$5 Home Depot headlight revisited

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As seen in the prior transmission, the two brass screw heads go inside the tube to provide outside contacts- the brass washer (held LOOSELY by a small flat head screw) finishes the connection when the spring pushes it against the round heads. Now the set-up on the caliper is simple- the switch mounts to a bent piece of steel that is latched under the adjustment set of the cable for the brake. a short legnth of stainless steel necklas chain is attatched to the end of the orange fiberglass rod ans also to a tiny slipring- said slip ring loops onto the excess brake cable on the caliper. When the brake is relaxed, it pulls the rod down and interrupts the connection. When the brake is applied, it releases the rod and completes the connection, thus activating the light.
The photo shows the first such unith I built- different hookups, but same principle

This is really good!
This is my last step of fabrication (except a fuse box) the rest with all be Beautification. My last switch idea failed do to a weak switch from radio shack, and I needed a new idea. Thanks for posting "Sarge."
 
Uh-oh, Anybody heard from Sarge?

Sarge's last transmission was May of 2013 and here it is May of 2014. I hope all is well. This is a great write up and I always like to read to the end of a good book (or tutorial).

This just struck me when reading about reading about battery boxes; has anybody thought about using the entire body of the original 'donor' flashlight as a waterproof/weatherproof box? if you're not putting a 6-volt lantern battery in there that frees up a lot of room and they are MADE to be waterproof. You might be able to put the "hotbox" in there as well as the four AA batteries as long as you build appropriate isolating internals... unless the components need to be completely and discretely isolated for proper operation.

It may be that nobody wants a boxy yellow plastic mounted up front. My thought is starting with two complete flashlights and building a head light like Sarge showed us but wiring the tail light into a complete flashlight body / battery box. There's no reason not to mount your red LEDs into that large reflector and have the thing mounted pointing toward the rear. A red lens could be found or fashioned. And if you don't want it to be yellow, go with the Krylon Fusion paint recommended earlier.

Anyway, that's just my brainstorming. Again, I hope Sarge is well.
 
I'm not dead yet...


... been pulling ridiculous levels of call and overtime only to see the bulk of it go to health insurance premiums... for a policy that does little... sorry for the rant. Annie (SWMBO) has been down with (daily) seizures, minimum of four a day. Housework has fallen on the shoulders of my 16y/o stepson... and the place looks like it. Had food poisoning two months ago- no surprise here. Annies' condition is as of yet undiagnosed, she has been passed from specialist to specialist like a bad penny due to a negative wallet biopsy... insurance doesn't really kick in until I have spent at least $4k, and I am still paying off several appointments.

I work in medicine. I assist in surgery. I have the worst medical insurance in the world. If I quit and flip dead animal parts at McGreasy's, I can get free health care, work for minimum wage and bring home more $$$.

Again, sorry for the rant, but there it is. I have just presented facts as to why I haven't been active on this site. I haven't even ridden my machine in Months. I've had no time and work is now too far away to use it to commute.

You may draw your own conclusions...
 
Well, I'm glad you're not dead yet.

I sympathize with you about your costs; I have one preteen just about to explore the wonders of orthodontia, and a spouse whose earning potential is greater than 50% of our combined income with bad knees & no job. And then there's our so-called health insurance circumventing what our doctors prescribe. So, yeah, I'm not in the same boat as you but in one with a similar number of oars and on the same noisome tributary.

I hope you and yours are as well as can be and that you get some time for your hobbies. They are what keep us sane.
 
But wait, there's more...

WalMart sells a tank lantern that has 9 LEDs instead of 3, costing a dollar more than the Home Depot unit. The LEDs take 6 volts directly without resistor ballasting. This unit throws a soft central beam of great illumination with a peripheral flood that truly lights the road at speed- tried it last night, worked just dandy. Nobody will ever flash you to 'dim your lights' with this unit, but it is eminently superior to the $5 tank light that this thread started with and is not much more $$$ to acquire. I currently have housed the light itself in a 4" cyclone post cap... more on that later, as I am not certain most people can do this trick. It presents a shallow, 'early iron' electric unit of 1910 to 1930 except for the black plastic bezel ring... which can be painted, of course. A little heavy (the cap is galvanized steel), I mounted with a 1/2"x 1/16" strap that you bend to adjust right off the gooseneck/handlebar bolt. Looks sweet.
 
Hi Sgt. Sorry to hear about Annie. The burden of health insurance is unfathomable if you have a decent income these days. My bikes sitting there too, baking in the garage. (Southern Calif).
 
Thanks to all for your sympathy (and tolerance) regarding my current state of affairs- Last weekend I bagged several hours of throttle time- Little Andrew now has a crotch bottle rocket of his own based on the 24" wheeled Cranbrick... and it scares him silly but he still loves to ride it! Jame's machine has undergone multiple issues, usually backed-out bolts and simple adjustments- he has a certain finesse with it, much like what horse people call 'dressage'. The three of us spent Saturday 'terrorizing' Malott Washington (post office the size of a two-car garage, local convenience store that sells HORRIBLE pizza, Church, Grange hall and three failed businesses)... OK, amusing the locals and terrorizing squirrels. Better than PROZAC, doesn't require a prescription, doesn't give me any urges to shoot up a school and I don't worry about overdoses. It's hard to be angry at life when you ride an agitated two-wheeled weedwhacker.
We still don't know what's wrong with Annie, but eventually we will.
I just hope we find out before they have to do an autopsy.
 
Thanks to all for your sympathy (and tolerance) regarding my current state of affairs- Last weekend I bagged several hours of throttle time- Little Andrew now has a crotch bottle rocket of his own based on the 24" wheeled Cranbrick... and it scares him silly but he still loves to ride it! Jame's machine has undergone multiple issues, usually backed-out bolts and simple adjustments- he has a certain finesse with it, much like what horse people call 'dressage'. The three of us spent Saturday 'terrorizing' Malott Washington (post office the size of a two-car garage, local convenience store that sells HORRIBLE pizza, Church, Grange hall and three failed businesses)... OK, amusing the locals and terrorizing squirrels. Better than PROZAC, doesn't require a prescription, doesn't give me any urges to shoot up a school and I don't worry about overdoses. It's hard to be angry at life when you ride an agitated two-wheeled weedwhacker.
We still don't know what's wrong with Annie, but eventually we will.
I just hope we find out before they have to do an autopsy.
how much would you sell a assembled light for....lemme know please.thanks in advance.
 
FREE AT LAST! FREE AT LAST! LORD HALLELUIA, I'M FREE AT LAST!.... but now I'm on unemployment...
 
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