Magnetic lights?

[Egon]

Now would you suggest a halogen bulb or just an ordinary one and should it be 3 watt or 10 watt or ? ??
And would you use the the one that runs off the side of the tire or on the face of the tire. I have both types on different bikes but actually prefer the 6 volt dual beam BLT system with a petzel head lamp on my helmet.

Egon

 

[Bird]

Bob, if you put a cigarette lighter in a taillight socket, you'd probably want heavier wire and fuses. I had my dealer install a cigarette lighter on the dash of my tractor before they delivered it. They ran a heavy wire from the starter (where the battery cable hooks on) with an inline fuse.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Hmmmm...good questions.

My last experience with them was back in the 70's; didn't know so many options existed nowadays. The lights back then ran by pressing against the sidewall. I guess if you rode fast enough and long enough, you could wear the sidewall out pretty easily.

The light on the helmet sounds good; could put one on each side over the ears facing straight out, so that when you turn sideways, you'll have one shining towards the back and one towards the front.

 

[MossRoad]

Some of those cig lighters are not cig lighters, but 12v outlets. They won't handle an actual cig lighter due to the amps, but would easily handle the lights that you are suggesting. It sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[Egon]

But if you put four on at right angles you'd have everything covered. Now what model petzel would you suggest?

Egon

 

[CVHoss]

Bob,
I'd have to agree with Bird in that you'd probably want heavier wire than what was there for the tail light. Other than that, there's no reason the magnetic lights and a power socket wouldn't work. If you can't find the one that Jerry G. is talking about at Wal-Mart, try checking out a marine supplies dealer. They usually carry the sealed type for installation in boats.

Hoss

 

[Bob_Trevithick]

<font color=blue>...Some of those cig lighters are not cig lighters, but 12v outlets.</font color=blue>

Yes, I found some that have a sealing flap, and say they are not for cigarette lighters, but accept cigarette lighter style plugs. They look small enough to fit in the tail lights with no problem. Unfortunately they only sell them in boxes of 500. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Got to find a retailer. I'll look around locally this weekend.

 

[GlueGuy]

Sounds like a good idea, except for hooking into the taillights. That circuit is fused for the taillights, and any additional load could pop the fuse and/or over load the wiring for the taillights. I would modify it to use an auxiliary circuit.

 

[Bob_Trevithick]

Bird, Hoss and Glueguy,

<font color=blue>...I'd have to agree with Bird in that you'd probably want heavier wire than what was there for the tail light.</font color=blue>

I see that the tail light circuit is rated at 20 amps (at least it has a 20 amp fuse, according to the manual). You don't think this would be enough for those two tiny little tail light bulbs, plus a plug in strobe light of some kind? Could these lights really draw in excess of 20 amps?

Thanks,
Bob

 

[CVHoss]

Bob,
It's not just your plug in lights that you have to consider, but also the current draw from the existing tail lamps. While the tail lamp circuit is fused at 20 amps, if they are already drawing 12 amps when on, that only leaves 8 amps for the magnetic light before you overload the circuit. You'd just have to add up the combined usage to determine if it was feasible. I'd still suggest bringing back a dedicated wire for the power plug.

Hoss