Headlight is too powerful!

[Wheres my dog]

I had a leftover Soltek Fuego driving light which I believe is 55 watts laying around... so I thought it would go nicely on the John Deere Bike I did!

Painted it the trademark colors and it is a perfect fit to the handlebars to say the least!

I picked up a lawn tractor battery from Walmart and made a nice wooden battery box to fit inside the trailer for the bike, and ran wires up front to the light, and works well... maybe a little too well!!!

On a fully charged battery I get about 20 minutes of light varying from a single very intense high beam to a dull glow at the end.

Easy way I know would be to get a better battery, but I need to keep this inexpensive... any ideas on how to get a medium beam light that lasts longer?

I took the light apart and not sure where to find a lower watt bulb, if they even make one that is...

What do I need to add inline to lessen the headlight's draw to add more time to the light?

 

[professor]

What you need is a different light completely.
Something like one of those auxilary lights you find at the car parts store for 20 bucks for 2. They take regular bulbs like a tail light.
That 55 watt bulb you have is drawing 4.5 amps.
Also, the lawn tractor battery is not designed for long continuous loading. It is made for a short burst of high load. The right battery would be a deep cycle.

 

[Ypedal]

Go with LED instead of Halogen, 10w of LED will be very bright and that battery will be much happier..

check my projects page on lights for some info:

http://www.ypedal.com/Lumenator/Lumenator.htm

 

[Wheres my dog]

Go with LED instead of Halogen, 10w of LED will be very bright and that battery will be much happier..

check my projects page on lights for some info:

http://www.ypedal.com/Lumenator/Lumenator.htm

Ypedal...

The John Deere is along the lines of the old farm bicycle if you would. The light I have on there now is the perfect look for the bicycle being the big round shell and glass front. I was trying not to sacrifice the aesthetics for better light.

Now... I do agree with you about the LED flashlights as on your website! I have a $30 LED flashlight I bought for diving, it uses 4 AA batteries and is insanely insanely bright!!! I use this on my more modern looking GIANT GEBE setup I have.

I could be wrong, I think what I need is called something like a "rheostat" maybe??? Kind of like a hand adjustable voltage meter...

 

[professor]

A reostat will just suck up power itself. You can't use a light dimmer on DC either.

 

[johnrobholmes]

You can put an LED in your existing light bucket with a bit of thinking.

This is LED on the front of my rat bike

 

[Fxsebike]

A 20w bulb and a real deep cycle (7ah) would do wonders for you.

 

[adrian101]

Go with LED instead of Halogen, 10w of LED will be very bright and that battery will be much happier..

check my projects page on lights for some info:

http://www.ypedal.com/Lumenator/Lumenator.htm

I love the lumenators on your project page. they are very bright.

 

[IbedaYank]

A reostat will just suck up power itself. You can't use a light dimmer on DC either.

what do you think dims your dash lights in your car?

 

[IbedaYank]

WBD
do a search on ebay for a replacement bulb for your light in LED...quite a few are made