MikeyMK

Well there are a lot of 24v lights available for automotive and industry, but for those of us with higher power e-bikes this seems to be a bit of a black hole.

My system has a light switch built in to the display, there's a power output for this. You'd think this would be something useful, like the 5v the throttle uses. But no, it's 48v...

Finding a light unit that'll run on 48v is proving tricky. They're either expensive or ugly, and none seem to be a high performance Cree diode. My current ULM U2 is great, but i run it on a separate 12v battery, which i don't want to have to do. It's sold 'for motorbikes' (12v) and has taken an 18v drill battery but i wouldn't want to try and put 48v through it.

Am i missing something? Is some sort of transformer available..?

2_i 

E-bike batteries are just Li-ion cells connected together. The same is true for laptop batteries and electric cars. In contrast to laptop batteries, the packaging of the cells in e-bikes is relatively primitive, just heat-shrink or something. You should be able to cut through that and add wires for various voltages lower than nominal. This can be done for laptop batteries too, but gets to be a bit more cumbersome. You should be absolutely careful not to short-circuit the batteries. You can burn and melt things when short-circuiting Li-ion. There is a limitation to such a strategy in that you affect the balance of the whole battery, with a segment of the battery drained more than other you will not be able to fully drain other segments. Charging also can become iffy and you accelerate battery decline.

znomit

IQ-X runs up to 60V

https://www.rosebikes.com/article/b-...ht/aid:2679159

MikeyMK

All the cells in my batteries (3.7v each) make one 54v circuit, so I can't take from there.

The IQ-X is unacceptable money for what it is, when better 24v and 110v lamps are a fraction of the price.

VegasTriker

You can use a DC buck converter to drop the voltage to either 12V or 5V, depending upon what light you choose. There are many available from overseas vendors on eBay for less than $15 that would work with either voltage. Just wire it in between the output from your light switch and the lamp.

Here are examples of buck converters.
36V to 12V, 96% efficiency, 10A max, US seller on eBay $16 postpaid https://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-DC-Buck-...fyqR4Gt4ZZH5ng

36W max, 5V or 12V output, $5.80 postpaid from an overseas vendor https://www.ebay.com/itm/36W-DC-Buck...gAAOSwWHBZ7fce

znomit

Could you post links to these?

unterhausen

I am pretty sure the IQ-X blows anything else out of the water. I assume the OP is talking about house lighting, which would require a lot of work to put into a usable form. And probably get unwanted legal advice from law enforcement.

angerdan

B&M IQ-X (E) has only 150lx.

Supernova M99 Pro delivers 360lx (36W@1.600lm). And can be used from 24-60V (max. 75V).
supernova-lights.com/en/products/e-bike-lights-45-kmh/m99-pro/

znomit

Yes but...

Supernova M99 PRO
Availability
Currently unavailable.
Order now and we will deliver when available.
449,00 €

angerdan

r2-bike.com/SUPERNOVA-E-Bike-Front-Light-M99-PRO-for-S-Pedelecs-E-45-StVZO
google.de/shopping/product/13127925492779392036?prds=scoring:tps

unterhausen

That's nice, and very expensive. I have to say though, I'm sure BuM has something in the works.

it's pretty funny they only show it with the ring of leds around the outside, I was hoping they would turn on the main emitter. Looks like they finally got serious about reflectors instead of the weird and barely effective lens setup their dyno lights use. I hope they do something similar for dynos, their lights are attractive but don't light up the road very well.

angerdan

B&M is working on the Ixon Space and IQ-X Speed for about two years now. Maybe the Space will be released before this winter.
377€ isn't very expensive, the Lupine Betty R with $850 without battery is expensive.

It's usual to take shots of bike lights with the LEDs turned off.
Reflectors are common in germany and with the Specialized Flux Expert and Outbound Lighting Focal Series also in the US.

For dynamos there's the IQ-X with 150lx.

MikeyMK

It's for a push bike, not a space shuttle - this one is for 12v/24v and uses 48w worth of Cree LEDs, costs less than $20 delivered within a week...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-48W-LE...kAAOSwWflaQ6rc

znomit

You need a dc to dc converter, such as
DC-12V20W - DC-DC Converters - Ebike Parts - Shop

MikeyMK

Yeah, that's what I'm talking about! I'm in England though, so to save myself about ten times the price I went for this...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-DC-Ste...4AAOSwARZXoseC

MikeyMK

Well they were out of stock, but i found a better one and ordered it - it's just arrived. Gel sealed and waterproof, it looks reasonable quality for £15. Takes up to 72v and the 12v output claims up to 5a/60w is safe... so it should be good for my needs. We'll see when i fit it at some point this week...

angerdan

Do you have a link?

MikeyMK

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-DC-Ste...53.m2749.l2649

angerdan

How did everything finally work out for you?

MikeyMK

Great - i only use it for the LED car tail light bulb though (maybe canbus compatible, dunno), i dared to connect my chinese '12v' front motorcycle projector Cree ULM2 headlight direct to the 54v output that module is connected to, and it worked, leaving me plenty of 12v power left for a car horn which worked when it was fitted.

spinnanz

Serch ali-express for ebike lights. A simple commuter set was was all I needed. A small, single 1.5w led headlight is plenty for on road use. A set, front and rear cost me £13 delivered. These were multi voltage 8-72v.

Off road use, id definatly want something higher power.