It's Sunday, so I'm recharging the small accessory lights on my bike and helmet.
And I discovered the charging port on my rear light is bent and won't accept a USB plug anymore. So now it's a $30 paper weight.
I might be able to tear it apart and repair or replace the charging port, but I would have to 3D print a new case for it.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
I've been going round and round with trying to decide what kind of lights to use.
"Neon" LED strips - an LED strip in a silicone diffuser - has the best look. But it's hard to find top bend, three sided diffusers, and 120 / meter strips draw a lot of power.
Rope light - LED bulbs in series in a clear PVC tube - has the best runtime. But it's nigh impossible to find in 3/8", and 1/2" is barely able to fit in between the spokes.
So I decided to take another look at boat/motorcycle lights
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
The two best options I've are from Plash Lights and LED Glow.
Plash has both neon LED strips that are only .39" (10mm) thick and regular LED strips that are .49" (13mm) thick - both rated IP68 and available at various lengths.
A 6' length is almost $70.
https://plashlights.com/products/mini-led-neon-flex-rgb
LED Glow has "million color motorcycle kits" that you can buy "replacement" strips for - including a 6' length, the right size for a bike wheel.
A 6' length is about $40 - free shipping at $50
https://www.ledunderbody.com/replacement-strip-for-advanced-million-color-motorcycle-kits/
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
Both would be amazing options for bicycles... provided you:
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
In the interest of SCIENCE, I have bought sample lengths of the neon LED strips and regular LED strips from Plash, and the LED strips from LED Glow.
This has revealed another difference between the two that is in LED Glow's favor.
Plash does offer free shipping, and seems to favor priority mail which costs more. LED Glow offers free shipping on orders over $50.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
"I'm not going to think about the bike wheel lights project today," he lied to himself as he was thinking about how he would pack DIY kits for shipping to minimize waste.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
Waiting on shipments of various options for LED lights and thinking about doing a test of a variety of configurations for lights, including:
Somewhere in there is a happy medium between brightness, conspicuousness, and longevity.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
And that's just the options for LEDs along the rim. It's a whole other kettle of fish if you want to run the strips along the spokes, or along a chord of the wheel. Or if you wire up a radial grid of LEDs...
Keep it simple, Ryan. Keep it simple...
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
I'm afraid I've been doing... math.
The battery case takes about 150g and six hours to print - closer to nine with fuzzy skin. I have a day job so I can start a print in the morning and in the evening. At that rate, a printer would go through most of a 1 kg spool every three days, with ~100 g of waste. So a single printer could turn out twelve cases per week.
Now imagine trying to scale that up. Four printers would use almost 10kg a week.
Scale is hard
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
I had a revelation about the bike wheel hub battery case and how to minimize the surface area of the first layer.
And then it hit me - who says the sides have to be vertical? By tapering the side walls to sixty degrees, I could print the case on an edge, reducing the first layer from almost 4,000 mm^2 to around 600 mm^2.
I don't know if I'll go down this road - slanted prints make fillets and fuzzy skin harder - but it was a fun thought experiment.
[#]3dprinting
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
Get in, loser, we're doing science.
When you hear "bike wheel light" you probably think of LEDs around the rim. This takes about six feet per wheel, and depending on what kind of LEDs you get, can cost upwards of $100.
But do you really need to encircle the entire rim? If you're using the wheel lights to be seen rather than to see, is less more?
A thread within a thread!
[#]bikeTooter
๐งต
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
Our control is six feet - the whole rim. We're using 1/2" cool white LED rope light with 40 bulbs per meter. Each length is shown in a photo at rest, and in a six second clip at full speed.
Mastodon won't let me mix and match, so I'll do one per post.
CW: Strobing lights.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
72", 36", 24", and 12"
All measurements are approximate, based on where the rope light can be cut.
=> View attached media | View attached media | View attached media | View attached media
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
Full rim wheel light in motion.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
Half rim wheel light in motion
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
One third rim wheel light in motion.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
One quarter rim wheel light in motion.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
One sixth rim wheel light in motion.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
For the last test I cut the rope down as short as possible - four inches.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
I noticed the bike wobbling a lot when testing the progressively shorter lengths. Despite the relatively low mass of the rope light, it's enough to affect the wheel at speed. I would have to do test rides to see if it is an issue with someone on the bike, and if a second strand would re-balance the wheel.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
The shorter lengths result in a more strobe-like effect at high speed, which has the double edges sword of being more conspicuous, but also annoying and a potential hazard if someone with sensitivity to flashing lights sees it.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
So, weighing the pros and cons of each, I'm not sold in shorter lengths being a good idea. The bright, bold double circle of full wheel lights clear identifies the bike at night. And since I seldom ride at full brightness - 25% is plenty - they have enough runtime to charge once a week.
