Time for some lights

[Panhead5496]

All right, been wanting to add lights to my go cart on the cheap for a long time. Been looking at some easy options.

How about 2 sets (so 4 lights) of these? https://m.banggood.com/10V-85V-DC-1...-Lamp-Handlebar-p-1112334.html?rmmds=wishlist

It says it runs 10-85(!)V DC current. I was going to get some lead acid batteries but I don't think they will make the lights bright enough. I have tons of lipo batteries (ranging from 7.4v up to 18.5v). Would those be a better option? Or any suggestions for lights in general? Want to keep it under $40 if possible.

The ones I put the link to the plan was to solder them all together into a + and - plug, and then solder some wires to the battery to have a connector to make taking off the battery easier.

Thoughts?

 

[Jaeden de Boer]

They say 10 to 85 dc volts so they should be fine with a 12 volt lead acid battery(it is more than the minimum)but i could be wrong. They are LED lights so they should be pretty bright when you have four of them. Personally I would wire in a toggle switch, not just connectors then to the battery so they could easily be turned on and off. Depending on how much space you have if you decide not to get these lights, you get a car or truck headlight from an auto wrecker, which will for sure run on 12 volts dc, and should be bright enough(Plus you can wire it for high and low beams). I have a an old ford Louisville headlight on my kart, with high and low beams, and it works great. Those are my thoughts. Good luck with whatever you end up doing.

 

[Hellion]

I don't know man, those look good for the price.

I'm looking into the same thing for the Rupp minibike I have. Some of them had a nifty head light and tail light as options.
Those are like hen's teeth now and $$$$ so I'm thinking retro, chrome, but with LEDs.

 

[Panhead5496]

They say 10 to 85 dc volts so they should be fine with a 12 volt lead acid battery(it is more than the minimum)but i could be wrong. They are LED lights so they should be pretty bright when you have four of them. Personally I would wire in a toggle switch, not just connectors then to the battery so they could easily be turned on and off. Depending on how much space you have if you decide not to get these lights, you get a car or truck headlight from an auto wrecker, which will for sure run on 12 volts dc, and should be bright enough(Plus you can wire it for high and low beams). I have a an old ford Louisville headlight on my kart, with high and low beams, and it works great. Those are my thoughts. Good luck with whatever you end up doing.

Thanks for the input! Are LEDs the kind that the more volts the brighter they are? It seems that if so, giving them 85v would be insane bright! But I don't know.

Probably not enough space for car headlights, but that's good to keep in mind for the future.

I don't know too much about wiring stuff...where would I find a toggle switch and how do you go about wiring it? That would be sweet to have a toggle so I don't have to get up to turn them on and off! I'll have to look into that. I'll be sure to update this thread as I go. If they work well then it will be a great low cost option for people to use in the future!

I don't know man, those look good for the price.

I'm looking into the same thing for the Rupp minibike I have. Some of them had a nifty head light and tail light as options.
Those are like hen's teeth now and $$$$ so I'm thinking retro, chrome, but with LEDs.

I was thinking the same thing. Banggood is one of my favorite places to shop online, they have some crazy cheap stuff on there. They do "flash sales" as well. I've gotten stuff over 85% off there on the sales. You just have to be quick!

They would be sweet on a mini bike too. I didn't even think about doing that on mine. My Baja actually already has a headlight...hmmm I see more lights in the future


The idea with 4 lights is to mount 2 down low, to illuminate the road, and 2 up higher, to get a father beam. I even thought about trying to mount some in the back and trying to get them to be red, as some tail lights. I'll be ordering some soon.

About how long do y'all think a 12 volt battery would power 4-6 lights for on average?

 

[Jaeden de Boer]

I don't know if more volts make LEDs brighter I think it has more to do with current but I'm not 100% sure, but I do know they need steady voltage if you want them to last and not burn out. You can get a switch an an auto parts store. To wire it run a wire from the negative on the battery to the switch, you can soldier or use connectors crimped on the wires so it can be screwed to the switch. Then from the other terminal on the switch run wires to your light and you should be good to go.

 

[MTNSleder]

I'm not an electrician I just played with LEDs one boring day
Ok DC volts are different then AC... DC Volts is what your battery has... 85 DC Volts I think = 24v AC Volts and 10 DC volts is around 4 AC Volts but I could be wrong AC/DC confuses the crap out of me FYI AC Volts are what everyone thinks in well except the Germans

Some LEDs get brighter with more power, to much power they litterly blow up... Not enough power, no lights... 12v is plenty...

Depending on how big your battery is you might get a few hours or maybe a whole day, you'll find out

 

[Jaeden de Boer]

Ok DC volts are different then AC... AC Volts are what your battery has... 85 DC Volts I think = 24v AC Volts and 10 DC volts is around 4 AC Volts but I could be wrong AC/DC confuses the crap out of me FYI AC Volts are what everyone thinks in ok...

