How I power the lights

[GreenMantis]

And not all 18650 cells are the same, the state of the art of lithium batteries is advancing like the blitzkrieg, with the technology and chemistry improving all the time. I have now switched over to IMR cells, from the old ICR cells that need the protection board so bad. I use these in my vaping mod, as they are 1oC rated. My vaping mod shorts the battery with a sub ohm bit of resistance wire. Here is my short report on lithium batteries again.

Regular Lithium Ion: Remember, these have the highest storage capacity, but they are DANGEROUS, and should only
be used with a protection circuit board, and should never be charged at more than 1C. These
also have the lowest discharge capacity, and will explode if charged or discharged too fast!

ICR LiCoO2 (Lithium Cobalt Oxide)

High Discharge Capacity: Better chemistry means these don't really need a protection circuit.

IFR LiFePo4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate)
IMR LiMn2O4 (Lithium Manganese Oxide)
INR LiNiMnCoO2 (Lithium Iron Phosphate With Nickel/Manganese Oxide)

Primary cells (non-rechargeable)

ER Li-SOCl2 (Lithium Thionyl Chloride)
LS Li-SOCl2 (Lithium Thionyl Chloride)
CR Li-MnO2 (Lithium-Manganese Dioxide)
BR Li-(CF)x (Lithium-Carbon Monofluoride)
FR Li-FeS2 (Lithium-Iron Disulfide) - 1.5 to 1.8V "Energizer Ultimate"

The numbering usually refers to the size of the battery, a 14500 refers to "AA" size of 14mm x 45mm, a 18650 is 18mm x 65mm, and so on. At least with ICR, IMR, INR, and IFR types. So, "AA" size 3.7V primary cells are ER14500 or LS14500.

I'm going to add a breakdown on C rating.
There are a couple of factors to consider when trying to quantify capacity and discharge capacity. The "C" number is the minimum time the battery can be safely discharged completely in, quantified in fractions of one hour. So when they give you the capacity in mAh, they are telling you the 1C for the battery. So a 5Ah battery can be discharged completely if discharged @ 5A for one hour. This way you can multiply the mAh capacity by the C number to calculate the maximum sustainable discharge rate, in amps, with the time you can do it in given.
Let's say we have 2 identical looking packs, same size and weight, same capacity, 5Ah, but we'll make the first one a 20C and the other a 30C. The 20C battery can be discharged in (60/20=3) 3 minutes @ (20x5=100) 100A. The 30C battery can be discharged in (60/30=2) 2 minutes @ (30x5=150) 150A.

 

[machanic]

I used one of these to make the turn signals flash:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/10x-12V-Wired-Control-Module-w-Strobe-Flash-For-Car-Household-LED-Strip-Bulbs/253225354135?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

This unit has a color button in the picture but no description in the ebay add so I assume it controls output voltage??

 

[GreenMantis]

No, it has different modes of blinking, for some reason. And there are actually 3 buttons on it: "mode", "speed", and "light". It also says "5-24v", which is a pretty good range. I don't know if you are aware of this, but getting LED's to work as turn signals is complicated, automotive flasher relays won't work with LED's, as they depend on a certain amount of load that LED's just won't make, so they don't flash. The timing of the old flashers is based on the lights draining a capacitor in the relay.

 

[machanic]

Have a ton of experience with LED turn signals, and yes the load type blinkas don't work well with leds and I always hated the first cure (load resistors) to make them work, but my question was on the color button as different color leds require slightly different voltages to function and was wondering if the color button varied the voltage on the output slightly.

 

[GreenMantis]

the voltage on these is pass through, it doesn't regulate the voltage, and I am using 12v led's. The "light" button just turns it on or off, instead of blinking. But it does a few different blinks, and the speed is adjustable. And it stays adjusted, it remembers it's settings. My first one was more complicated, using a bigger blinker box. To get that to work, I had to use a 3 way DPDT (center off) switch, using one set just to turn the blinker on and off, and the other to divert that to one side or the other. These are so compact, I'll just use two of them, and then I only need an SPDT. I really like these led's as signals, but these need steady power, I'll use the blinker for the rest of them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2Pcs-27-SM...m=141522889749&_trksid=p2047675.c100752.m1982

A couple of those will look really sharp on the back of my bike. But I'm still keeping the bullet led's in the ends of the handlebar. There is something funny about that. I'll get pix of those later.

 

[Frankenstein]

I used a similar module for my first version of turn signals, it was for a 4 wired strip and used ir control but either way functioned the same at that one basically. I purchased a digitalized "relay" that is meant for motorcycles with led signals, there's a screw on it that let's you adjust timing. It gets around needing a high load to make it function right.

Those are cool signals, I wanted to chop up an automotive strip that had a patterned flash and just wire leds onto the contacts to customize the design, I think I could use those but I'm kinda confused if that requires stable output or if it can be hooked into a flashing circuit. I guess it doesn't matter, the relay I use has one line in and one line out, since the switch feeds power to it I could parallel it in the circuit and so whenever the switch is thrown it will receive power.

If you want a link to the relay I got just ask, I think it was slightly on the cheap side and what I think is a better quality one could be bought for a dollar or so more. The adjustment screw is very finicky, just a hair in either direction it flashed too slow or simply flashed way too fast, once I was able to get it stable on an adjustment I put a drop of superglue on it to keep it exactly there, it's that annoying to adjust that I felt it was better to just lock in a sequence than keep the ability to adjust it later.

 

[machanic]

Try looking into these for switches.

 

[machanic]

Sounds like you got some touchy pot or a touchy pot.

 

[Frankenstein]

Try looking into these for switches.

Bought a slightly more complicated version, generic moped/motorcycle/atv switch with high beam, turn, and horn switches.

The pot in that relay is either really touchy or the electronics feeding from it just have a very very wide range, they probably could have done it better considering lowest setting is what appears to be steady on, waiting a minute doesn't even trip it to blink off, and highest setting is the "give people seizures" strobe setting, blinking so fast that mearly looking in the direction of the flashing pisses me off. Annoyingly fast.

In either case running less than 300mA through it you can still get a proper blinking speed, so it's a success over a standard relay. Only thing I don't like is as the battery gets into the weak zone and the voltage gets low enough the relay can't funtion, it will turn on but it won't blink, and the current/voltage it passes on is barely enough to light the signals, but playing with the toggle switch kicks them on for a single moment, some weird digital artifact I guess. If I stick with the bt engine the constant supply off the gen would more or less make that fluke disappear, though it was a useful gauge to let me know when it was time to charge the battery, all the other lights in the system functioned perfectly including the 10w headlamp, so safety isn't majorly compromised and I don't end up riding around with an unlit bike. Probably the only advantage of an sla battery over an li-ion pack which is more than happy to shut off once the voltage gets to a certain point, a 4 pack of 18650s could cut out before any noticeable problems with the lights appeared. At least though a replacement set is light and easy to carry around, smart too.

 

[machanic]

Bought a slightly more complicated version, generic moped/motorcycle/atv switch with high beam, turn, and horn switches.

and highest setting is the "give people seizures" strobe setting, blinking so fast that mearly looking in the direction of the flashing pisses me off. Annoyingly fast.

I call that the wake the F up or get off the cell phone rate, funny no comment on the POT reference, yes there are more loaded switch assembles but I am already dealing with three levers two shifters and a throttle and unlike a motorcycle with foot controls to spread the fun.