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All-in-one LED bike light
- Thread starter mattthemuppet2
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,300
thanks!
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,300
last bit of machining done thanks to HW's funeral shutting down the whole Texas A&M system.
charger port plug. The o-ring at the end is for sealing, the one in the middle fits into a groove cut into the bore of the hole that the charging cable will go through. Took some finessing to get the groove depths right that the plug fit snuggly without being hard to get out.
in place
also made the o-rings for the bottom cover and the LED face plate, using some 1.5mm o-ring cord. Both plates seal well and you can see that there is 100% squish around the o-ring for the LED face plate when the face plate bottoms out against the housing.
This light shouldn't let water in even during one of my "biblical" bike rides where I feel like I should be swimming home instead of riding.
Next up is anodising, after that driver construction and programming.
charger port plug. The o-ring at the end is for sealing, the one in the middle fits into a groove cut into the bore of the hole that the charging cable will go through. Took some finessing to get the groove depths right that the plug fit snuggly without being hard to get out.
in place
also made the o-rings for the bottom cover and the LED face plate, using some 1.5mm o-ring cord. Both plates seal well and you can see that there is 100% squish around the o-ring for the LED face plate when the face plate bottoms out against the housing.
This light shouldn't let water in even during one of my "biblical" bike rides where I feel like I should be swimming home instead of riding.
Next up is anodising, after that driver construction and programming.
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,300
3 out of 4 parts are dyed and anodised.
Thorough cleaning with acetone first then Dawn dish soap until they pass the water break test. You can't see them very well, but hydrogen bubbles are coming up from the anode.
broader pic of set up. Bubbles visible in this pic and the next are from a couple of weighted loops of tubing fed by a fish tank aerator. In the anodising tank that stops the part heating up and burning, in the dye tank is just aids in having a uniform temperature.
dye tank is coming up to temperature, should be at 140F by now
nice'n'cold anodising tank. I have a bunch of old ice packs I keep in the freezer. I stick them in the tank first thing and by the time I've finished puttering around, the tank is a good cold temperature. They're back in the freezer so that I can stick them in again before anodising the housing.
those parts are now anodised - you can see that they've turned a slight golden grey colour
20min in the dye tank then 5min steam/5min boil in water on the hob and they're done
not industry standard perfect, as they're a little patchy in places, but good enough for me!
The housing is currently in the anodising tank, that should be dyed and sealed by dinnertime or just after.
Thorough cleaning with acetone first then Dawn dish soap until they pass the water break test. You can't see them very well, but hydrogen bubbles are coming up from the anode.
broader pic of set up. Bubbles visible in this pic and the next are from a couple of weighted loops of tubing fed by a fish tank aerator. In the anodising tank that stops the part heating up and burning, in the dye tank is just aids in having a uniform temperature.
dye tank is coming up to temperature, should be at 140F by now
nice'n'cold anodising tank. I have a bunch of old ice packs I keep in the freezer. I stick them in the tank first thing and by the time I've finished puttering around, the tank is a good cold temperature. They're back in the freezer so that I can stick them in again before anodising the housing.
those parts are now anodised - you can see that they've turned a slight golden grey colour
20min in the dye tank then 5min steam/5min boil in water on the hob and they're done
not industry standard perfect, as they're a little patchy in places, but good enough for me!
The housing is currently in the anodising tank, that should be dyed and sealed by dinnertime or just after.
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,300
Finished the housing
I think it turned out pretty well.
Tomorrow I'll transfer the components off of one driver onto my dual channel driver board and see if I can remember how to program the things. If that all goes well, the rest is plain sailing and I should have it done by the evening. If not, well...
I think it turned out pretty well.
Tomorrow I'll transfer the components off of one driver onto my dual channel driver board and see if I can remember how to program the things. If that all goes well, the rest is plain sailing and I should have it done by the evening. If not, well...
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,300
thanks Boswell!
My plan on finishing the light on Friday turned out to be a bit optimistic! Had a major issue programming the ATtiny13 chip on the driver, in the end I had to do it off the board and then solder it back on, but the light is now finished. Time for a R+C to celebrate!
reflowing the components off a standard linear driver onto my 2 channel driver board
didn't work straight off as I put the reverse protection diode (small black thing at top right) on the wrong way round, doh. Driver worked with the original firmware for use with a clicky switch, but when I flashed my firmware for using a momentary switch it didn't work. After around 24h I figured out that there must have been something on the various boards that I had that was screwing with the programmer as programming the chip in free air was fine.
ta da!
batteries, charger, switch and LEDs wired up to a JST plug
I was worried about the batteries shifting with road vibration but they're not going anywhere. Everything is jammed in super tight in there (note to self, leave more clearance in the plans next time!).
My plan on finishing the light on Friday turned out to be a bit optimistic! Had a major issue programming the ATtiny13 chip on the driver, in the end I had to do it off the board and then solder it back on, but the light is now finished. Time for a R+C to celebrate!
reflowing the components off a standard linear driver onto my 2 channel driver board
didn't work straight off as I put the reverse protection diode (small black thing at top right) on the wrong way round, doh. Driver worked with the original firmware for use with a clicky switch, but when I flashed my firmware for using a momentary switch it didn't work. After around 24h I figured out that there must have been something on the various boards that I had that was screwing with the programmer as programming the chip in free air was fine.
ta da!
batteries, charger, switch and LEDs wired up to a JST plug
I was worried about the batteries shifting with road vibration but they're not going anywhere. Everything is jammed in super tight in there (note to self, leave more clearance in the plans next time!).
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,300
LED wiring. XP-L (2?) at the top, XM-L2 at the bottom. Both 5000K I think.
driver attached to bottom cover (nice big heatsink for it in effect) with the other half of the JST plug
about to be sealed up. Turned out kinda tight in there, but it's solid and nothing moves when you shake it which is a good sign
front cover on with light on low. The lexan around a couple of the screw holes had slight cracks after tightening it down (the lenses are probably every so slightly proud of the body) but the seal is good.
driver attached to bottom cover (nice big heatsink for it in effect) with the other half of the JST plug
about to be sealed up. Turned out kinda tight in there, but it's solid and nothing moves when you shake it which is a good sign
front cover on with light on low. The lexan around a couple of the screw holes had slight cracks after tightening it down (the lenses are probably every so slightly proud of the body) but the seal is good.
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2013
- Messages
- 4,300
beamshot inside my garage (too lazy to go ride somewhere dark to take a pic) on medium. Nice upper cut off, hopefully it'll reduce glare for oncoming road users but still give me enough reach to be useful at speed.
plugged in and charging
front view
off to go sit on the couch and have a drink
plugged in and charging
front view
off to go sit on the couch and have a drink