Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Dirty30 Dillon /

Feb 25, 2019 04:32PM

I am in the middle of building a bike that utilizes an ignition-only inner coil and I am trying to get some inspiration for running small LED Head and Tail lights off of a "total-loss" battery system.

Finding the lights themselves are not difficult, but I am wondering if anyone has any ideas for battery choices, whether it is Li-Po, LiFe-PO4, NiMH or NiCd.

I basically need 7-10 amp-hours so I can run a 15-25 W LED and a MINISCULE rear LED marker light, for like an hour tops. Basically trrying to get a small amount of dark riding in on a race bike just to blast around the city.

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Graham Motzing /

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grahammotzing

Feb 25, 2019 04:38PM

i.m.o. cordless drill is the way to go here. buy a cheap used flashlight for whatever brand of battery you use around the shop, chop off the flashlight portion and just use the plastic termal/disconnect part at the bottom.

i did some math using the 5.0 AH m18 milwaukee shit i use at home, it would run LED head and tail lights for a really long time.

i did a bunch of research into this a couple years ago and in the end nothing made as much sense for a total loss system.

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Thomas TPRF /

thomashsb

Feb 25, 2019 05:56PM

> Graham Motzing Wrote:

> -------------------------------------------------------

> i.m.o. cordless drill is the way to go here. buy a cheap used

> flashlight for whatever brand of battery you use around the shop, chop

> off the flashlight portion and just use the plastic termal/disconnect

> part at the bottom.

>

> i did some math using the 5.0 AH m18 milwaukee shit i use at home, it

> would run LED head and tail lights for a really long time.

>

> i did a bunch of research into this a couple years ago and in the end

> nothing made as much sense for a total loss system.

You can get cheap USB adaptors to work with a lot of cordless tool batteries. I got one off Amazon that works with my Dewalt stuff.

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

P D /

pdcomm

Feb 25, 2019 06:07PM

You might consider :

https://www.ebay.com/i/392228236200?chn=ps&var=661166120787

Pretty hard to beat the price or the space requirements .

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Gator San Juan /

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gator

Feb 25, 2019 06:42PM

I did the same thing. I bought this utility light on Amazon - it puts out plenty of light, has a high low beam, an emergency lights mode (red and blue flashing lights) and lets you charge your phone off it. It's rechargeable and lasts about 6 hours or so on 3 hour charge. I removed the base and the width allows me to bolt in to the headlight brackets just fine.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D7TBVKB/

Chomp.

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

kevin Smellaflange /

type_o_positive

Feb 25, 2019 08:46PM

nice ideas...usb ports, i hadn't thought of that, ...good one

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Dirty30 Dillon /

hydra OP

Feb 26, 2019 12:24AM

Yeah, I agree the cycle life of drill Batts are very advantageous.

@gator that worklight is actually a really smart idea.

My biggest concern is I want to keep the system 12V DC so I can potentially power other items of the circuit, low draw stuff like TT comps as well as a pump on a switch (should my thermosiphon not be as effective as I need.

I'm gonna see what Ridgid offers in 12v as I already have some Ridgid tooling

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Luna Moto /

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cristian

Feb 26, 2019 01:03AM

I run this as a back up headlight on my Derbi it’s crazy bright 3 light modes and has a external battery that I just attached to my fork leg

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NHFT9S4/

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Lia the Raven /

ravenshining

Feb 26, 2019 04:08AM

from my experience with e-bikes:

To keep weight to a minimum, damn the cost: LiPo

Fairly light weight and low lifetime cost: LiFePO4

Most tolerant of abuse and of not terrible weight: NiMH

Decent abuse tolerance and lowest lifetime cost: NiCd

Lowest upfront cost but shitty in every other respect: PbH2SO4

My longest-ranged e-bike ran a 100-pound bank of lead-acid batteries, while my most fun e-bike had a NiMH trunk back. for lights sans traction needs, I'd go with NiMH or NiCd. (edited)

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Charles Cole (OFMC) /

cappy

Feb 26, 2019 03:44PM

Without a doubt the new led lights are awesome, however the battery packs are too small, at least on the ones I've seen, to go for much distance. But the good batteries, that are available, are small enough that they can be hidden or made fairly incognito, in a usable pack for a longer distance. There's lots of room under a Tomos seat to bunch them up or a small box/pack within the rack or between the fork tubes. Lots of room for creativity.

