show off your homebrew lighting......my paint can lights....

[rjarois]

hello fellas....built a 48volt ebike, that goes 27mph with my fat butt on it.......the lighting system i was using was kinda marginal for this speed. after pricing the better lights, i just could not part with the cash for em......i decited to build my own, diy, homebrew.....had some items from my r/c hobby......lipo batterys, silicone wire, empty spray paint cans........the 50watt halogen lamps fit perfectly in the cans....the pictures speak for themselfs. i will update when i get them mounted on the bike...got about $25 bucks in the project....if i didnt have the lipo packs, i would of got a small sla battery. comon fellas, show off your homebrew bike lights.........peace, randy.

agian i will report back with more photos........

 

[Johnbear]

Beautiful, I was wondering myself what would be a good housing for a halogen bulb. I may do something similar powered by a dc/dc converter.

Thanks for the post!

 

[Mark_A_W]

They are kinda like mine

 

[rjarois]

wow !! mark, nice looking bike.....can you give more details and photos about your lights?? i made thread to show off, discuss ideas, helpfull tips pertaining to homebrew lights.....with the r/c booster pack, that tells me you know what silicone wire is, lols. ill bet alot of fellas dont know what it is. btw, how many watts are the lights, and whats your pack size for them?? agian nice bike, makes mine look like a city noob bike....good job mark. peace, randy.

 

[dogman dan]

Very cool! I wonder if AC 110 v halogens would burn ok on 36v dc? Then you could wire em direct. One of the scooter places has 36v dc light bulbs for ordianry scooter housings, but track lights can be found cheap at garage sales.

 

[rjarois]

Very cool! I wonder if AC 110 v halogens would burn ok on 36v dc? Then you could wire em direct. One of the scooter places has 36v dc light bulbs for ordianry scooter housings, but track lights can be found cheap at garage sales.

sup dogman.....if it did work, i would not dare do......my two 50watt halogens suck down 8amp hours of juice....it would be very hard on the ebike pack.... i just use 12amp hour on my bike, and it would really cut the run time. i thought about building a step down to 12volts, but decited a seperate pack would be better. my 6.4ah pack should last for about 45 mins. i really dont think 110v halogens are nessary....my 12v 50watt duel seems like overkill.....when i mount them to my bike, i will take some night time photos....these suckers are very, very bright. btw, i paid $3.50 per halogen lamp.....the wire costs me more. if you dont use the silicone wire inside the can, i hear the regular wire insulation will get burned off....and could short out....the lights get very hot. like i said, i will report back, with photos, and more facts about my homebrew lights. i hope others pipe in with ther diy lights, peace, randy.

 

[Sturdly]

How did you secure the lamps to the cans, adhesive of some sort ?

 

[rjarois]

How did you secure the lamps to the cans, adhesive of some sort ?

exactly sturdly.....the lamps fit the bottom of paint can perfectly.....after you solder and heat shrink the connections, just use 100% silicone to glue in, on a flat surface. the silicone will take the heat, no troubles. randy.

 

[Mark_A_W]

Very cool! I wonder if AC 110 v halogens would burn ok on 36v dc? Then you could wire em direct. One of the scooter places has 36v dc light bulbs for ordianry scooter housings, but track lights can be found cheap at garage sales.

My four 12v halogens are in series off my 37v pack (41v charged). They draw about 2 amps.

One day I might stick them on their own lipo pack.

 

[trappermike]

I went to a "Lighting" store looking for Quartz lights,there is a common 12v bulb,available from 5w to 50w and more. He showed me some 12v "Outdoors emergency Lights" which have a nice housing like track lights,but waterproof. I purchased a 36v to 12v transformer from a friend in Taiwan,rated at about 5-7 amps output. Some possibilities here....
Also you can purchase a really cheap voltage regulator(about $5),it will reduce any voltage to 12v,but only about 1a output,but you could use more than 1 in parallel for more output amps.I have an LED tailight,side marker lights and headlight,my electronics friend says one of these regulators should handle all my LED lights.
I found the LED headlight is very bright to look at,but does not seem to throw light too far in front of the bike,but far better than most standard bike headlights...
The reason I'm talking 12v is because I wish to convert E-bike battery power to 12v,for which any type of light or accessory is easily available.I had a factory 36v bike,and when the cheapo 36v bulb burnt out,I could not find a correct replacement....
I think these regulators are also available in 6v,which means it would power some of the high quality bike LED lights,that run on 4 AA batteries.
What do you think?

 

[rjarois]

just wanted to update my homebrew lights.......finally got them mounted....i plan on getting longer wire and mounting the lipos in a water bottle. i will post some night time photos, man these suckers are bright....anyone have a homemade lighting project, post your stuff here, it may give others some help or ideas.....peace, randy.

 

[rjarois]

ok. finally got to test at night.....photos were looking down the drive....took for a test spin, very bright, cars were stopping as i came down street, they are very bright......got to aim them a lil better. randy.

 

[totals]

I went with car fog lights, 55 watts halos. (Cheap at $30 from Canadian Tire). I also added low beam 35 w halo bulbs inside to allow me to toggle down for on coming cars using a regular toggle switch. I run a DC/DC convertor to deliver the power to the headlights. Also installed a proper tail light, which illuminates when the brake levers are pulled. Video is in my signature line below.

Rory