LED for 6 volt

[Pedrostt500]

As the new law with the Lights on has kicked in, I would like to know if and how I can hook up Bright LEDs so as not to be creating a to great a draw on the lighting circuit for my Honda XL 500 S, or would I be better off setting up a dead loss system with a small 12 volt battery.

[CookMySock]

If it has an existing lighting system, I'd say its probably perfectly adequate. LEDs aren't going to light the road any better, and they will certainly not be more legal.

Steve

[gammaguy]

If it has an existing lighting system, I'd say its probably perfectly adequate. LEDs aren't going to light the road any better, and they will certainly not be more legal.

Steve

the law does not require that lights on during the day "light the road"
,it is perfectly legal to use daytime running lamps,and LED are perfect for this.they show the position of the machine to other road users and satisfy the new (and IMHO stupid )regulations.

dont assume anyone sees you\ride as if they are blind.

just choose the correct voltage of LED,available from most good electrical wholesalers

[motorbyclist]

As the new law with the Lights on has kicked in, I would like to know if and how I can hook up Bright LEDs so as not to be creating a to great a draw on the lighting circuit for my Honda XL 500 S, or would I be better off setting up a dead loss system with a small 12 volt battery.

you could easily hook up a bank of them in parallel for that purpose -the hardest part would be mounting them in a secure, visible and waterproof manner; maybe fit them inside a spare headlight to see how it works?

depending on the current rating of the LED, subtract the forward voltage drop of the LED from the 6v system and wire a resistor in series to limit the current as needed. remember to give them their own switch, drawing power via a fuse, and you're set!

so: for 6v system driving an LED of 3v forward drop, and 100mA maximum current (0.3W), you need a resistor of (6v-3v)/0.100A = 30 ohms.

nearest size in my box would be 33 ohms, and with 100mA and 6-3=3 volts across it, it will need to handle 0.3 W for every LED it is in series with.



remember to do the tail lights too - or simply buy an aftermarket one or adapt one from a modern machine as many use LEDs in the tail end anyway


If it has an existing lighting system, I'd say its probably perfectly adequate. LEDs aren't going to light the road any better, and they will certainly not be more legal.


as any biker should know, older and smaller bikes typically have fairly weak charging systems. this is why bikes pre-1980 machines are exempt. Unfortunately this exemption should include many bikes even into the 90's, and the law makes a bike without headlights even less recognisable when a cager barely even glances over their shoulder before changing lanes/pulling out.

for example, on my '86 h100, if I leave the lamps on during the day, by nightfall the moon is more effective than my headlight.

even on a good charge, the brake light basically kills the headlight. great in corners.

even with the headlight off, I typically have to rev the bike at intersections to get the indicator flasher to operate.

stupid law makes it our fault that cagers aren't looking, and doesn't serve to solve the underlying problem; they aren't looking. they don't even know how to operate their vehicles in some cases. train them.

[glegge]

I'm not sure if this helps, but together with the info from motorbyclist above it may. this link to jaycar shows one of many super bright LED's available now days. http://www.jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=ZD0424&keywords=led+super&form=KEYWORD

I'm not sure if they would replace a headlight, but i have seen one as a head light (straped to your head for a cyclist) and it was like an oncoming car with one light it was so bright.
of course you can get/build circuits to PWM them so they are dimmer and use a little less power.

[Juzz976]

Landis & Gyr/Ampy Email Metering do 6V LED arrays in a BA9 size, just get white ones and dont remove the yellow caps.
They are mini bayonet style with built in resistors, you can solder wires on if you dont have sockets.

Easier option is to drill some holes and push through std jaycar LED's silicon on and wire from 1 resistor (R) to LED's in parallel. R = 5.3/(0.02 x no LED's)

eg 10 LED = 5.3/0.02 * 10 = 26.5Ω approx
problem is if 1 or 2 are die, then there is too much current available and the remaining ones will burn out. I tend to use 1 resistor per LED (265Ω each in this case closest I guess would be 230Ω for supabright and something a 270Ω for std 30c ones).

Series them up and 1 blows they're all out too.

[CookMySock]

Ok then, this sort of thing needs doing properly.. (read - overkill)

I'd fullwave rectify the lighting coil output and charge a sizeable electrolytic capacitor with it. This gives you a solid (if somewhat varying) DC "base" to work from, and reliable turn signal operation. You will need an electronic flasher unit.

Instead of using resistors to current limit the LEDs, drive each circuit (headlight, tail, indicators) with a constant current regulator (LM3402 ?) These will be cheap and you wont get any dimming.

You might have to pull the lighting coil off and double or triple the number of turns on it, but this is not a difficult job (nor will it be expensive to pay someone to do it for you) and this will give the current regulators a solid 8-20VDC to supply each circuit with, meaning solid superbright light output even at dead-low idle.

When the engine is stopped, the lights will fade out over a few seconds without the need for an off switch.

Yeah, overkill.. so shoot me. ;)

Steve

[Juzz976]

If it has an existing lighting system, I'd say its probably perfectly adequate. LEDs aren't going to light the road any better, and they will certainly not be more legal.

Steve

Agreed, I don't use my daylight lamps just headlights. Makes me feel like I doing at least 1 thing to increase my safty.

I spend alot of time in high revs also so this helps maintain a smoother charging voltage for my battery aswell as keeping the regulator cooler....stupid shunt style regulators...

[davereid]

http://www.hella.co.nz/?t=11&View=FullStory&newsID=141

Are rated for 9-32 volt.

They will still work fine, if a small amount dimmer on a 6 volt system, and won't tax your electrics at all.

Plus they are approved by everyone who gives a fuck.

[Pedrostt500]

http://www.hella.co.nz/?t=11&View=FullStory&newsID=141

Are rated for 9-32 volt.

They will still work fine, if a small amount dimmer on a 6 volt system, and won't tax your electrics at all.

Plus they are approved by everyone who gives a fuck.

I have come up with a solution for this that I have posted in Classic Bikes, the Hella unit is abou $180 + GST each, my solution is $175 inc, for a pair, and will run on a 6v system. I will post some pics soon.

[birdhandler]

jaycar do this for $12.00 which may be a good option not sure about the connection though so some soldering may be required
someone mentioned earlier thatthe power output is the same say 6watts its the light output of LEDS thats made them so popular
http://www.jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=ZD0304&keywords=white+led&form=KEYWORD