FlyingWigs Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 (edited) Added a few lights to improve my night safety and visibility a little bit. They're 12v pin lights from Amazon and a little strip of red leds in the rear. Right now it's run from a 3s lipo battery in my backpack but I plan on making it run on usb-c with a 12v pd board and use a power bank. What lights are you guys using? Edited April 12, 2022 by FlyingWigs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawpie Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 (edited) This is my setup on my Super DH. Held on by the silicone straps they come with... chosen because they have a daylight flashing mode that's super bright. They've been 100% reliable, the button sequence to get them on is different for the white one than the red, but you get used to that. I also have the front one pointed "down" to try to illuminate my body as much as possible. I wear a hi-viz jacket and I want others to understand that I'm a person, not a strange low headlight and high headlight. Got them from Amazon https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V1KD6ZH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QZRP2P2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Edited October 8, 2021 by Tawpie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeforester Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 (edited) With the top protector flat flap raised I find it sits just right when wearing the helmet. Old Chinese floodlight repurposed, ditto old 12v battery, I had a much smaller one but couldn’t find male the plug-in part when I had the soldering iron out. I’ll make up the smaller one soon. Rear is Moon Orion and small piece Velcro with magnetic reinforcement. Usually I have it flashing, but as we live out in the wilds it’s all a bit academic here, lucky to see a vehicle or soul in 5-10 miles. New strip daylight and rear lights coming for lighting up a wee rucksack next week. Edited October 13, 2021 by Freeforester 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planemo Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 Can be set to slow/fast flash or static. If someone doesnt see this at night then they are clinically blind IMO! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingWigs Posted October 14, 2021 Author Share Posted October 14, 2021 6 hours ago, Planemo said: Can be set to slow/fast flash or static. If someone doesnt see this at night then they are clinically blind IMO! AWESOME!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingWigs Posted October 19, 2021 Author Share Posted October 19, 2021 So here's an update, now powered by a usb c power delivery trigger board from a power bank in my backpack. This only works with a Power Delivery rated battery bank, but gives you 5,9,12,15&20 volts at up to 5 amps if the battery can handle it. It's programmable but I couldn't get it to set directly to 12v, instead it starts at 5v and press the button for 9v then again for 12v and it cycles through the 3. So I get red only, low and high power 😁 It's nice to not have a cable when it comes off. I added some glow wire as well but might remove it because the noise that the tiny inverter makes is annoyingly similar to my tinnitus! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazybones99 Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 On 10/14/2021 at 3:26 AM, Planemo said: Can be set to slow/fast flash or static. If someone doesnt see this at night then they are clinically blind IMO! Did you get this from the TRON movie set? This is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robse Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 5 minutes ago, lazybones99 said: Did you get this from the TRON movie set? This is great! I have to make this for my (big) helmet ! Coooool This is Tron. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazybones99 Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 On 10/14/2021 at 3:26 AM, Planemo said: Can be set to slow/fast flash or static. If someone doesnt see this at night then they are clinically blind IMO! and what is that by the way? did you cut a flat led strip to shape? i really want to borrow your idea?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazybones99 Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 Maybe it's something like this? either electroluminescent tape or VynEL? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazybones99 Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 My OCD kicked in - I might have found the ETSY seller from which Planemo got those beautiful strips. Color choices and reasonable price - especially for how sweet they are! Helmet Motorcycle Light Riding Signal Strip Flashing Durable | Etsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingWigs Posted April 4, 2022 Author Share Posted April 4, 2022 I had EL wire on my helmet, but the driver board made an awful high pitch sound that was identical to my tinnitus so it had to go. That's when I found the led filament wire I have now. No sound and much brighter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planemo Posted April 4, 2022 Share Posted April 4, 2022 9 hours ago, lazybones99 said: Did you get this from the TRON movie set? This is great! I am a massive sucker for Tron, I remember watching the 1st movie when it came out and thought how cool everything looked. The film was mind-blowing back then. I have to admit, it did help with my choice of helmet illumination! 8 hours ago, lazybones99 said: My OCD kicked in - I might have found the ETSY seller from which Planemo got those beautiful strips. Color choices and reasonable price - especially for how sweet they are! Helmet Motorcycle Light Riding Signal Strip Flashing Durable | Etsy Yep, you can get them lot's of places. Mine came from Ebay, no more than £10 I think. That said, I pulled out my 661 helmet after 18 months (I rarely use it, and it's even rarer for me to ride at night) and found that the brightness on the strips was waaay down. Changing batteries made no difference, so it could only be the driver pack or the strips themselves. I bought another complete kit, fitted the new driver to the old strips and it worked fine. So I suspect the driver packs aren't that great. But at least I have a spare set of strips now. 4 hours ago, FlyingWigs said: I had EL wire on my helmet, but the driver board made an awful high pitch sound that was identical to my tinnitus so it had to go. That's when I found the led filament wire I have now. No sound and much brighter. You make a good point, I can hear the driver on mine too, but only when static. I suffer from pretty bad tinnitus too, but I think the pitch doesn't match so it's OK for me. Certainly not enough of a reason to remove them and as I say anything above 10mph and I can't hear it at all. But it's a good point, it may affect some riders a lot more than others. The other thing I like about my setup is that the driver pack is light and I have it velcroed to the back underside of the helmet, so it's all self-contained. I can't be doing with leads dragging everywhere. Your EL wire is a good option, although personally I'm not keen on the fact that it's impossible to get 'straight' runs with it and it messes with my OCD. Thats my own problem though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingWigs Posted April 4, 2022 Author Share Posted April 4, 2022 My earlier pictures were the EL wire, and that set up had the driver glued under the visor on the front of the helmet, even at moderate speed I still heard it. I'll post some pics of the led filaments that replaced it, they only needed a voltage buck board which is totally silent. I'm in the process of integrating red led filament onto my backpack as well. Eventually it will all run on one rechargeable battery through usb-c cables and power distribution trigger boards. The led wires draw 3v@150ma each so should last hours and hours. Do you guys think many people would be interested in modded led backpacks? Maybe with the option of an extra output for helmet power? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingWigs Posted April 4, 2022 Author Share Posted April 4, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingWigs Posted April 4, 2022 Author Share Posted April 4, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingWigs Posted April 12, 2022 Author Share Posted April 12, 2022 So I finished the backpack for the most part, it still needs some wires tied down internally but its functional. The battery bank has 2 usb-c PD outputs and runs the helmet and the bag on 12v and 9v respectively. At roughly 150ma, the bank should run 20-28 hours 😁 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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