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Step 5Build battery connectors
Arguably, the battery choice is the most important component. Interestingly enough, I knew my battery choice long before I had worked out the details of the lighting system. My wife has a Mac Book pro, and so do I. Between us we have two extra batteries for when we travel. These just sit in a drawer until a scheduled flight. Rather than waste such a valuable resource, I thought I would use these as my power source. As I commented in the prior step, they are Lithium Ion with good discharge capability 10.8v, measured at 14.1v, long life, 60 Wh or ~5555ma, and the best feature of all, a built in battery level indicator.
All of these pluses, and only a few negatives. They are larger than I probably need. Well since I ride with a 16+ pound backpack every day, an extra pound or two just doesn't affect me if the power supply goes in my backpack. They have sharp edges which is bad news for backpacks, or during a catastrophic impact. They also have a proprietary blade type battery connector that I could not permanently modify to incorporate into my system.
The pluses: I have a charger in my laptop at work and a laptop at home. I can ride consecutive days with no recharge in between. I can check the battery level at anytime!!!!! They are actually lighter combined than the NiCad battery system that came with my commercial lights, which I have been carrying for two years.
I ordered two Macbook Pro battery cables from a Mac service store called "The Mac Store" in Anchorage, Alaska. They cost an additional $10 apiece, but gave me a safe way to power my system.
I built the battery holder frame out of 1/2" aluminum channel form Home Depot, and two rectangles of ABS plastic purchased from a car stereo store many years ago. The ABS is easily cut with a compound saw, utility knife, dremel, or other creative tool. I bent the ABS using a cigarette lighter to heat it and then bent it around the base of the battery to form and "L" shaped bracket with a 1/16" lip past the furthest point of the "L".
The battery is connected to the lighting system through an approximately 30" umbilical made of 2 conductor 16 gauge speaker cable leftover from the prewire of my home.
All of these pluses, and only a few negatives. They are larger than I probably need. Well since I ride with a 16+ pound backpack every day, an extra pound or two just doesn't affect me if the power supply goes in my backpack. They have sharp edges which is bad news for backpacks, or during a catastrophic impact. They also have a proprietary blade type battery connector that I could not permanently modify to incorporate into my system.
The pluses: I have a charger in my laptop at work and a laptop at home. I can ride consecutive days with no recharge in between. I can check the battery level at anytime!!!!! They are actually lighter combined than the NiCad battery system that came with my commercial lights, which I have been carrying for two years.
I ordered two Macbook Pro battery cables from a Mac service store called "The Mac Store" in Anchorage, Alaska. They cost an additional $10 apiece, but gave me a safe way to power my system.
I built the battery holder frame out of 1/2" aluminum channel form Home Depot, and two rectangles of ABS plastic purchased from a car stereo store many years ago. The ABS is easily cut with a compound saw, utility knife, dremel, or other creative tool. I bent the ABS using a cigarette lighter to heat it and then bent it around the base of the battery to form and "L" shaped bracket with a 1/16" lip past the furthest point of the "L".
The battery is connected to the lighting system through an approximately 30" umbilical made of 2 conductor 16 gauge speaker cable leftover from the prewire of my home.
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