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This instructable describes the construction of a bike light comprising three 3W Luxeon LEDs. This project had three main goals. 1.) Make a light suit...
Pictured here are some of the basic hardware items required for this project. On the left is a 5W halogen light from a VistaLite system (ca. 2000) fro...
Pictured here are some of the specialty electrical items necessary to make any high quality Luxeon LED light. The two small toggle switches are availa...
Below is a list of items required for this project.Quantity - Item Description - Suggested Supplier3 - Luxeon III Star, White, Lambertian - ledsuppl...
This is the key element for the whole DIY bike light. Luxeon LEDs, especially 3W and higher, require supplemental heat dissipation. Without proper con...
You'll of course need a soldering iron. As you might expect, soldering requires some skill. But don't worry, with just a little practice anyone can le...
At last, a chance to unleash your aggression on office supplies! Measure and mark locations to mount the toggles switches. Position the clip in a vise...
In this step, take a moment to fit the 1" corner iron into the clip. Push one toggle switch through the existing hole (you will probably have to enlar...
Get an idea of how to position the Luxeon Star and optics holder inside the copper cap. You'll want to put holes in the side of the optics holder with...
Check the alignment between the LED housing and the binder clip. Mark the binder clip at the point of contact with the copper cap. This mark will be w...
Modifying the copper cap is an iterative process. Before modifying the cap, place the Luxeon Star and optics holder inside. Decide where it would be m...
I know what you're thinking, "How am I going to fit three holes in this thing?" Trust me, there's room. In fact, if you look closely at the photo, thi...
Here the builder is fantasizing that when he drills the next copper cap, the holes will actually be in the same positions as the first. Do the best yo...
Put on your safety glasses and fire up your favorite grinder. In order for the top LED housing to fit on the binder clip properly, two fins of the hea...
Perfect fit! With two heat sink fins removed, the top LED housing is ready to be mated to the binder clip.
Solder lead wires to the LEDs. Wear your safety glasses and make sure you haven't had too much coffee. You'll need steady hands for this task. Actuall...
The wiring diagram! This was adapted from the Micropuck Applications PDF referenced in the next step. The diagram pictured here is the way this bike l...
The Micropucks are wired in parallel in order to properly power 3W Luxeons. In the LED driver world, this particular parallel config is known as "buck...
Connecting the Luxeon Star to the cap is important for two reasons: One, you dont want the LED to fall out. Two, you want heat generated by the diode...
Mix up and apply some thermal epoxy and smoosh the LED against the inside back of the copper cap. If you're using Arctic Silver, or any similar produc...
Take a break after adhering the Luxeon Stars to the copper caps. This will allow time for the epoxy to sufficiently harden and for you to relax after ...
Mind the gap. If it hasn't occurred to you already. Everything in this light comes together pretty snug. Before going any further check to see that th...
The O.D. of the optics holder is a bit smaller than the I.D. of the copper cap. If you fit the LED housing to binder clip, the optics holder will be o...
Slide the curved washer in between the optics holder and the copper cap.
Proceed with the steps above until you have all three LED housings assembled and ready to bolt to the binder clip. Take your time and think through ea...
Connect the Micropuck according to the wiring diagram in Step #15 and stuff it inside the clip. For this project, the two Micropucks were intially epo...
Connect the toggle switches according to the wiring diagram in Step #15. Using acid paste flux really helps to get the solder to bond to the switch le...
Behold! The switches magically insert themselves into the clip! Oops, how do I edit out the binder clip handles from the photo? Seriously, this is a t...
To protect the internals from the elements, the bike light requires some kind of rigid, triangular-shaped piece on the front. What could be more appro...
In this photo you can see how the salvaged Vistalite handlebar mount is attached to the corner iron.
The bike light is now fully assembled. Well, except for batteries and a battery connector. I'll leave that up to you. In this photo the lenses are sna...
5-Watt halogen light (shown in step #1) powered by 6 Volts. Photo taken at a distance of 20 feet with 1.3 second shutter delay.
Single 3-Watt Luxeon III with 15 degree lens powered by 6 Volts. Photo taken at a distance of 20 feet with 1.3 second shutter delay.
All three 3-Watt Luxeon III's powered by 6 Volts. Photo taken at a distance of 20 feet with 1.3 second shutter delay.
1.) A Luxeon III Star can handle 1400 mA. The High-Output MicroPucks used in this project combine for 700 mA. At 700 mA, a single Luxeon III Star has ...
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