Custom Adventure Racing Lighting System

From 4LPH41337.com

1 Credit
2 Introduction
3 Photos
4 Components
5 Assembly
6 Conclusion

Credit

Eric Hile is an affiliate and training buddy of Team ROC Gear/4LPH4 1337. He competed as a guest racer on team 4LPH4 1337 at the 2008 Checkpoint Zero Adventure Race and as a member of team Kronites during the 2009 Atomic Adventure Race presented by Fuji Bikes.

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Introduction

The build you are about to read was born from a certain and absolute necessity to have an inexpensive lighting system that could blast out enough light to run speeds down a forest service road of 30 mph + and still be water resistant as well as bullet proof. It also had to have enough flood and spot characteristics to light the way of the nastiest, root ridden and bolder laden single track. The light also had to have a burn time of at least 10 hrs at full power, which produces a whopping 600 lumens. Compare that to the NiteRider Moab's ~400 lumen output, and you've got yourself a reason to build your own.

In my research a lighting system that would meet these demands cost 300-400 dollars and if the battery pack went out the replacements were a lot of $$$’s. So after many hours of reading, experimentation and prototypes the final product has been perfected and now for your benefit is being detailed in this wonderful write up.

What you will purchase as far as materials depends on what your needs are. I needed a light that could mount to my bike and two lights that could mount to my mountain biking helmet. This would provide the best of both worlds. That being a light you could direct wherever you looked as well as one to maintain a constant direction and plane ahead of you. This is the setup most mountain bikers have so this will be the context of the “need” that I built to satisfy.

My total cost for this lighting system was $110. This includes everything which a lot of it I had like the JB weld, solder, rivets, etc. If you do not have these things, it would be more. Most of the items/tools are useful outside of adventure racing, so that needs to be taken into consideration as well when considering the value of the custom lighting system versus buying one.

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Photos

Custom Adventure Racing Lighting System
Complete System	Connection At Light 1	Connection at Light 2	Cree Q5 LED
Light System on Pack	Solder Points on Back of LED Driver	Switch From Trustfire Flashlight	Trustfire TR-801 Flashlight

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Components

3 TR-801 Trustfire flashlights with the all extremely important and critical component--the CREE Q5 LED bulb. Do not settle for any other LED model different from this. Currently this is the best and brightest led on the market and will not let you down (I will give a detail of links and cost at the end of this for organization purposes).
8-10 TR-18650 batteries that are 2500 MAH or 2.5 amps with 3.7 volts. These batteries are lithium ion so they really pack a punch for such a small battery (just a little bigger than a AA). The CREE Q5 bulbs burn one amp an hour and run between 3.7 volts and 10 volts. These batteries therefore will drive the Q5 led at full power for about 2 hours and then for the remaining ½ hour will decline in brightness.
1 battery charger that will charge the batteries. There are other chargers out there but the one I like is the Ultra Fire battery charger.
2 PVC ¾-inch 90 degree elbows
1 PVC section, ½ inch tube at least 6 inches in length
1 plastic craft box with a good locking mechanism(this will be the battery box so the dimensions will need to be adequate for holding at least 8 batteries)
plastic tubing at least 10 feet and with a ¼-inch OD (will be used to house the wire)
1 90-degree PVC elbow that has a ¾-inch opening on one side and a threaded end on the other side. This will be the switch housing.
JB weld or other strong adhesive. You could use silicone but it tends to breakdown over time.
Soldering gun and resin core solder (don’t get any other type of solder as this is critical to non-corrosion of the electrical components of the light)
Aluminum strip ¾-inch by 1/8-inch thick.(this is to mount the light to the helmet)
2 copper strips approximately ¾-inch wide and the length of the battery box.
8-10 springs acquired from the battery box of an 8 capacity C cell battery box.
4 ¼-inch phono jacks.
Several sizes of heat shrink tubing
Several feet of cable that has positive and negative lines running through it. I used an old cable from a cell phone charger. It had both the negative and positive wires in one cable housing which made it neat and tidy. This cable must fit inside the plastic tubing.
Plumbing T junction
OHM meter

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Assembly

CAUTION: BEFORE SOLDERING OR SEALING ANYTHING PERMANENTLY IT IS ADVISED THAT YOU CHECK THE CIRCUITS WITH AN OHM METER TO INSURE THERE ARE NO SHORTS IN THE CONNECTIONS.

Trust me I’ve learned this the hard way.

Now that the components have been assembled you’ll need to assemble the battery box.
- Take the copper strips and solder the springs on one of them
- Now solder the positive and negative wires to the respective plate. These can be whatever you want but for simplicity sake I put the negative side on the plate with the springs and the positive side on the plate without the springs.
- Now cut groves in the battery box dividers to snuggly hold the batteries perpendicular to the plates. This is critical because the positive post on the batteries doesn’t extrude that far and if it is at a slight angle contact with the positive plate will not be made.
Next, run the wire through to the outside of the box through a section of the ¼-inch hose.
Put a female phono plug on the end of this and seal the connection between the hose housing and the phono jack with heat shrink tubing.
Run the cable inside the plastic tubing. The best thing to do is use Vaseline (oil based lubricants like motor oil or WD-40 will corrode plastic) to help lubricate the cable and make it easier to run it through the plastic housing. NOTE: you are using plastic tubing because it really helps protect the electrical wiring from abrasions and cuts that are commonly received during the numerous bushwhacks you make in an adventure race environment. Also, if you crash on your bike you do not want to risk cutting your power wires.
Run the wires to the switch through a T junction and then out the other end.
Solder a male phono plug on each end of this wire.
Now unscrew the flashlights leaving just the head.
- Solder both positive and negative wires to this. NOTE: positive wire should go to the spring and the negative to the outside ring.
Put the 90 degree PVC elbows together with the section of straight PVC tubing between the elbows. NOTE: make sure the spacing is adequate for your needs and that which will give you the proper amount of flood light. You do not want the lights too close together or too far apart.
Now run the wires soldered to the lights through the 90-degree elbows and out a hold in the straight piece of PVC tubing. NOTE: do not forget to put a piece of plastic tubing over this that will fit through the hole. This will be to help water proof the wires coming out of the light housing.
Now solder a male phono jack to this connection
Use JB weld to secure the lights into the PVC elbows. I would leave the elbows “moveable” on the straight section of pipe for now so that you can adjust the lights up and down independently. They should stay tightly fit without popping loose. Once you get the right vertical adjustment mark the locations and JB weld them in place. You can use silicone for a less permanent fix.
Use heat shrink tubing to seal everything up to make it water tight.
Mount the aluminum strip to your helmet and secure the light to it.
Place the battery pack in your backpack
Put the 3rd flashlight on your bike and you are now ready to go

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Conclusion

You have just completed the assembly of a lighting system that will last for 10 hours and give you close to 600 lumens of light. This is plenty for any single track or fast downhill action on forest service roads. It is water resistant and can withstand any rainstorm. The only thing it ca not do is survive complete submersion. The light itself weighs in at 250 grams or about ½ pound so the feeling of it on your head is minimal.

If there is an interest in assembling one of these let me know and I will be than happy to help. I am currently working on ways to make a sleeker looking battery box and bring the weight down a little on the lights.