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Upgrade front light?

Started by SwedishChef, January 31, 2021, 10:28:41 AM

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SwedishChef

Hi team...

I recently got my RR1 in black. I have fancy dynamo lights on my other bicycle which has ~1000 lumens, so the supplied RR1 light leaves a lot to be desired. It appears to utilize a standard dynamo light mount, but I'm not sure whether I could splice the wiring connector onto a different dynamo light, such as the spare Supernova E3 Pro 2 that I have.

Anyone know whether that would be safe to do in terms of wiring, voltage, etc?

https://supernova-lights.com/en/products/dynamo-lights/e3-pro-2/
2020 RadRunner in Black
UPGRADES: Fenders, small basket, custom QuadLock phone mount, Suntour NCX suspension seat post, Brooks Cambium C19 'carved' saddle.

sc00ter

I'm watching this as I purchased the "upgrade" 'Runner light and its okay. If the supplied light was a 5 outta 10, 10 being best, the upgrade light is a 6 outta 10. The beam is to focused in a tight pattern to be mush use for seeing things on the ground. And it's huge diameter wise and easily hits everything mounted on my Cascade mount if I turn to tight.

Count

Where do you plan to pull the needed 6v to run this light?  The forums are full of stories of RAD bikes blowing the headlamp circuit (mine included) by trying to drive a lamp with too much amperage draw.  Better off feeding the lamp from another power source location, as the existing headlamp circuit has a very low amp rating (.0A I read somewhere). Any more draw and it WILL blow that circuit in your controller.  I pull power from the charging port of the battery, and can drive 3 1200 lumen lamps, with no issues!  Make certain the light you buy can handle the 48 - 52 volts!

Zbugsii

I contacted Rad and asked what voltage do they run the front and rear lights.... answer... they are both 48 volt DC lights.... so be careful on trying to tap into their wiring.

SwedishChef

Thanks for the info, Zbugsli! Very helpful.

Count, I found these two e-bike specific lights from Supernova. Man, they aren't cheap, but it says they can handle the 48v:

These should both work though, right?


sc00ter, I watched a couple YouTube reviews of their 'upgrade' light and I'm seriously underwhelmed. It's cheap, but the beam pattern seems almost useless. Sounds like you're not a big fan of it, either.
2020 RadRunner in Black
UPGRADES: Fenders, small basket, custom QuadLock phone mount, Suntour NCX suspension seat post, Brooks Cambium C19 'carved' saddle.

SwedishChef

Quote from: Count on January 31, 2021, 02:51:35 PM
Where do you plan to pull the needed 6v to run this light?  The forums are full of stories of RAD bikes blowing the headlamp circuit (mine included) by trying to drive a lamp with too much amperage draw.  Better off feeding the lamp from another power source location, as the existing headlamp circuit has a very low amp rating (.0A I read somewhere). Any more draw and it WILL blow that circuit in your controller.  I pull power from the charging port of the battery, and can drive 3 1200 lumen lamps, with no issues!  Make certain the light you buy can handle the 48 - 52 volts!
[mention]Count [/mention]I'm curious - where did you find the 6v and 48-52v numbers? And which is needed for the light?
2020 RadRunner in Black
UPGRADES: Fenders, small basket, custom QuadLock phone mount, Suntour NCX suspension seat post, Brooks Cambium C19 'carved' saddle.

SwedishChef

Anyone else found another alternative to Rad Power's "upgrade" front light?
2020 RadRunner in Black
UPGRADES: Fenders, small basket, custom QuadLock phone mount, Suntour NCX suspension seat post, Brooks Cambium C19 'carved' saddle.