LED lighting question

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commanderjjones
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LED lighting question

Post by commanderjjones »

While I was rebuilding my engine, I went ahead and installed an 85 watt Ricky stator so I could do some lighting upgrades if I wanted to. Unfortunately the previous owner had completely removed the original light, which is not really that big a deal because they suck anyway. I probably won't need the 85 watts, but it was only $75, so what the hell.

On our (mine and my kids') last several bikes I have installed a couple of 18 watt LED's (one spot and one flood) that are SUPER bright and work great. Problem is that all of those bikes (CRF250X, TTR250, TTR125, and KLX140) were all electric start, so they were already had a battery and were set up for 12 VDC lighting.

I'm sure that several of you have done this so correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I'm going to have to install a rectifier and at least a small battery pack to be able to run these LED lights on the KDX, right???

Looking forward to hearing some feedback on what you guys have done, where you got the parts, etc.......
pumpguy
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LED lighting question

Post by pumpguy »

Without a rectifier and battery, you now only have Alternating Current (AC). LEDs work best with Direct Current (DC), however, in my experience, LEDs will work with AC, but not as good.

LEDs work with current flowing in one direction only. With DC, you have to correctly connect the positive and negative leads for LEDs to work. With AC, current is flowing in both directions (alternating), so the LEDs are only working with half the current being generated.

My setup uses an 85 watt Ricky Stator lighting coil, and this powers the incandescent head light, LED tail light, and stop light, and LED license plate bulbs.

AC horns are available, but IMO, don't work very well. I have a DC horn powered by a rechargeable battery. No turn signals yet. Not required in Illinois however I'm thinking about installing a set, to be powered by the battery.

There is a thread over on ThumperTalk about total loss lighting using a 6800 MAh rechargeable battery. I got one of these, and mounted it to the back side of the snorkel in my air box. It's about the size of a deck of cards and comes with a charger. If you get one of these, I would recommend getting extra barrel connectors and also a short length 90 degree barrel connector. Makes installation easier and also connecting to the charger.

All of these are available on eBay.

I would review the HEADLIGHT BULB REPLACEMENT thread at the start of this forum for more information and possible alternatives to LEDs.

Hope this helps. Good luck.
commanderjjones
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LED lighting question

Post by commanderjjones »

Has anyone used the Trail Tech 8" race light? It says that it works on AC or DC and looks like it would be REALLY bright. It's not cheap, but it would eliminate the need for rectifier and/or a battery. So the eliminating the cost (and bulk) of a rectifier and battery would nearly offset the additional cost.
kinganu
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LED lighting question

Post by kinganu »

I installed an LED conversion light in the original light socket from amazon for 15.00 and it kicks butt......far brighter than the stock and it does not go brighter and dimmer according to the rpm's.
ohgood
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Re: LED lighting question

Post by ohgood »

commanderjjones
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Re: LED lighting question

Post by commanderjjones »

That's nearly identical to what I've been running on my other bikes, except I was using 2 separate lights (one spot and one flood) of 18 watts each. And you're right, they are great.

Are you using a DC rectifier and battery pack or are you running them directly from the AC power?
commanderjjones
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LED lighting question

Post by commanderjjones »

kinganu wrote:I installed an LED conversion light in the original light socket from amazon for 15.00 and it kicks butt......far brighter than the stock and it does not go brighter and dimmer according to the rpm's.
Unfortunately the previous owner removed ALL of the original lighting (shell, socket, mounting hardware) and replaced it with a standard number plate, and replacing all of that is more than I care to spend when there are better and cheaper alternatives.
ohgood
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Re: LED lighting question

Post by ohgood »

commanderjjones wrote:
That's nearly identical to what I've been running on my other bikes, except I was using 2 separate lights (one spot and one flood) of 18 watts each. And you're right, they are great.

