thread.

Dude, we could build a few of these together. Let me know what you guys come up with.

The hardest part of building this light is finding an old heat sink. I had to take an old one from a Pentium II at work and cut it in half to get one the right size.

 

I already have an niterider HID, have been doing the tuesday night Blackstar rides the last 2 weeks

 

They have my light right now. I will post a report when it is done.

 

Dang a little while back I tossed all kinds of heatsinks out in the trash. I still have a small box of some left over from past projects. Ive seen heatsinks at the Cypress swapmeet and ive seen them at Oxmans surplus in La Mirada. Oxmans is a cool place.

 

Temec Electronics

Here's a good shop if you live in North County or SW Riverside County.


http://www.temecelectronics.com/temec-index.html

 

Take your pick!

http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category/270/Heat_Sinks.html

http://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/products.asp?dept=1195

:drunk:

 

I wish I knew about all of these good electronics stores before I built my light. Probably would have saved me money and shipping. I am still looking for reliable, tough connectors, so I may check some of them out. Radio Shack's offerings just aren't good enough.

One other improvement I would like to make would be a low battery indicator light. Anyone know how I might add something like this?

 

What kind of connector are you looking for?

 

DC-DC power connector. The connectors I have been using either are too hard to insert, too hard to remove, or are too tough to crimp and end up cutting the wire.

I'd like to solder the connection and then put the insulation over the top. In this pic you can see the pink connectors coming out from the battery wires. They suck and need to be replaced with something more robust. I am afraid to unplug them because they break so easily, which defeats the purpose of a connector.

 

I whould use somthing like a deans plug.. If you come to the loop next Thursday Ill give a male female plug to try out.
http://www.wsdeans.com/products/plugs/index.html

They also make a Micro plug and you can pick those up at Hobby People or any hobby store.

 

I was typing the same thing... You beat me too it. I guess you raced RC Cars too. :lol::beer:

 

I still do just not as often. Infact im working on my stuff right now for a race later this month. I really hate connectors but if I had to use any on my cars they were deans plugs. I direct solder all my connections on my car.

 

You would need to find the voltage for NiMH that indicates that the battery is low. You then have a circuit that detects the low voltage and hits the LED. They might make IC's for this sort of thing.

EDIT: Here's one designed for Lithium Ion batteries, but might be able to be adjusted for NiMH.
http://www.linear.com/pc/downloadDocument.do?navId=H0,C1,C1154,C1002,C1463,P2133,D1290
Linear Technology LTC1998

Another one: Single Supply Under-voltage/Over-voltage IC
http://www.linear.com/pc/downloadDocument.do?navId=H0,C1,C1003,C1144,C1043,C1771,P30132,D17418
Linear Technology LTC2912.

 

Brew, good meeting you out there on the Fully and thanks for posting this info! I've been thinking about buying one but I don't want to drop a ton of cash for it. This could be something fun for me to do! :beer: