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Is there any good non-rechargeable headlights anymore?



 
 
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  #51  
Old May 13th 17, 01:39 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Jeff Liebermann
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Posts: 4,018
Default Is there any good non-rechargeable headlights anymore?

On Fri, 12 May 2017 11:53:49 -0700 (PDT), Andy
wrote:

You are just full of criticism.
Reminds me of know it alls. :-)
Andy


Those were calculations, not criticism. I'll assume that you can
recognize the difference.

Apparently, you haven't thought much about what "know it all" really
means or implies. If someone knows everything, then they have stopped
learning anything new, which not a good thing. Is that what you're
accusing me of doing? I hope not. If my calculations remind you of
all those "know it alls", which I presume by your choice of words
means more than one, does that mean that you are associating with
those who have ceased to learn new things? I can only imagine how
boring that must be. I'm told that hanging around "know it alls"
might be contagious. Need some quiz questions on LED lighting to
determine if you're still able to learn something new?

Reminds me of wild hickory nuts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QffEYYotXIk

Hint: Read something on ANSI/NEMA FL1 flashlight standards:
http://www.led-resource.com/ansi-fl1-standard/
http://flashlightwiki.com/ANSI-NEMA_FL-1
http://www.flashlightreviews.ca/FL1.htm
There's quite a bit in there that is applicable to bicycle lighting
(which is ignored by many bicycle lighting manufacturers).

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
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  #52  
Old May 13th 17, 02:20 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Jeff Liebermann
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4,018
Default Tim the Tool Man, Needs More POWER

On Fri, 12 May 2017 16:36:32 -0500, DougC
wrote:

On 5/10/2017 11:08 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Wed, 10 May 2017 20:21:11 -0700 (PDT), Andy
wrote:

...


I made a light system using a SLA battery that was as bright as a car headlight.


Sigh. Megalumens again. Do you really need something as bright as a
car headlight (700 lumens low, 1200 lumens high)? Do you enjoy
blinding oncoming traffic and other cyclists?


There used to be a guy on Bikeforums (hope it wasn't Andy)


It wasn't me.

ANY time people asked about lights, he would post pictures of his setup,
and brag about how he could see stuff on the ground 50 yards away at
night. He could easily see reflective road signs 200+ yards away.


With my eyesight, I can't read road signs 200+ yards away. I
sometimes test myself on street signs. In the dark with minimal
lighting, I can focus to about 50 yards. 200+ yards is a blurr.

The comedy of this was that this person was very-late-middle-aged,
somewhat overweight (like myself) and rode a upright "granny" trike.


I can empathize with him. I'm 69 years old. A BMI calculation says
I'm overweight. No trike yet, but I am converting my various machines
from the traditional hunchback position, to something more upright.

The
battery may not have been SLA but it was about as big as a motorcycle
battery, and it had to be carried in the rear basket because it was too
big to easily mount anywhere else.


I was looking at 12V LiFePO4 batteries today in the motorcycle form
factor to power a friends ham radio transceiver for Field Day at the
end of June. For example, I can get a motorcycle replacement battery:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kinetik-LiFePO4-12V-7-9ah-Battery-for-SUZUKI-DR650S-N-P-650CC-1992-1993-/191626757785
that lasts longer, delivers more current for starting, and weights
about 20% of the lead-acid equivalent. The battery above weights 1.2
lbs. Except for the cost, why bother dealing with lead-acid on a
bicycle, were weight is a real problem?

I couldn't help but wonder: how fast do you think that guy EVER rides?
Probably not very much so, I'd think.
Why did he need a 50-watt xenon headlight on his trike? I dunno, but he
thought it was AWESOME.


Oh, I could think of many reasons, none of them particularly useful.
Some people just want to own the biggest, fastest, most expensive,
loudest, most garish, unique, etc. Others consider lighting to be a
weapon. Some want bragging rights. Maybe he's testing the limits of
practicality (or absurdity)?
http://tesladownunder.com/WorldsBrightestBike.htm#BikeLights
There's always a reason for doing such things, although it may not be
obvious or sane.

...For some reason he was never able to explain well, he thought that
having this huge front light greatly improved his safety, with regards
to being seen by cars.


He would have done better impersonating a Christmas tree. Blinding
oncoming riders and traffic does nothing for being seen from the sides
and rear. If he wants to be safe, he has to be visible from all
directions.

I think I annoyed him once when I said that he should put a red lens on
it and mount it on the *rear*, since any oncoming cars should be driving
on the OPPOSITE side of the road, and the greater risk was being hit
from /behind/, , , , -but that was dumb for some reason I forget. He had
a reason. I don't remember.


Good logic, but I've had more problems with near misses from the sides
than from the rear. However, I don't ride much lately, so my
experiences don't count for much.

Now... I've heard of people who MTB at night, and I can understand that
being a reason to want as much light as possible for that. (I can't MTB
at night in the central USA, as there is one billion spiderwebs strung
across every 10-yard stretch of wooded trails at night)


Well, if they're looking for a challenge in the dark, perhaps riding
blindfolded would be just as challenging? I suppose a chicken wire
windshield wouldn't help with the spiders. Maybe attach a basket to
the handlebars and carry an ant-eater on the ride?

...And I can understand people having vision problems, and a lot of
light might help for that.


As we get older, glare recovery becomes a problem.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2631002
When someone blinds me with their overly bright headlights, it now
takes me much longer to recover than when I was younger.

...But I never understood the reason for overspending for a high-power
light setup, especially for people who are (almost certainly) very
casual pavement-only riders. If I could pay ~$45 each and replace the
ruined 4xAA Cateyes with the same ones but new, I'd do it in a heartbeat.


It's called diminishing returns. In lighting, to get a small
percentage improvement in performance (lumens), it's sometimes
necessary to spend a disproportionately larger amount of money. It's
not the cost of the LEDs, but rather the cost of all the support
equipment, such as batteries, holder, charger, electronics, heat
sinking, etc. I can throw together a 2 watt LED headlight with little
effort or cost. I'm currently pricing what it will take to do a 10
watt LED "flat" light, which is rapidly growing to far more than a 5x
linear extrapolation. High end lighting can be expensive.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
  #53  
Old May 13th 17, 05:57 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
John B. Slocomb
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Posts: 805
Default Is there any good non-rechargeable headlights anymore?

On Fri, 12 May 2017 09:14:09 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Fri, 12 May 2017 08:51:55 +0700, John B.
wrote:

On Thu, 11 May 2017 09:17:40 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Thu, 11 May 2017 04:03:29 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

If the OP uses 4 1.5V Lion in a parallel batt carrier wired
in series to a second same carrier the V is 3.0
3 in series is 4.5V

Correct ?

No. Most (not all) LiIon cells are a nominal 3.7V. Plug one of these
into something made for a 1.5v akaline battery and you will have a
smoking ruin. This is a very real problem. I have several
flashlights that use 14500 LiIon cells which are exactly the same size
as a AA battery. If I accidentally plug one of these into a AA
battery holder, it will probably destroy the device.

So in potential possibility repairing a failed proprietary
integral batt device is possible.

Nope. Plugging in the wrong battery does not make things go better or
fix them.

I have 2 devices, a Pioneer 2DIN receiver and a new Amprobe
510 multimeter asking connect to ground first. I had operated
under the auto batt standard of grounD last.

Is this a current sea change ?

No. It is also wrong. In a car, I'm told that you connect the ground
(negative) battery terminal last. That's because when you tighten the
positive battery terminal with an un-insulated wrench, and you
accidentally hit the grounded chassis or grounded battery frame, if
the ground (negative) terminal is disconnected, there will be no
spark, arc, smoke, or exploding battery. Of course, grounding the
ground lead with a wrench will not do anything dangerous.


Unless you have a classic car, such as a pre '60's Volkswagen, many
British cars prior to the '60's, or even a Ford, from the Model A
through about 1948, all of which had positive grounds :-)


Also, pre-1960's White and Mack trucks had positive grounds. The
logic is fairly simple. Positive ground reduces corrosion effect.


However, I have a different theory. Look at the polarity for a DC
stick arc welder. Worktable ground is positive. If you build cars
and trucks with an arc welder, then a positive ground would seem
logical. Or it might have been intentionally different in an attempt
at "product differentiation" which means you need to buy special
accessories for a positive ground car[1].


Nope. DC welding is commonly used in "either direction". You have
electrodes designed to work best with electrode negative and others
are electrode positive. But "normal" or "straight" polarity is, as you
say, electrode negative. An electrode that's identity code ends in 10
is a reverse polarity rod, i.e., electrode positive. E 6010, for
example is commonly used reverse polarity rod.




"THE ARGUMENT FOR POSITIVE GROUND"
http://lajagclub.com/the-argument-for-positive-ground/

Long ago, I stopped to help a lady start her sports car (forgot the
model) by jump starting it. My car was negative ground and hers was
positive. No problem as long as nothing conductive gets between the
bodies of the two cars. We got to talking and not paying attention.
Her car door hit mine. Sparks, smoke, etc. I had the good sense to
kick the doors apart to prevent welding the cars together. Standards
are a good thing.

