Mini project - old Never Ready lights

[EltonFrog]

I didn’t know you could do this, replace old bulbs with modern LEDs, I just looked on the Reflectalight site and I can get them for my Sturmey Archer Dynohub lights on my Kingpin and they’re not that expensive. Cool.

 

[raleighnut]

I always had problems with that type of front light.
It kept coming off when you hit potholes or dropped off the kerb.
I ended up modifying the bracket on the bike to put a self tapping screw through it above the lamp bracket.
Stopped it coming off but it was a bit awkward to undo & do-up as the bracket was on the headset.

My dad modified his by drilling two holes and fitting two bolts & a piece of meccano to clamp it in place, much the same as the later plastic lamps from ever ready.

My Mum had a Triumph 'Palm Beach' in the 50s that had a front wheel SA dynamo and an 'accumulator' bolted to the frame, nice bike I used to nick it every now and then.

 

[MontyVeda]

Just tested them with the existing bulbs. Both work fine. Gosh, they're dim with basic vacuum bulbs.

dim yet somehow managed to drain the batteries in no time!

Every time i turn my bike lights on, for the last twenty odd years... I still feel thankful that we're not still using those old things

 

[Colin_P]

I did this a few years back on my old Pug. Modern LED bulbs with massive old school batteries mean they are usefully bright and last and last and last.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

I did this a few years back on my old Pug. Modern LED bulbs with massive old school batteries mean they are usefully bright and last and last and last. View attachment 504348

We were at my parents last Friday, & I was surprised that he used my old front light (of that type) when he went to get something from the cupboard under the stairs!

 

[freiston]

I also did this a few years back when I needed a front lamp for my folding bike. I had an old (though not as old as some of the lights in this thread) Cateye HL-500 from the 90s that I couldn't bear to get rid of but wanted something better. At a greater cost than replacing it for a modern LED unit, I replaced the bulb with an LED bulb and got some AA to C cell adaptors. The light is now powered by two eneloop AAs. The beam pattern is quite good and looks very bright (without dazzling). For seeing by, it is good enough for unlit country lanes but, depending on the road, not at high speeds.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I also did this a few years back when I needed a front lamp for my folding bike. I had an old (though not as old as some of the lights in this thread) Cateye HL-500 from the 90s that I couldn't bear to get rid of but wanted something better. At a greater cost than replacing it for a modern LED unit, I replaced the bulb with an LED bulb and got some AA to C cell adaptors. The light is now powered by two eneloop AAs. The beam pattern is quite good and looks very bright (without dazzling). For seeing by, it is good enough for unlit country lanes but, depending on the road, not at high speeds.

View attachment 504823
View attachment 504824

I used those cateyes commuting to my first job in darkest Somerset. They were a massive improvement on my older ever ready lights and good for being seen under streetlights, but not so good for unlit lanes, and they ate batteries. I would generally ride using night vision and turn the front on when I saw lights approaching.

 

[freiston]

I used those cateyes commuting to my first job in darkest Somerset. They were a massive improvement on my older ever ready lights and good for being seen under streetlights, but not so good for unlit lanes, and they ate batteries. I would generally ride using night vision and turn the front on when I saw lights approaching.

When I got that light, I was commuting with a shift that finished at 22:15 and so needed it throughout the year (midlands). My commute was all urban but I do recall replacing the batteries very frequently (I used rechargeable ones then too). With the LED, not only do I reckon it is brighter than the original halogen bulb but also has the advantage of staying brighter longer - the old incandescent bulb went from full brightness to dim almost straight away (but less so with rechargeables than disposables iirc - but when the rechargeables went dim, they deteriorated very quickly) .

 

[rogerzilla]

You don't get quite the same beam with an LED, as it's quite a big source and can't be focused as well as a filament. The Nicelite ones use the same reflective cone arrangement as on camping lanterns to throw the light in all directions. This gives quite good results with a simple parabolic reflector and clear lens, as on the early Never Readies. It's less successful with a Fresnel lens.

 

[freiston]

You don't get quite the same beam with an LED, as it's quite a big source and can't be focused as well as a filament. The Nicelite ones use the same reflective cone arrangement as on camping lanterns to throw the light in all directions. This gives quite good results with a simple parabolic reflector and clear lens, as on the early Never Readies. It's less successful with a Fresnel lens.

That is interesting. The Cateye HL-500 has both a parabolic reflector and a fresnel lens. I just tried the light with both bulbs shining onto the best wall in the darkest part of the house that I could manage (so it was only about 8' from the light) and there is quite a difference. I tried to do a couple of quick "beam shots" (camera set to manual including ISO) but they're not very good and don't do it justice - there was a lot of dimmer light in the peripheral of the main beam that wasn't picked up by the camera too. For what it's worth, the cycling experience is a lot better than the beam shots suggest. Although the LED gave much more of a "torch style" beam in the beam shot, on the road with the light correctly angled and hitting the road further away than the 8' of the beam shot, there is a pronounced cut-off and the beam looks less torchy and more rectangular.
P.S - camera lens was 17mm on a APS-C (Canon) sensor.

LED:

Incandescent:

 

[Tom B]

I used those cateyes commuting to my first job in darkest Somerset. They were a massive improvement on my older ever ready lights and good for being seen under streetlights, but not so good for unlit lanes, and they ate batteries. I would generally ride using night vision and turn the front on when I saw lights approaching.

Likewise I used them on my paper rounds.

I had a set of the oval rear lights too. One of them had a clear lens so I replaced the red 5mm LEDs with the brightest yellow 5mm LEDs I could find and used that as a front marker light to save battery else the cost of batteries was greater than the £1 a day I earned.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Likewise I used them on my paper rounds.

I had a set of the oval rear lights too. One of them had a clear lens so I replaced the red 5mm LEDs with the brightest yellow 5mm LEDs I could find and used that as a front marker light to save battery else the cost of batteries was greater than the £1 a day I earned.

I was commuting through the lanes to Halfords: eventually I got a set of twin halogen behemoths with a battery pack almost as large as those now used on pedelecs, and which hung off the crossbar. Oncoming cars thought I was a tractor in the dark and would pull right out of the way. I remember I was once buzzed by a helicopter with a searchlight, and the high-beam was enough to light up the registration number...

 

[Tom B]

My GCSE electronics project was to build a rechargable battery pack that would power the lights and be charged by a dynamo.

Worked but still got an E largely I think due to a lack of paperwork and the fact I referred to the teacher as blockhead (accurate descriptive) whilst he was stood unbeknownst to me just on the other side of the prep room door.

Sadly it was never used as planned because I had to give my paper rounds up for college.

 

[Shearwater Missile]

My GCSE electronics project was to build a rechargable battery pack that would power the lights and be charged by a dynamo.

Worked but still got an E largely I think due to a lack of paperwork and the fact I referred to the teacher as blockhead (accurate descriptive) whilst he was stood unbeknownst to me just on the other side of the prep room door.

Sadly it was never used as planned because I had to give my paper rounds up for college.

Whoops. A case of Mirror,Signal,Manoeuvre springs to mind !