Very Bright 5-3/4" LED headlight

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Schwany said:
Try the Boyer PowerBox. It might be better than the PODtronics reg/rect battery eliminator with regard to dealing with unexpected electrical shorts.

My guess is that without a battery, you will still see the headlamp go dim at low RPM. That is based on my experience, not theory.

I remember when I was a young buck riding the P11 at night and having to rev the motor at stop signs so there was some light showing when I was running a magneto and battery eliminator. I would not have to do that now, because I use a battery and EI. The LED headlight never dims regardless of RPM.

Here's one for the paranoid: I use a cheap Negative ground LED headlight on a Positive ground Norton chassis. For those that barely get out of bed everyday due to one fear or another, the motorcycle LED headlights are electrically isolated from the headlight shell. I could still have a harness short due to a wire rubbing somewhere on the frame, but so could anyone regardless of the ground being positive or negative. It works like all the other stuff I've done that I've been told won't work on the internet.
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"My guess is that without a battery, you will still see the headlamp go dim at low RPM. That is based on my experience, not theory."

Yes that is correct depending on the draw of the system. The old dual sport systems we put together would used a nicad battery pack of 6 AA sized batteries to support the lights at low RPM even with a rewound stator. This was before all the fancy LED stuff came out so it didn't hurt the bulbs that much.

Some LED systems will take the underdrawn of power some will not. As been mentioned before there is pluses and minutes to each type of system. Most of the time the ignition drives what system will work for you. Some ignitions need very little and some need full 12v
 
Derek Wilson said:
Fitting a capacitor could solve it, as it would power the bulb for the short duration after while the SCR cycles. The old 2MC capacitor is what I would start with.

Your other option is rectifier and a zener diode. They produce very clean power, as the zener is only trimming the top off of the rectified voltage peaks, not switching off the power completely.

Or fit a battery, which I am guessing is not an option.
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My electrics are negative ground. If I go back to the Zener and rectifier - is this the newer style rectifier I want? (see photo). I decided against the Boyer because of the vibration produced by my Atlas. So that leaves the pod with capacitor (which may smooth out the power flow without a battery?????), or going back to the old style rectifier and Zener. Which ever is more reliable and efficient.

Very Bright 5-3/4" LED headlight
 
jseng1 said:
My electrics are negative ground. If I go back to the Zener and rectifier - is this the newer style rectifier I want? (see photo). I decided against the Boyer because of the vibration produced by my Atlas. So that leaves the pod with capacitor (which may smooth out the power flow without a battery?????), or going back to the old style rectifier and Zener. Which ever is more reliable and efficient.

Very Bright 5-3/4" LED headlight
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That is definitely the rectifier you want. You will need a negative ground zener diode - the good news it these are readily available.


Ideally, since you are running a very low power draw, a 100w zener would likely be better. You could try running 2 - 50w zeners in parallel, or wire it like a Mk 3, with a half wave rectifier and 2 zeners.
 
jseng1 said:
My electrics are negative ground. If I go back to the Zener and rectifier - is this the newer style rectifier I want? (see photo). I decided against the Boyer because of the vibration produced by my Atlas. So that leaves the pod with capacitor (which may smooth out the power flow without a battery?????), or going back to the old style rectifier and Zener. Which ever is more reliable and efficient.
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If you install an LED tail light and LED headlight, the PODtronics with battery eliminator (the capacitor you mention) should work because your JH magneto is taking care of all the ignition voltage. I would definitely try it, but that's just me.

BTW, the issue I had with the dim headlight at idle was with a sealed beam in a Bates headlight enclosure. I think it was dim but tolerable with the magneto running batteryless. When I switched to EI without a battery, turning the headlight On when the motor was cold would kill the engine. That's when I decided to put a battery in the bike to keep the EI happy. The battery also made it a heck of a lot easier to start with EI. Not an issue for you with the magneto. I'm just mentioning it for no good reason other than I'm thinking about it. :)
 
Here's a good comparison vid of 7" LED headlamps. Note the wide spread of the low beams - something you only see on LED lamps. The high beams out performs other bulbs.

 
Deets55 said:
Jim,
I’m pretty sure at least one person on the forum uses some sort of step up transformer to stabilize the voltage to his EI when his charging voltage dips below 12 volts. Maybe that will help with your lighting problem.
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I have one, but it cannot cater for not enough amps , as LED's are native 5V internally its amps they need as they are very tolerant of low voltage as they have circuitry to reduce volts. My main LED bulbs are marked 6V to 24V as an example.
 
jseng1 said:
Well in went the new 200watt pod with an internal capacitor and now the LED headlight is super bright. Its the capacitor that was needed all along.
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You were told exactly that almost a year ago in another thread you started.