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Dirty30 Dillon /

hydra OP

Feb 26, 2019 04:26PM

This is going on a Grande, so underseat is where I will be keeping the battery, but I am going to have the radiator, overflow/res tank, and maybe water pump to worry about as well, so I want to hide what I can

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Lia the Raven /

ravenshining

Feb 26, 2019 05:11PM

You could use this battery from Treats, I keep it under my Streetmate's seat where the lead acid battery used to go, it's a bit less than 1/2 the size and 1/4 the weight of the original:

https://www.treatland.tv/trail-tech-sealed-12V-battery-pack-p/trail-tech-battery-040-batt3.7.htm

I use this to charge it at home:

https://www.all-battery.com/nimpackcharger_01025.aspx

And there's loads of different shapes and sizes of 12v packs here for less money/Ah than the trailtech:

https://www.all-battery.com/12vnimhnicdbatterypackseries.aspx

Only thing to watch out with NiMH packs is you have to recharge them if they've been sitting unused for a long time, but I guess that's true of li-ion as well. Unlike li-ion you don't have to worry so much about running them flat. (edited)

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

baird co /

bairdco

Feb 26, 2019 05:54PM

Another option I've done to a bicycle, is get a rechargeable spotlight from harbor freight, pull the guts out and stuff it into a headlight, and then you have a million candlewatt headlight that lasts for a long time. Plug the charger in once in awhile, and you're good.

My bike can sit for months, and still have bright lights for hours.

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Don Ohio /

don45640

Feb 27, 2019 01:43PM

> Lia the Raven Wrote:

> -------------------------------------------------------

> You could use this battery from Treats, I keep it under my Streetmate's

> seat where the lead acid battery used to go, it's a bit less than 1/2

> the size and 1/4 the weight of the original:

>

> https://www.treatland.tv/trail-tech-sealed-12V-battery-pack-p/trail-tech-battery-040-batt3.7.htm

>

> I use this to charge it at home:

>

> https://www.all-battery.com/nimpackcharger_01025.aspx

>

> And there's loads of different shapes and sizes of 12v packs here for

> less money/Ah than the trailtech:

>

> https://www.all-battery.com/12vnimhnicdbatterypackseries.aspx

>

> Only thing to watch out with NiMH packs is you have to recharge them if

> they've been sitting unused for a long time, but I guess that's true of

> li-ion as well. Unlike li-ion you don't have to worry so much about

> running them flat.

Thanks,Lia! I just bought this one from Amazon. 17.99 and free shipping!

https://www.all-battery.com/nimpackcharger_01025.aspx (edited)

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Dan Danielson /

dniiv

Aug 20, 2020 05:12PM

I know this thread is old I found this power dock today that would be a good option. I was about to cut the bottom off an old drill and did some googling to see if someone else had done it. Im going to give it a try to power my regular lights and /or some dumb fun lights with it.

https://etsy.me/3gcVaux

I'm still trying to figure out if I need a step down converter or regulator to make sure Idon't blow my bulbs

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Born to be WillD /

Go to branch

willd

Aug 21, 2020 02:53PM

Similar to the drill idea, I've got 2 test batteries made outta old laptop batteries. I use them I just alligator clip the positive to the power to lights wire, and check if the lights work without having to start the bike. I got one wire coming out at 6v and one at 12. They're cheap. works great, easy to charge. Same cells as most drill stuff, but easily bought online.

I've also used the little on/off NiMH packs for bikes w/o lighting coil. they're super duper easy. like 20-30 bucks on ebay/amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ME3ZH7C/

last a long time, easy wiring, complete sealed unit with a on/off switch and even a USB to charge other junk if you wanna.

Re: Battery-Operated Headlight and Taillight

Stephen Keller /

keller_stephen

Aug 21, 2020 03:24PM

> Gator San Juan Wrote:

> -------------------------------------------------------

> I did the same thing. I bought this utility light on Amazon - it puts

> out plenty of light, has a high low beam, an emergency lights mode (red

> and blue flashing lights) and lets you charge your phone off it. It's

> rechargeable and lasts about 6 hours or so on 3 hour charge. I removed

> the base and the width allows me to bolt in to the headlight brackets

> just fine.

>

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D7TBVKB/

>

> Chomp.

This is a winner right here.

MOPED ARMY

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