It doesn't matter which polarity electrical system is used. One
connects the hot battery terminal first, and the grounded terminal
last.


But until connected it is neither the hot or the grounded terminal
(;-}



[1] I used to be in the 2-way radio biz. During the 1960's most
2-way radios came with a floating ground, where it would work with
either a negative or positive ground system.

--
Cheers,

John B.

  #54  
Old May 13th 17, 05:57 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
John B. Slocomb
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 805
Default Tim the Tool Man, Needs More POWER

On Fri, 12 May 2017 18:13:58 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 5/12/2017 5:36 PM, DougC wrote:
On 5/10/2017 11:08 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Wed, 10 May 2017 20:21:11 -0700 (PDT), Andy
wrote:

...

I made a light system using a SLA battery that was as bright as a car
headlight.

Sigh. Megalumens again. Do you really need something as bright as a
car headlight (700 lumens low, 1200 lumens high)? Do you enjoy
blinding oncoming traffic and other cyclists?



There used to be a guy on Bikeforums (hope it wasn't Andy)

ANY time people asked about lights, he would post pictures of his setup,
and brag about how he could see stuff on the ground 50 yards away at
night. He could easily see reflective road signs 200+ yards away.

The comedy of this was that this person was very-late-middle-aged,
somewhat overweight (like myself) and rode a upright "granny" trike. The
battery may not have been SLA but it was about as big as a motorcycle
battery, and it had to be carried in the rear basket because it was too
big to easily mount anywhere else.
I couldn't help but wonder: how fast do you think that guy EVER rides?
Probably not very much so, I'd think.
Why did he need a 50-watt xenon headlight on his trike? I dunno, but he
thought it was AWESOME.

...For some reason he was never able to explain well, he thought that
having this huge front light greatly improved his safety, with regards
to being seen by cars.


Sounds like Mr. Scharf.


I believe that the proper form of address is "Councilman Scharf".
--
Cheers,

John B.

  #55  
Old May 13th 17, 02:37 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
[email protected]
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Posts: 6,374
Default Is there any good non-rechargeable headlights anymore?


Penns Creek

http://www.troutnut.com/im_other/picture_674_large.jpg
  #56  
Old May 13th 17, 05:33 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Ralph Barone[_4_]
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Posts: 853
Default Is there any good non-rechargeable headlights anymore?

sms wrote:
On 5/10/2017 9:08 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Most easily removable adjustable handlebar clamps that I've tried are
horrible. They all slip or vibrate badly. As long as headlight
manufacturers insist that the rider must be able to install and remove
the clamp without tools, they're going to continue to slip.


This is true. But those clamps are cheap. For flashlights I make my own.

http://www.dx.com/p/motorcycle-bike-handlebar-clamp-bottle-holder-adapter-silver-447307

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000056BMU (AA) or
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000056BMV

Aluminum flat bar

Bolts and lock nuts

Heat shrink tubing

Thead lock compound.

http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/IMG_0239.JPG
http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/IMG_0303.JPG


"A thing of beauty and a joy to behold."
Not quite...

  #57  
Old May 13th 17, 07:59 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,374
Default Is there any good non-rechargeable headlights anymore?




"A thing of beauty and a joy to behold."
Not quite...


one u bolt

one aluminum strap

3M 33 electrical tape
  #59  
Old May 13th 17, 10:39 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
SMS
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 9,477
Default Is there any good non-rechargeable headlights anymore?

On 5/13/2017 9:33 AM, Ralph Barone wrote:
sms wrote:
On 5/10/2017 9:08 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Most easily removable adjustable handlebar clamps that I've tried are
horrible. They all slip or vibrate badly. As long as headlight
manufacturers insist that the rider must be able to install and remove
the clamp without tools, they're going to continue to slip.


This is true. But those clamps are cheap. For flashlights I make my own.

http://www.dx.com/p/motorcycle-bike-handlebar-clamp-bottle-holder-adapter-silver-447307

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000056BMU (AA) or
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000056BMV

Aluminum flat bar

Bolts and lock nuts

Heat shrink tubing

Thead lock compound.

http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/IMG_0239.JPG
http://nordicgroup.us/s78/images/IMG_0303.JPG


"A thing of beauty and a joy to behold."
Not quite...


True.

But not held together with cable ties, bungee cords, or duct tape. And
the one with the wing-nut needs no tools to install, and is adjustable
in two axes.



  #60  
Old May 13th 17, 11:07 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,374
Default Is there any good non-rechargeable headlights anymore?

1 April, 1971



the prob with DIY flashlight holders is no ergonomy.

if you crash, the DIY holder could maim you for life.

 




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