Triple SSC P7 project

[EL34]

I was thinking that it might be nice to have even more light on the bars during big mountain descents.
I currently run two P7 Marwi's on the bars, but I would like even more light cause my eyes are 50+ years old and not what they used to be.
 
Anywho, I thought up a way to make an outer shell without CNC ing a solid block of aluminum.
 
I started with a flat sheet of .125 inch thick 6061, milled it into shape and then wrapped it around a form I made.
 
I just finished it last night and I only got to fire it up outside for several minutes
It came out great and is really bright with a great beam shape
 
weight is 241 grams and is about 60 grams lighter than 3 of my Marwi P7 lights, so I am happy with the weight
 
I set up a web page on the build.
Big pics and much more info here
http://www.el34world.com/Misc/bike/BikesLights49.htm
 
Beam shots of the Triple P7 and a single P7 Marwi for comparison on this page
http://www.el34world.com/Misc/bike/BeamShots2.htm
 
Triple P7 .gif animation of both lights
Wait for the animation to load and then it will play in a loop
http://www.el34world.com/Misc/bike/images/3P7Animation.gif
 
The animation really shows the power of this light
 

 

 

[PRR]

> more light cause my eyes are 50+ years old and not what they used to be.

Have your eyes looked at.

Yes, your NEAR vision is declining with age. That fiddly bench-work is better with more light (and you should already have a $9 set of reading specs for close work). That's so normal, everybody has it.

Your FAR vision, over 10 feet, should stay good for a decade or three. What you see across the room or out to the stars should stay 90+% as sharp as when you were a pup.

But there's a couple things can happen, and can be treated easily if caught early.

Or did you mean: when young you would ride down a black trail, but age and wisdom suggest seeing where you are going? Some of the things I did when young, I try to do safer now.

[stingray_65]

Doug,

I hope using that 6061 T-6 was intentional, other grades like 5052 aren't as forgiving when forming.

Aluminum has a grain to it, unless it is cast.

bending with the grain is easier, but it can crack and work harden. bending aluminum against the grain is much more stable, MUCH harder to bend.

Light persuasion with a non carbonizing flame works, but go slow and work a little at a time. heating aluminum to form is tricky, the whole mass seems to come up to temp at the same time due to its high conductivity and makes things hard to handle.

Your cover turned out really nice!, If you hadn't machined those fins I think you may not have had the success that you did.

What an amazing bike too! carbon fiber handlebars? real NASA stuff there!

So how does these things you do get built?
sittin around and think "Hey! I need a widget!" then you go whoop one out on the cnc?
I hope it does go somthin like that, traditionally Americans have been innovators and  resourceful. It is great to know that spirit is alive and well.

Ray

[EL34]

PRR,
My vision is fine, I can see far away no problem without glasses.
It's the ability to gather light that is the problem
I should have said that as you age, your eyes do not gather light as efficienly as when you were youg.
I used to be able to read text from the glow of a match.
Now it takes much better lighting to be abel to read things
The younger guys I ride with do not need as much light as the older guys I ride with

Thanks for the Alu tips stingray
I used what I had laying around at the time, but if I had to bend Alu again, I would probably go get something better than 6061.
yeah, that's how they get built
I thought of it, made a plan on paper, made a drawing on CAD, imported the drawing into CAM, openined the machine file in Mach3, and a ton of other hand work like drilling and tapping threads.

[pullshocks]

Doug are you still using this?  How did it work out with no limiter?  How is the battery life?

By the way I saw your post on MTBR about your new Yeti.  Looks great.

[EL34]

yes, I used this light last year and the year before.

It worked just fine without any current limiting
It never pulled more than 7.5 amps from the battery pack which is 2.5 amps per SSC P7

Battery life, I don't know because I only turned this light on when I needed it which is going down hill or any really fast sections.
Also, this light was used to make all the youtube ride videos last year and it provided tons of light

It never stayed on the whole ride and I never ran out batteries
I used a 7 x 18650 x 2400mah each battery pack, so that had a 16,800 mah storage capacity.

I am thinking of selling it because I am working on some sort of XML version in my head right now
I have not figured out what I am going to do yet