LED Farkle Project

[crazykz]

Well I've been working on this stupid thing for a couple weeks now and finally am getting to the final stages of this project.

I decided to add another LED to drop the voltage and current a little bit more. The resistor was getting a little too warm so I decided I wanted to add a little resistance to the circuit to drop the current a little, decrease the voltage drop a little on the resistor, and in turn drop the power dissapation on the resistor. Tah dah, less heat and more light.

My guess is that it will be mounted on a plate off the front of the tank bag. That's another project in itself. The brightness is very substantial and hopefully not too bright. Now this draws about 300mA of current so adding this to the list of farkles does require a little consideration if you're running high current devices already (lights, heated clothing).

Curt

[bcst1300]

Ok It is red and lighting so it must be for the rear? Running lights or brake lights? 300ma is only 1/3 of 1 amp so it is not much of a current consideration. Those look like those big LEDs that run 3 watts so you might actually be running 1/2 an amp plus any heat on the resistor.

[CCC]

Looks like a map light to me. Am I right?

[nm6r]

Curt, be sure to leave extra wire on the power connector so you can pull your light off your tank bag and hold it up behind your windshield.

Slow traffic move right!

Ray
http://www.frontiernet.net/~st1300rider/smile04Bikerwheelie.gif

[crazykz]

Ok It is red and lighting so it must be for the rear? Running lights or brake lights? 300ma is only 1/3 of 1 amp so it is not much of a current consideration. Those look like those big LEDs that run 3 watts so you might actually be running 1/2 an amp plus any heat on the resistor.

It's a maplight. The ones I've seen cost too much and I didn't really like any of them so I decided to make my own.

These LED's will run a max of 350mA. I'm running them at about 300mA and they drop about 3V so that's 1.05 Watts each. It's probably a watt or less. I've measured all this with one LED so I'm pretty close on the values.

You're right it's not that much of a concern but for me it is. I know that I've run into issue with the heated grips already and I'm adding PIAA's this winter plus an invertor in the trunk for a laptop. That plus this maplight is pushing it more.

Curt

[crazykz]

Looks like a map light to me. Am I right?

You got it. It's so bright in the one picture you can't tell it's shining on a map. ;)

Curt

[number9]

I ran across some LED lights today at Walmart that would be perfect for map lights. They were in the automotive section where the seatbelt pads/seat covers/visor mirrors/etc are located. There were 2 different packages, one had 2 individual LED lights and the other package had 3 LED lights on a single base. The bases had sticky tape on the bottoms and the lights were powered with a cigar plug, 12V. The lights were just a tad smaller in diameter than a AAA battery and about 1/2 as long as a AAA battery. They were about $6. I have tried to find them on Walmarts website but it sucks for automotive items.

I also picked up a heychain LED light for $.97.

[crazykz]

I'll have to stop and check them out. Mine seems to work great but I'm always looking for something else to try.

Curt

[ccryder]

Curt:
Your LED light looks pretty good. I just went the hi-tech with the Quest GPS. No longer have to read maps on the tank bag and I can even adjust the brightness (have to at night it's too bright!). Signal dynamics also makes some nice compact LED assemblies that are directional. http://tinyurl.com/6aaes Just another thought.

BTW, did you get a hold of Corinne?

Later
Neil S.

[crazykz]

I"ve looked at some of the signal dynamics one on someone else's bike. They don't even come close to the ones I have. Seriously. I've researched so called "super-bright" LEDs and none of them come close to these. You cannot look directly at these. If you close your eyes and point the LEDs at your eyes you would swear you're looking at the sun.

I have gotten a hold of her yet but I'm not going to call until next week.

Curt

[John Anthony]

Curt - sweet little project and nice attention to detail. Thanks for sharing. Now we'll just need to coax you into farbricating some for the rest of us!!

John

[crazykz]

I could but I think this is probably a better solution:

http://www.rallylights.com/hella/hella%20images/map_lights.jpg

$30.99 from http://www.rallylights.com/Terratrip/Map_Lamps.asp

Curt

[number9]

I ran across some LED lights today at Walmart that would be perfect for map lights. They were in the automotive section where the seatbelt pads/seat covers/visor mirrors/etc are located. There were 2 different packages, one had 2 individual LED lights and the other package had 3 LED lights on a single base. The bases had sticky tape on the bottoms and the lights were powered with a cigar plug, 12V. The lights were just a tad smaller in diameter than a AAA battery and about 1/2 as long as a AAA battery. They were about $6. I have tried to find them on Walmarts website but it sucks for automotive items.


Went back to these in Walmart tonight and they are made by Bell Automotive and part# is 22116-1B. Still can't find them on the web though.

[crazykz]

Went back to these in Walmart tonight and they are made by Bell Automotive and part# is 22116-1B. Still can't find them on the web though.

I saw them. I've looked at them before but they don't even come close to what I have now. They are a nice solution if you have the right place to mount them.

Thanks for letting me know about them. I may find a spot to use them. I could see putting on under the seat in the tail so I always have light when I'm working under there or changing a fuse.

Wonder how "weather proof" they would be.

Curt