Little help here: lights & generator

[wvining]

1st the pix:

The 6v generator:

Rear lights: (the two very bottom ones, both have 6v bulbs)

The headlight: (6v bulb)

Now the question:
All 3 lights use 6v bulbs, and with them all hooked up to the generator they are really dim. Can a 12v generator be used without having to change the bulbs? Would the wattage of each bulb play into this at all?

I was wanting the "taildragger" look with the rear lights, thought they would be neat to have

 

[user 135]

Usually you can only hook up 2 lights to the generators. If you could change the bulbs to LED's, you could get the brightness.

 

[thatismytruck]

The wattage plays a big part, yes. Watts = Volts x Amps. Generators on bikes don't give constant power. they depend on the speed of the rotor. If you ride faster the lights will get brighter. The generator could be malfunctioning:?: A 12V generator will make the life of the bulbs less. (possibly pop them)

 

[wvining]

Seems I have some thinking to do....

I was affraid of the 12v vs. 6v though, and admit that I figured as much

Ok, let's see here:
Generator: 6volts/3watts
3 bulbs: .45 amp each x3 = 1.35 amp

If watts=volts x amps....
that means I am needing 8.10 volts.....correct?

Now, the original burned out bulbs in the small rear lights were .04 amps each.....if I can find replacements:
.04a x 2 = .08 taillight bulbs
.45a x 1 = .45 amp headlight bulb
---------------
total = .53 amp
6 volts x .53 amps = 3.18 watts

Would really like to find LED bulbs for all 3 lights..I wonder what the amps are for them..any idea where I should start the search?

 

[thatismytruck]

Seems I have some thinking to do....

I was affraid of the 12v vs. 6v though, and admit that I figured as much

Ok, let's see here:
Generator: 6volts/3watts
3 bulbs: .45 amp each x3 = 1.35 amp

If watts=volts x amps....
that means I am needing 8.10 volts.....correct?

Now, the original burned out bulbs in the small rear lights were .04 amps each.....if I can find replacements:
.04a x 2 = .08 taillight bulbs
.45a x 1 = .45 amp headlight bulb
---------------
total = .53 amp
6 volts x .53 amps = 3.18 watts

Would really like to find LED bulbs for all 3 lights..I wonder what the amps are for them..any idea where I should start the search?

first: http://www.superbrightleds.com Is where I've gotten replacement leds for my camper.

It looks like you are trying to get more power than you can get out of the 3W generator. It looks like all the dynamo light kits are designed to only handle one headlight and one taillight. To add another makes it overloaded. This would explain the dimness. It could also cause excessive heat in the generator. "But only a 0.18W difference?" one might ask. Well it's pretty significant when your talking about only 3 Watt max. [(3.18-3)/3]x 100 = 6% over.

If I recall there are 6W/6V generators. Or just try and get an LED that will retrofit your lights. Or just get some battery powered lights. No generator noise then either.

Sorry about the bad news. It will look good if you get it working.

 

[wvining]

Thanx for the information Skip!

I'll attempt to find a 6V 6W generator along with seeing if I can find some LED lights to swap out with. The 6v 3w generator I am using now is rather noisey....worse than the one I have on my Schwinn.

Thanx again!

 

[bicycleguy]

You could also use 2 generators, I did that for a while on one of my bikes and never had a problem with it.

 

[thatismytruck]

It occurs to me now that I'm home and have beer in me that you could possibly change the headlight bulb to something a little smaller if something smaller is available.

 

[wvining]

the thought had run through my mind to run dual generators, as the local bike shop has tons and tons of em really cheap. But then again, the thought of "cluttering" the bike with em didn't appeal to me much either

I dunno, thinking I will scour the parts boxes again at the local shop (their basement is a treasure trove of old/antique parts) and see what I can come up with.

Will keep everyone posted though