*A bike light for UNDER R1000!!

[Azonic]

...I'll also have to check on this, but I think BL's Rev1 comes with a balance charger as well... Will speak to him tomorrow to confirm this.

[ZorgusPrime]

Sorry, I didn't put the number of led's,

I've got 2 to give that output (at a lower current)

[Brighter-Lights]

Revelation-1 does come with a balance charger and power supply for it... + the light have a 1 led, 4-mode battery level indicator... (blue, blue flash, red, red flash) ....  try adding that to any normal driver and see what it costs you!

If using the same weight Lipo's and runtime is the same, then it's impossible for one to have almost double the lumens... even when using 2 at lower current... calculate the wattage.... VxI=W 

I'm already tapping the lipo for max performance. So even when adding another LED and running both at lower current, the total wattage is gonna be higher than the one only... And unlike nimh, same weight lipo's have very similar capacities.

For 2 led's to give 320 lumens you gonna need more current than 1 led and 220 lumens, so if the system is the same weight, it means one lipo have to be at least a third more capacity, but not at that weight.

What lipo are you using? When draining my battery on e-station the graph shows 4250mah at 11.1v

 

Better photo Speedi15,

 

But still over exposed when comparing your settings with the MTBR shootout and mine.

 

4 Seconds and F4.0 at ISO 100 give very accurate results. MTBR used ISO 100, F4.0, 6 seconds.

[Speedi]

the LED in the light im using is an Xlamp XR-E Cree LED.

 

 

 

also, johan from BL gave me all his complicated scientific explanations on how long my light would last. i think he said it would run for 5 or 7 hrs! well its run for 11hrs and still running! so ja. im not interested in all those calculations, the light is bright enough for me and over 120lumens...

 

 

 

 

[Speedi]

im not saying that its wrong to make calculations, i just dont understand them... Speedi152008-06-07 02:54:44

[Brighter-Lights]

Speedi15,

 

There are 8 different brightness XR-E Cree's at the moment... (ranging from 60 to 120 lumens) so you have to know the bin. If the manufacturer didn't specify it, it's probably a low bin group...

 

If you're serious about selling your light at some time, I suggest you learn the formulas so long... it's very basic grade 10 science... gives you peace of mind to know how bright your light really is and how much electrical power it uses. And it's interesting!

 

P (watts - unit of electrical power) = V(volts) x I (current)  

 

It's very simple... you take a multimeter and connect it in series with the led and measure the current. Then you take the current to the datasheet and see how many lumens that bin LED gives at that current.

 

You could also measure the current drawn from the battery and devide the battery's capacity by it to roughly get an indication of burn time - remember that the battery's capacity changes drastically when higher current is drawn with Alkaline cells.

 

Good luck! 

 

For others still comparing their lights to the Revelation-1,

 

Input: 12.55v - 290mA (battery level monitor + 10mA) 

Output: 3.61v - 780mA

 

At end of battery's cycle..

 

Input: 10.0v - 330mA

Output: 3.61v - 780mA

 

This setup with the battery monitor incl. gives exactly 11hr30 mins on a 11.1v 4000mAh lipo before the low battery warning comes on. 

 

So I can't see how a same weight lipo gives the same runtime with 30% more output... 

Brighter-Lights2008-06-07 16:20:40

[mountain_lion]

 

johan from BL gave me all his complicated scientific explanations on how long my light would last. i think he said it would run for 5 or 7 hrs! well its run for 11hrs and still running!

 

Your longer run time should tell you that your LED is driven at a lower current and thus is not emitting as much light as the supplier is claiming.

 

 so ja. im not interested in all those calculations' date=' the light is bright enough for me and over 120lumens...

 

 

[/quote']

 

Understanding the calcs will enable you to answer questions like "can I run 2 LEDs from one battery pack?"

The only way to improve your design, is to understand what you are doing!

 

 

 

[sampie]

im not saying that its wrong to make calculations' date=' i just dont understand them... [/quote']

 

Have a look at this site, might be usefull.

 

http://www.angelfire.com/pa/baconbacon/page2.html

sampie2008-06-07 15:26:55

[Speedi]

[Pocketbikes]

The older I get, the more I realize how little I know. So, I am not going to jump into any discussions here. If money was no object, I am buying BL. With my budget, I like were Speedi15 is going with this.(if it gives enough light for a ride)

 

What I can say, is that it looks good, considering it was once a torch

 

[Dirty Twin]

This light may be ok for your morning ride around the marine but I will still stick to my BL Revelation 1 or 3 when it comes to the TB thank you very much.

 

At the current price of batteries and the rate that your light eats batteries I think I will stick to BL rechargable system works well looks awsome.

 

2 x d-cell @ say R30 for two lasting for 10-12 hrs is going to cost about R720 in d-cell batteries if you do 5 morning rides a week for the 6 months of the late Autum, Spring & early Spring that into 5 years is going to cost you R3600 for d cell batteries.

[Dirty Twin]

So let us know did he pitch up at the night race?

[sampie]

This light may be ok for your morning ride around the marine but I will still stick to my BL Revelation 1 or 3 when it comes to the TB thank you very much.

 

At the current price of batteries and the rate that your light eats batteries I think I will stick to BL rechargable system works well looks awsome.

 

2 x d-cell @ say R30 for two lasting for 10-12 hrs is going to cost about R720 in d-cell batteries if you do 5 morning rides a week for the 6 months of the late Autum' date=' Spring & early Spring that into 5 years is going to cost you R3600 for d cell batteries.

[/quote']

 

I'm sure he will get rechargable batteries after that maths.

[Hog_]

 

The older I get' date=' the more I realize how little I know. So, I am not going to jump into any discussions here. If money was no object, I am buying BL. With my budget, I like were Speedi15 is going with this.(if it gives enough light for a ride)

 

What I can say, is that it looks good, considering it was once a torch

 

[/quote']

 

 

I have to agree here! I think it looks great!  Well done Speedi!

It may not be as advanced as the top-end lights, and it may not have years of research etc behind it, but for what it is - a homemade, non-professional, bike light - I think it is excellent!

 

 

 

[Dirty Twin]

My bad after further reading I see he is using 3 x D-Cell batteries that makes it even more expensive on the battery side of things.

[Azonic]

 

So let us know did he pitch up at the night race?

 

No.