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Cateye HL-500 bulb upgrade.



 
 
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  #11  
Old August 11th 09, 07:29 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
someone
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Default Cateye HL-500 bulb upgrade.

On Aug 10, 5:05*am, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Aug 9, 12:37*pm, "Clive George" wrote:



Re voltage - your rechargables are 1.2V rather than 1.5, and IIRC that lamp
is a 2 cell unit, so you're never going to do brilliantly with ot. Rejigging
it to take 5 rechargable cells and a 6V bulb would win you a lot. But see
above :-)


About the 1.5 V vs. 1.2 V: *It's not usually a problem. *Here's why.

The voltage measurements quoted are measured at zero current flow. *In
practice, when batteries are powering a light, they produce _less_
voltage at the bulb, because the batteries have internal resistance.
The more current flow, the less voltage they produce.

How much less? *It depends not only on the current flow, but on the
type of battery. *Serendipitously, rechargeables have much less
internal resistance than non-rechargeable batteries. *So in practice,
two 1.2 V rechargeables produce almost exactly the same voltage at the
bulb as two 1.5 V NiCads. *At least, that's what I found when I
measured them a few times.

Now, about over-volting bulbs: *If you apply more than the rated
voltage to a bulb, you'll get brighter light out of it, and you'll get
more efficiency, but _much_ reduced life. *Some filament bulbs (like
those once used for important indicator lamps) are designed to last a
long, long time under their rated voltage, but to do that, they accept
low brightness and low efficiency. *Ovr-volting them a bit may not
matter.

Bike headlight bulbs tend to be designed at the other end of the
scale. *They're already sort of over-volted compared to other bulbs,
since bikes aren't ridden all that much at night, and people want them
to be bright. *Pushing them harder will probably give much shorter
life. *Maybe still satisfactory for you, depending how much you ride
at night - but carry spares!

- Frank Krygowski


Because of difficulty obtaining Wonder batteries, 4.5v flat lantern, I
made up a 4 cell ni-cad pack. The bulb did blacken although I dont
know what its rating was. I changed the pack to a three cell unit,
like the original zinc battery, which did OK with the slightly
blackened bulb. When Duracell's offerings in the 4.5v battery were
commonplace I then used these which were better running than the
nicads.
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  #12  
Old May 8th 14, 03:11 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
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Default Cateye HL-500 bulb upgrade.

Yes, it's absolutely possible - I've done a series of upgrades to the exact same light.

The first upgrade I did was to buy another HL-500 and run them both together.

A little while later, I upgraded to 6v 6W halogen globes (bulb GH15 at Reflectalite.com) and run them both of a 6v4AHr sealed lead acid battery (which fit nicely in a small camera bag which sit snuggly in my drink bottle holder). This was a significant improvement in lighting output and served me well for many years - I also did this upgrade for a friend who just had one light, but was so impressed with my upgrade, and my brother did the same upgrade on his pair of HL-500s. (I soldered wires onto the battery terminals inside and drilled a small hole in the back lower corner (near the switch) and put them both on the same switch so I could turn them on/off together. The switch got hot at some point and melted and I had to replace it with a proper switch).

Just last year, I did a further upgrade by replacing the 6v6W halogen globes with 1.5-9v 1W LED globes (NL322 at Reflectalite.com) - this further increased brightness but more significantly reduced the load on the battery so that instead of having 1.5 to 2 hours of lighting before needing to recharge, the battery should now last more than 10 hours before needing a recharge..

If you wanted to, you could use the NL322 LED globe with your existing C-sized batteries (note the brightness is virtually constant over the whole voltage range of the globe (ie. anywhere from 1.5 to 9v - a pair of C-sized batteries is 3v, or 2.4v for rechargeables) - this would save you the trouble of rewiring the lights as well as buying a SLA battery and charger, etc. For longer rides you could just carry spare C-sized batteries as required.

  #16  
Old May 9th 14, 02:52 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Frank Krygowski[_4_]
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Default Cateye HL-500 bulb upgrade.

On 5/7/2014 10:11 PM, wrote:
Yes, it's absolutely possible - I've done a series of upgrades to the exact same light.

The first upgrade I did was to buy another HL-500 and run them both together.

A little while later, I upgraded to 6v 6W halogen globes (bulb GH15 at Reflectalite.com) and run them both of a 6v4AHr sealed lead acid battery (which fit nicely in a small camera bag which sit snuggly in my drink bottle holder). This was a significant improvement in lighting output and served me well for many years - I also did this upgrade for a friend who just had one light, but was so impressed with my upgrade, and my brother did the same upgrade on his pair of HL-500s. (I soldered wires onto the battery terminals inside and drilled a small hole in the back lower corner (near the switch) and put them both on the same switch so I could turn them on/off together. The switch got hot at some point and melted and I had to replace it with a proper switch).

