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Twin 5 Watt Luxeon bicycle lights MK2

Version 3 can be found here

Version four here

Version 5 HID

This is the latest version of my twin Luxeon bicycle headlights.

I use two 5 Watt Luxeon Stars with narrow beam lambertian lenses. The Luxeons are bolted to the aluminum plate with two 3mm screws into threaded holes.  To prevent the screws from shorting to the LED board I used plastic washers made from heatsink screw insulators with the bottom part sliced off with a sharp knife. The circular lens holders are made from some PVC electrical conduit reducers but PVC waterpipe will do just as well. It's important to get the height of the lens holders exactly right so that the lens sits just above the LED but doesn't actually touch it. The lens and PVC is simply glued on with a small amount of silicone glue. The lenses have a small locating protrusion on them which I filed down and also made a small notch in the PVC to accommodate it. When mounting the LEDs to the aluminum I used a bit of heatsink compound to improve heat transfer. The wires from the LEDs come out through holes drilled in the aluminum.

The mounting of them is a bit unique as they are on a set of HED aerobars which have a flat carbon fibre surface. I used two cable ties and electrical tape to secure the bracket to the aerobars. I had to drill two small holes through the mounting plate to attach the speedo, also with cable ties. 

The mounting bracket is in two parts, this makes it easily changeable for other situations. The two parts are held together with four 3mm brass screws into threaded holes. The front of the mounting plate acts as a shield to prevent glare direct from the lights. In my case the beam direction was spot on, but it would be easy to get some sideways adjustment and the vertical height could be changed by shimming the front or rear of the bracket.

How to make a battery pack.

 

The view from the front.

 

From below.

 

 

From the top you can't see much of it at all. The beam isn't blocked by my hands or arms. The speedo is indicating average speed over a hilly 102 km ride at night.

 

From the front again. The cameras perspective doesn't show the size well but you can see that the lights are only about twice the width of my speedo. The armrests were taped in place temporarily and have stayed there ever since. They're made from stubby holders and are very comfortable.

Another shot from below but this time showing the back. I could make the wiring a bit tidier. I used ribbon cable to run the power from the "pucks" which I've put in an old drink bottle along with the NiMh battery. (12 volt, 2.5 amp hour)

 

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