Good enough.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
Some RGB LEDs are arriving next week, so I'll be able to test how they look and whether being able to change colors is worth the extra effort.
Then, hopefully, I can make a decision and move forward with making a few more sets to distribute for people to beta test.
Assuming anyone else in the cycling community wants to be visible and conspicuous when riding at night, without having to strap dozens of small bike lights all over their bike...
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
A quick survey of the state by state laws in the shithole country I inhabit is, in general, "white front light, red rear reflector" - some states also require side reflectors.
Canada and the EU seems to have the same baseline. But I'm having trouble finding info that says you can't have side facing lights - although certain colors seem to be not allowed (blue, for instance)
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
It occurs to me all of this struggle with searching for the "perfect" wheel lights stems from three things - I want them visible from both sides, I don't want them to stick out like a sore thumb when they're off, and I really, really don't want to semi-permanently attach LEDs to my wheel.
But an IP68 LED strip adhered to the rim on the street side would be more than adequate - as long as it has a black PCB.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
I had wiring issues earlier today - rope light is difficult work with - so I wasn't able to test my idea of paired short lengths of LEDs.
The aesthetic is good, and doesn't exhibit the balance issues the single short strips did. Two 16-18" lengths will cover about half of rim - persistence of vision does the rest.
And yes, more shorter strips may have the same or better results, but at the tradeoff of more wiring, more points of failure.
Video in reply
[#]bikeTooter
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
Two 18" LED strips should be cheaper than one 72" strip, and have twice the runtime, without as severe a strobing effect of a single short strip.
[#]bikeTooter
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
It's unfortunate that rope light is so difficult to wire and is only available in a few colors because it just works. Other LEDs you have to double up or use a diffuser to get a wider angle of view.
Give me a 150 meter spool of 3/8" orange LED rope light and I will make so many bikes visible.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
Something I've been trying to work through with this bike wheel light project is why I have complicated feelings about making and selling them.
Until I ran the numbers on what it would take for someone to make it themselves given the STL file and access to a 3D printer.
The individual component don't cost much, but the shipping charges add up. So if I make small batches it saves the buyer the time and money of sourcing all the parts themselves.
At least that's what I'm telling myself.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
A slow start to a lazy Sunday has gotten me thinking (a dangerous past time, I know)
Yesterday's test of a pair of 18" LED strips proved to be a viable option. However, rope light is difficult to source by the foot, and has limited color options when it can be found.
I've already gone through the trouble of over engineering a battery case to fit a bike wheel instead of just strapping it to the spokes. Why not do the same for an LED module instead of trying to wedge LEDs between the spokes?
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
My mood after months of trying to find a suitable solution for bike wheel lights.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
@yantor3d
Just sayin ๐ฅ
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from ClintonAnderson@universeodon.com
@ClintonAnderson Nice kit. What sort of batteries are those lights running off of?
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
@yantor3d LED strip on the frame.
Off a rechargeable pack from Amazon....
The lights in the wheels run off 3 AA batteries each..... Again, rechargeable
๐
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from ClintonAnderson@universeodon.com
@ClintonAnderson Nice. I'm ... four? months into over engineering a case for a 12V battery that locks around the frame and can power more robust LEDs and use an RF LED controller.
Unfortunately, that knocked me down the rabbit hole of all the options for 12V LEDs out there...
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
@yantor3d I think my led strip was... 9v? It's a old govee set. I can do all kinds of stuff with it via the app on my phone.
The lights in the wheels are multi colour, but static.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from ClintonAnderson@universeodon.com
@ClintonAnderson Not bad. Definitely visible, definitely conspicuous. How's the runtime on them? I get tired of recharging my auxiliary running lights what feels like every other day...
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
@yantor3d
I get multiple trips out of them.
I need to replace the led strip though.... It's been on for years, and winter and rain have not been kind
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from ClintonAnderson@universeodon.com
@ClintonAnderson Yeah, that has been a major concern for me, too, when looking for wheel lights.
I'd love to use marine grade LED rope light, but it's only available in red, white, and blue, and costs $3-$9 a foot.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
@yantor3d
These are what are in our wheels.... Apparently they no longer come in Rainbow
https://a.co/d/0g84Ano
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from ClintonAnderson@universeodon.com
@ClintonAnderson Yeah, those are what I had at first. But I got tired of having to push a button on both wheels to turn the lights on and off. Hence going down the rabbit hole where I have delved so deep that I am in danger of finding the Balrog.
=> More informations about this toot | More toots from yantor3d@mas.to
text/geminiThis content has been proxied by September (3851b).