battery drain while "acoustic biking"

[spokewrench]

With my new seat angle, I may not use any motor during an hour's ride. With the controller idle except to power the display, the battery drains faster than expected.
With no lights, the battery loses about 1% per hour of riding, or 6.8 Watts. With the head and tail light, it loses about 1.7% per hour, 11.6 Watts. That means the lights add about 4.8 Watts.

 

[fritz katzenjammer]

Decent quality lights will be labeled as to power consumption, often molded into the lens, if you want to confirm.

 

[spokewrench]

I'll watch for that. The connectors for my Aventon lights look like Julets but are smaller. That's one way to be sure I won't use lights the controller can't handle.

 

[6zfshdb]

I recently replaced the pitiful headlight on my Pedego and was faced with the same controller power output issue.

I didn't want to cut off the proprietary connector, so I measured the current draw on the OEM light by sticking pins in the connector holes and hooking up my multimeter. I found the OEM light draws 180 ma or 10W at 58V.

I was going to rig a relay to control a more powerful light, but found this one that was rated at just 8W.

E-bike High Output White LED Headlight Compatible with Vamoose Mammoth Rad Power Bikes RadMini RadRover RadExpand RadRunner

E-Bike Headlight, Fog lights,

oz-usa.com

It's well reviewed on Amazon but at a higher price:

Amazon.com: OZ-USA E-bike White LED Headlight High Output 6000K Compatible with Vamoose Mammoth Rad Power Bikes RadMini RadRover RadExpand RadRunner : Sports & Outdoors

Buy OZ-USA E-bike White LED Headlight High Output 6000K Compatible with Vamoose Mammoth Rad Power Bikes RadMini RadRover RadExpand RadRunner: Headlights - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Since it wasn't rated, I was skeptical about the light output but bought it anyway. Before installing on the bike, I hooked it up on the workbench and measured the current at 140ma. Amazingly, the light output is at least 10X that of the OEM light yet draws 40ma less!! It also operates at 12V - 60V, so no relay was necessary.

I did have to cut off the OEM connector on the bike and solder on this Julet pigtail to fit the new light:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHF54M4D?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_4&th=1

Overall, I'm quite happy with the new light. It won't compete with my handlebar mounted Trail Evo floodlight, but for $40, it throws enough light to comfortably ride at night.

 

[stompandgo]

I've done a few Lezyne E300 and Fusion 550 conversions on Bosch e-bikes. I splice them instead of fishing to the motor. They've been well received.

 

[6zfshdb]

I've done a few Lezyne E300 and Fusion 550 conversions on Bosch e-bikes. I splice them instead of fishing to the motor. They've been well received.

I tried the Lezyne Classic HB, and it's a well engineered product that provides a lot of light. It operates on 12V though, so I had to rig a relay and use a 12V buck converter:

The wire for the high / low/ beam switch wasn't long enough so I had to piece it out. I should have bought the E550 instead.

The light works fine, but required a lot of extras like the buck converter, relay and supplemental wiring.

The OZ light I mentioned in post #4 was nearly plug & play except for the connector. It cost $40 compared to $150 for the Lezyne. Both throw a comparable amount of light so I used the OZ on my other bikes instead. Much cleaner install without the relay, converter & wiring.

For Bosch systems, it would be a no brainer to use the Leyzne, but bikes without a 12V source require quite a bit of cobbling.

 

[stompandgo]

The OZ looks like a good solution for motors without a dedicated 12V light output.

 

[spokewrench]

I’ve been using this for 29 months.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1B5589W

I knew the claimed 8000 Lm was a lie, but the light is pretty good. They say it gets 4 hours on high from a 5.8 AH battery. That’s about 21.5 WH, or 5.38 W for 4 hours. I believe a modern LED can produce about 100 lumens per watt, so high would be about 538 lumens, a far cry from 8,000.

Medium would be about 269 lumens and low about 143. Four times more lumens won’t let me see 4 times better. Low is practically as good as high.

My braking distance is 20 feet or less, so my OE light is plenty to keep me from running into objects. Because it’s only 24 inches off the pavement, it will show me ripples that aren’t visible in daylight. (They’re not as bad as speed bumps but much worse than cobblestones.)

My OE light is deficient in illuminating what I’m going past. That’s where this light shines. I can choose “high beam” or “wide beam.” I usually prefer “wide beam,” to get a good look to the sides.

The handlebar mount makes it easy to adjust the beam horizontally and vertically as I ride. Who needs a dimmer switch? It unlatches easily to become a flashlight or for recharging. The percent reading tells me when to take it to a USB cable to top off the charge.

To me, the most important reason to turn on a headlight is to make it easier for pedestrians and automobilists to see me coming. Two lights get more attention than one, and one mounted on the handlebars at 48 inches will be more constantly visible than one mounted at 24 inches.