Are you using a DC rectifier and battery pack or are you running them directly from the AC power?
I was skeptical of the bar from amazon i linked being enough to provide both spot and flood, but it's plenty for street, probably overkill for the woods. But I like overkill in my lighting !

I have a couple of small 20w led pods also I may drop on there to test along with the bar I linked above.... My lighting coil was rewound via the "how to" rewinding tutorial here on kdxrider, so I'm assuming it can handle the 35W bar + 2each 20w pods just fine, since previous posters have said they had around 90w capacity after rewinding. I'll test that next week sometime and report back.

The rectifier I linked to is what I'm using for ac > dc conversion, and that is all. No external VR, no diodes, no caps, just those two pieces. There is a flicker at idle, but even then the light output is good enough for woods riding, anything above idle is a wash in light.
commanderjjones
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Re: LED lighting question

Post by commanderjjones »

ohgood wrote: I was skeptical of the bar from amazon i linked being enough to provide both spot and flood, but it's plenty for street, probably overkill for the woods. But I like overkill in my lighting !

I have a couple of small 20w led pods also I may drop on there to test along with the bar I linked above.... My lighting coil was rewound via the "how to" rewinding tutorial here on kdxrider, so I'm assuming it can handle the 35W bar + 2each 20w pods just fine, since previous posters have said they had around 90w capacity after rewinding. I'll test that next week sometime and report back.

The rectifier I linked to is what I'm using for ac > dc conversion, and that is all. No external VR, no diodes, no caps, just those two pieces. There is a flicker at idle, but even then the light output is good enough for woods riding, anything above idle is a wash in light.
I was a little skeptical as well about the cheap Chinese stuff, but I've been using them for several years on multiple bikes, a previous Ranger, and my current RZR. For the money, they can't be beat and I haven't had one fail yet. I'm a moderator on a couple of other off-road (SXS) forums and a lot of those guys bash the Chinese knock-offs, insisting that the name brand (Rigid, etc...) stuff is far superior, but I have no complaints. I have a 36" 300 watt bar on my RZR that would've cost over $500 from Rigid. I bought it on eBay for like $40 and that thing will turn night into day.

Thanks for the info'. Pretty sure this is the route I will go since it has worked so well for me all these years. I just wasn't sure about the rectifier/regulator/capacitor thing.
commanderjjones
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Re: LED lighting question

Post by commanderjjones »

Can you explain how you wired in that rectifier......or does it come with reasonably understandable directions?

I was looking at Baja Designs rectifier/regulator and it was talking about the need to float the ground. I'd rather not do more than necessary if I don't absolutely have to. I like to keep things as simple as possible.
ohgood
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LED lighting question

Post by ohgood »

commanderjjones wrote:
kinganu wrote:I installed an LED conversion light in the original light socket from amazon for 15.00 and it kicks butt......far brighter than the stock and it does not go brighter and dimmer according to the rpm's.
Unfortunately the previous owner removed ALL of the original lighting (shell, socket, mounting hardware) and replaced it with a standard number plate, and replacing all of that is more than I care to spend when there are better and cheaper alternatives.
It's very easy to 'fix'. Pull power from the lighting coil on the stator, mount an led light, rectifier, done. very very simple.
ohgood
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Re: LED lighting question

Post by ohgood »

commanderjjones wrote:
Can you explain how you wired in that rectifier......or does it come with reasonably understandable directions?

I was looking at Baja Designs rectifier/regulator and it was talking about the need to float the ground. I'd rather not do more than necessary if I don't absolutely have to. I like to keep things as simple as possible.

It's EXTREMELY easy to do. The rectifier has four posts:
Post 1 and 2 = AC from the lighting coil
Post 3 and 4 = DC + and -

Then run the + and - to your led bar. It flickers at idle, but anything above 1/8 throttle on my bike = plenty of light, with zero flicker. I ran it this weekend for 475KM on dirt roads, highway (screaming at 65mph) and single track in 95F heat. It's solid. Do it !

here's the gpx track !
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