the Best of LED tech ?

[Brighter-Lights]

Like I said before, don't get carried away too much with the latest claims en hype, even though I have some of those LED's right in front of me, they come at a price.

The visual difference between 600 and 800 lumens are not much on the trail.

 

Many of the lights I build using P4's with 86 lumens at 350mA still performs and will last many years.

 

Following this trend will have you end up in the endless pit of spending on bike stuff, and light stuff... it keeps improving...

 

Many of these guys make nice lights, I think Lupine Wilma and Betty are the best commercial lights you can buy, but they don't come cheap.

 

Nightlighting has a very nice package too.

 

But before anyone start using balance chargers and lithium-polymer packs, I say it loud and clear... they are not using the best battery technology.

 

Packs with many cells in series needs to be balanced... especially larger capacity packs. When new, it's not really a problem, but when getting older, internal resistance of each cell changes and the pack becomes unbalanced, with some cell voltages higher or lower than others...Charging with a wall adaptor type charger only senses the overall voltage of the cells in series and after a while, some cells are being over charged to compensate for the low voltage cells. When draining this pack, it suddenly looses power when the weak cell collapses at it's critical low voltage....

 

Read about it here... http://www.brighter-lights.com/battery.htm

 

 

[Azonic]

I'll get BL to post some rough figures. All I can say now is that for a given amount of light/brightness, you'll pay less than any other system out there.

[mountain_lion]

WH, http://www.brighter-lights.com/bike.htm has got the prices. Does not look bad.

Even got an option to provide your own battery.

 

If I had to buy a light set, this looks like an serious contender (along with Nightlighting).

 

BL, I assume you import your own Cree LEDs; I have not found any local retailers that stock them.

Would love to fit some Crees in my DIY light.

 

[Baaisikilist]

Hmm, R3800.00, doesn't sound too bad for what u're getting (in comparison to 'top' lighting manufacturers offerings in the same price range). Does it come in any other colours BL...? Got any pix of the mounting brackets and battery pack...? Can the battery be mounted easily to ones frame or does it only come in the water bottle set-up...? MTBaaisikilist2008-04-30 07:24:59

[GoLefty!!]

Although Balancing of the individual cells can be an issue, it is rarely the case in practice. The practical implication is that the battery capacity reduces over time since the the weakest cell in the battery will determine the charge capacity. Since the cells are matched into batteries at the point of manufacture it's rarely a real problem.

 

LiPo is less sensitive to this because it is in effect one cell of a given voltage. The chemistryis similar to Li-ion. Its the packaging that the largest difference.

 

If you damage a lipo youhave to bin the whole battery. A Li-ion can be repaired but experience has shown that even in an accident, if they are  protected properly, they will survive with little ill effect.

 

As long as you using a Lithium chemistry battery you are onto a winner.

[Willehond]

Good prices for top end lights!  They look stunning and it all sounds good if you want some serious blinding light. A bit over the top for my current requirements (and budget), but more is always better!  Tempting...

[mountain_lion]

BL, I agree with you on the battery issue.

 

If only lithium-polymer packs were not so expensive...

 

I opted to use NiMH AA's for my DIY light, one of the reasons being able to charge individual cells.

I especially got a more expensive charger which charges the cells individually. Unfortuneatly the market also wants cells to be charged as fast as possible and thus most chargers use a higher than optimal charge rate.

 

With my home made lights now using 8 NiMH AA cells each plus cameras GPS and other electronics all wanting charged batteries, I need more charging capacity,

 

I am considering getting the Maha C800S charger. Ebay seems to be the best source; have not been able to find it or anything similar locally in SA.

 

This charger has "soft" / slow charge option, which will extend battery life.

 

I am not sure how much of an issue "battery balancing" really is. I guess it depends very much on the type of battery, but from using my 4 cell individual cell charger, I know that charging time does differs for individual cells.

 

 

[Guest Big H]

I saw on "How it is made" on DSTV this morning how torches are made. Damn interesting. The Aluminium torch was machined from a one piece piece of alu bar stock. I wish I had my lathe here in Angola so I could start developing my own light. In the meantime with winter approaching here in Angolsh I am content with my Sigma Evo X. It gives enough light to see and be seen in the early morning hours. When we were in RSA I even had the honour of a guy in a BMW shouting at me "You dumbf%*$%$&ck dim your F^*!#&^!#(*&^cking lights"!!!!!!!!!! Tee heee ......... that was funny and M and I had a real good chuckle!!!!!!!

[Guest Big H]

Mountain Lion please let us know if and when you scource the Maha charger above. Living far away from the shops here in Angola we are also dependant on AA and AAA (does it handle AAA?????) batteries.

[Brighter-Lights]

I've tested brand new Li-ion 18650 cells in 4S3P and 4S2P and some cells started showing imbalance effects after only 7 cycles....

 

 

Battery is held in a water bottle with plastic type break-away bracket which easily attaches to bar via knob screw. No Helmet mount.

 

I'm working on a new housing like the yellow anodized one and will offer different colors in the future.  For now it's a gun metal color.

 

At R3800 I'm not making money considering the cost of a li-po battery and digital balance charger. But it's worked for me for over a year of testing and that's what I prefer.  

 

It's taken a year and much trial and error to source the LED's... Nowadays they are all over the place, although some lie about the binning, gotta have a light meter to measure what you actually got.

 

I'm also in the proccess of putting together a 1 LED kit to work with existing sigma batteries. Using a Cree Q5 at 1000mA. At least 215 lumens from LED, using 8 degree optics or alu textured reflector. Working on the low battery warning indicator for now.

[Baaisikilist]

Gun Metal will do fine... And bar mount is cool. Just dont have bottle cages on my bike (and don't want any).

[mountain_lion]

 

Mountain Lion please let us know if and when you scource the Maha charger above. Living far away from the shops here in Angola we are also dependant on AA and AAA (does it handle AAA?????) batteries.

 

The specs says AA & AAA.

This charger gets good reviews on the net.

 

I think I will order from an eBay dealer.