Some LEDs get brighter with more power, to much power they litterly blow up... Not enough power, no lights... 12v is good...

Depending on how big your battery is you might get a few hours of maybe a whole day, you'll find out

Batteries have DC voltage, NOT AC, AC comes out of the wall.

 

[Whitetrashrocker]

Guys, volts are volts. AC and DC are just different types of current. AC is alternating current. It pulses back and forth where as DC is direct current. It is a steady flow.

Take a few moments to watch an electricity 101 video.
The basics isn't that hard an you will better understand how to wire lights and such.

 

[Mammoth]

Cree 7500 lumen bike light works well for me, and doesn't rob precious electricity from the motor.
Take your pick on eBay, they have hundreds to chose from.
The light I use is like this one, and the battery pack also runs the karts smoke system.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gugou-6000-...885252&hash=item4658108c7c:g:Fu0AAOSwA3dYF6Ml

 

[Jaeden de Boer]

This is how I wired in my switch, the green wire is coming from the negative post on the battery, the three black ones are going to my lights.( one to the headlight and one to each tail light) Then I ran a wire from each light back to the positive post on the battery. Hope this helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hellion]

...and the battery pack also runs the karts smoke system.

Hijack, this is a hijack!

Tell us more about your on-board smoke system. What is it exactly and why would you have such a thing?

 

[MTNSleder]

Smoke system just imagine the black SUV is a Kart... You use them to pi$$ off people you don't like....

 

[Mammoth]

Cant divert panhead's thread its not polite. Can be seen and discussed here.
http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=31828

 

[Hellion]

I took your bait. Shame on you for adding information that's not pertinent to the thread anyway. Aye?

 

[Mammoth]

Yep my bad. Sorry guys. Its been on my mind lately.

 

[export!]

If you use your LiPo batteries make sure you employ some type of cutoff so you don't drain the cells below 3.0v at an absolute minimum. Don't try to "manage" it manually. Guaranteed puffed batteries or much, much worse.

 

[Panhead5496]

To wire it run a wire from the negative on the battery to the switch, you can soldier or use connectors crimped on the wires so it can be screwed to the switch. Then from the other terminal on the switch run wires to your light and you should be good to go.

Thanks for the info. I'll see what I can buy!

Some LEDs get brighter with more power, to much power they litterly blow up... Not enough power, no lights... 12v is plenty...

Depending on how big your battery is you might get a few hours or maybe a whole day, you'll find out

Ok, 12v will be enough, awesome! I'll see how long it lasts for.

Take a few moments to watch an electricity 101 video.
The basics isn't that hard an you will better understand how to wire lights and such.

Do you have a link to a good video??

This is how I wired in my switch, the green wire is coming from the negative post on the battery, the three black ones are going to my lights.( one to the headlight and one to each tail light) Then I ran a wire from each light back to the positive post on the battery. Hope this helps.[/QUOTE]

Thanks! I found a good pic I need to upload. It had a diagram on how to do what I am wanting to do.

[QUOTE="Mammoth, post: 470956, member: 22704"]Cant divert panhead's thread its not polite. Can be seen and discussed here.
[url]http://www.diygokarts.com/vb/showthread.php?t=31828[/url][/QUOTE]

Thanks for keeping us on topic :D

[QUOTE="Mammoth, post: 470991, member: 22704"]Yep my bad. Sorry guys. Its been on my mind lately.[/QUOTE]

No worries

[QUOTE="export!, post: 471072, member: 3922"]If you use your LiPo batteries make sure you employ some type of cutoff so you don't drain the cells below 3.0v at an absolute minimum. Don't try to "manage" it manually. Guaranteed puffed batteries or much, much worse.[/QUOTE]

Oh yes, I know all about lipos ;) I have buzzers I set to 3.6 a cell for maximum longevity.

I've seen what happens when they are drained too low, it isn't pretty is it :D

 

[Scout]

This is how I wired in my switch, the green wire is coming from the negative post on the battery, the three black ones are going to my lights.( one to the headlight and one to each tail light) Then I ran a wire from each light back to the positive post on the battery. Hope this helps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Why do you switch the ground?


Always use a fuse!

Read the "Lights!" Thread linked in my sig.

 

[Panhead5496]

Little update, ordered the lights finally got a set from Banggood and a different set from eBay.

So when I put them on the cart, how should I go about wiring them together? Can I just solder the ends of each light together, and then connect all 4 to the battery?

Dang it, need a battery still lol

 

[export!]

What voltage does each light/fixture require? What's the voltage of your battery?