Just last year, I did a further upgrade by replacing the 6v6W halogen globes with 1.5-9v 1W LED globes (NL322 at Reflectalite.com) - this further increased brightness but more significantly reduced the load on the battery so that instead of having 1.5 to 2 hours of lighting before needing to recharge, the battery should now last more than 10 hours before needing a recharge.

If you wanted to, you could use the NL322 LED globe with your existing C-sized batteries (note the brightness is virtually constant over the whole voltage range of the globe (ie. anywhere from 1.5 to 9v - a pair of C-sized batteries is 3v, or 2.4v for rechargeables) - this would save you the trouble of rewiring the lights as well as buying a SLA battery and charger, etc. For longer rides you could just carry spare C-sized batteries as required.


Any comments on the shape of the beam with the NL322 installed? How
does it compare with the original bulbs?

IIRC, in that era, Cateye did a better job of fitting the beam to the
road than most manufacturers of similar bike lights. I'm wondering if
their optics still worked well with that LED.

--
- Frank Krygowski
  #17  
Old May 10th 14, 01:09 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
SMS
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Default Cateye HL-500 bulb upgrade.

On 5/8/2014 5:18 PM, James wrote:

snip

Oh, you mean a torch. Those things should be banned on road bikes,
unless there is a switch to use them as high beam only with a properly
shaped low beam light for normal urban use. Ultra bright poorly
directed torch lights are a hazard to the user and others around them.


Untrue. All the experts agree that a symmetrical beam is as close to
ideal as you're likely to get for bicycle lights.

While some people may aim their light to high, they can do this with any
light, bicycle-specific or not. And of course many bicycle specific
lights have symmetrical beams anyway.

Old style, low power, bicycle lights often have a beam with a horizontal
cutoff that directs the limited available light onto the road surface
directly in front of the bicycle. These focused beams are a compromise
necessitated by the lack of sufficient power. Unless all of your night
riding takes place on well-lit streets these lights should be avoided
because they do not provide proper illumination for safe riding.

Proper bicycle lights have a beam that's nearly symmetrical. This is for
two reasons. First, because it's critical to cast some light off to the
sides so vehicles approaching from the right or left can see you coming.
Second, because it's vital to have some light shine slightly up in order
to see overhead obstacles such as tree branches, and to read street signs).
  #18  
Old May 10th 14, 01:45 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Sir Ridesalot
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Posts: 5,270
Default Cateye HL-500 bulb upgrade.

On Friday, May 9, 2014 8:09:48 PM UTC-4, sms wrote:
On 5/8/2014 5:18 PM, James wrote:



snip



Oh, you mean a torch. Those things should be banned on road bikes,


unless there is a switch to use them as high beam only with a properly


shaped low beam light for normal urban use. Ultra bright poorly


directed torch lights are a hazard to the user and others around them.




Untrue. All the experts agree that a symmetrical beam is as close to

ideal as you're likely to get for bicycle lights.



While some people may aim their light to high, they can do this with any

light, bicycle-specific or not. And of course many bicycle specific

lights have symmetrical beams anyway.



Old style, low power, bicycle lights often have a beam with a horizontal

cutoff that directs the limited available light onto the road surface

directly in front of the bicycle. These focused beams are a compromise

necessitated by the lack of sufficient power. Unless all of your night

riding takes place on well-lit streets these lights should be avoided

because they do not provide proper illumination for safe riding.



Proper bicycle lights have a beam that's nearly symmetrical. This is for

two reasons. First, because it's critical to cast some light off to the

sides so vehicles approaching from the right or left can see you coming.

Second, because it's vital to have some light shine slightly up in order

to see overhead obstacles such as tree branches, and to read street signs).


RUBBISH!

Cheers
  #19  
Old May 10th 14, 04:36 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Frank Krygowski[_2_]
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Posts: 7,511
Default Cateye HL-500 bulb upgrade.

On Friday, May 9, 2014 8:09:48 PM UTC-4, sms wrote:

Old style, low power, bicycle lights often have a beam with a horizontal
cutoff that directs the limited available light onto the road surface
directly in front of the bicycle. These focused beams are a compromise
necessitated by the lack of sufficient power.


If that were true, how would it explain the fact that every automobile sold
worldwide comes with headlights that have a horizontal cutoff? Ditto for
motorcycles intended for road riding.

In case there's anyone out there still inclined to believe Scharf's
"guerrilla marketing" for his Chinese flashlights, there's this article
explaining proper headlight beams:
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/plight.asp

- Frank Krygowski
 




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