Higher output stator for LED lights

My original stator (with podtronics box) isn't putting out enough for my LED lights. An easy test is to start the bike, jump my car battery and then it gets brighter. So there is the Lucas brand #47239 16 amp single phaze from Wassel or Andover or The Wassel brand 16 amp 200 watt single phaze...
www.accessnorton.com www.accessnorton.com

...I have been re-reading all these threads lately, as I have seen my own issues that i've been trying to get to the bottom of.
 
gortnipper - Yes I wired up the Cree Cowone (it goes by other names as well). I like the wide spread of the low beam.

gforce - not only did I fail to change the pod a year ago but I have been putting up with it for many years before that. It worked - but poorly and I tolerated it for far too long.
 
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worntorn said:
I'm only on LED trial #3, an item from the Bonneville Shop that looks identical to the Goff Daylighter1.
All so far have been extremely bright, but not great for actual night riding due to poor focus, although the last one was marginally better than the others.
So I'm going back to a 55/60 watt H4 halogen for now.
It is very good for night riding.
Will try one of the Daylighter 2 LEDS and see how it compares to the H4.
Brightness without good focus just doesn't work at night at speed.

Glen
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You're right about the focus. The LED lights up everything close by and around the sides very well but they don't really brighten up the area 100 yards down the road where you need it at speed. So like you - things are better but my search is not over. And Halogens are out because the vibration of a solid frame at 7000+ RPM can blow them out (LEDs hold up better).
 
jseng1 said:
You're right about the focus. The LED lights up everything close by and around the sides very well but they don't really brighten up the area 100 yards down the road where you need it at speed. So like you - things are better but my search is not over. And Halogens are out because the vibration of a solid frame at 7000+ RPM can blow them out (LEDs hold up better).
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Jim I would suggest that is becasue of the poor lens design on the unit you have. The ’brightening up the area 100 yards ahead‘ is great with the Goff LED bulbs in a Lucas lens and freakin’ amazing with the Cyclops !
 
LED bulb in T140 with stick Lucas lens. Pitch black night, no street lights for miles. Note this is the cyclops ultra which I believe is neg earth only, although they do many alternative variants. Next best I’ve tried is the Goff Daylighter 5K…

Very Bright 5-3/4" LED headlight
 
Slightly off topic, but I have a LED bulb identical to the one from the Bonneville Shop, 12v pos or neg ground, and if I have the high beam indicator in the headlight shell connected, the bulb itself only has high beam. If I disconnect the shell indicator I get both beams. Repeatable on 3 Brit Bikes, mix of pos or neg ground. Anyone else have this problem?
 
cyclegeezer said:
Slightly off topic, but I have a LED bulb identical to the one from the Bonneville Shop, 12v pos or neg ground, and if I have the high beam indicator in the headlight shell connected, the bulb itself only has high beam. If I disconnect the shell indicator I get both beams. Repeatable on 3 Brit Bikes, mix of pos or neg ground. Anyone else have this problem?
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That's been reported before. Apparently with some bulbs when you apply power to the low beam current will flow in reverse direction through the high beam and find ground through the indicator bulb. Solution is to feed the high beam through a 5 amp diode to block the reverse current flow.
 
Fast Eddie said:
LED bulb in T140 with stick Lucas lens. Pitch black night, no street lights for miles. Note this is the cyclops ultra which I believe is neg earth only, although they do many alternative variants. Next best I’ve tried is the Goff Daylighter 5K…

View attachment 81654
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There are several Cyclops to choose from - 2800 or 4800 or 7000 lumens etc at:

Is this just as effective without a lens? Will running the bulb naked (or in a custom housing) have the same long distance effect?
 
maylar said:
That's been reported before. Apparently with some bulbs when you apply power to the low beam current will flow in reverse direction through the high beam and find ground through the indicator bulb. Solution is to feed the high beam through a 5 amp diode to block the reverse current flow.
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Ah, there's the answer. I was trying essentially that, but on the indicator feed instead of the bulb feed. I'll try your suggestion.
Update: it worked. Is 5amp the lower limit that works well? I ask because I have a 4amp diode but no 5amp diodes on hand.
 
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