Daily Archives: February 6, 2010

Here is a horny story 10

cycling, recumbent, technology • Tags: ,

imageI purchased the BikeTac Horn for my Catrike 700 because it is LOUD. It truly is! I did, however experience a problem—battery drain. After 4 days or so on a fresh 9-volt battery, the battery was consumed. I asked Lt. Gale about this and was told it should not happen. He offered to replace the horn. I did not accept his offer because I was more interested in pinpointing the cause for the drain.

After complete disassembly and sub-system testing, I found no apparent cause for the drain, The final component was the printed circuit board [PCB]—there are no detectable shorts on the board. At this point, I accepted Lt. Gale’s offer and received a replacement BikeTac Horn. I even detected battery drain with the replacement.

P1010031 Now you see it [the horn] in my Power Box. I wired it differently. Rather that constant connection from the battery to the PCB, I use a normally-open push-button switch to pulse current to the horn when I want sound. Where the BikeTac Horn used its actuate buttons to select siren or horn [with the horn always on]. I have a 3-position mode switch [siren-off-horn] and then a “power” switch. 

Sound [REALLY LOUD SOUND] is instantaneous. Had I not experienced my battery drain problem, I would not have known the horn can operate at 12-volts and that it is even louder at that voltage. I’m anxious to see how dogs respond. I like dogs—yet anxious, nonetheless. ;-)

I am thankful to Lt. Shelley Gale for the quality customer service. Thank you sir! –jim

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My BROL Quad [Fargo] Setup Thread

Fargo Power Box ~ more than solar 2

cycling, quadricycle, technology • Tags: ,

Power Box, with labelsI chose the name Power Box because of the integrated/multifunctional aspects of its use. Over the last three days, I have presented material that explains how I’ll collect and store some of the sun’s energy as electricity and then use it for various devices. I have also mentioned redundant systems [tiers] to preclude 100% loss of lighting during night riding. I have 3 separate systems to give me lighting: 1) battery—charged by the sun; 2) mechanical—powered by my SON Hub Dynamo; and 3) mechanical—powered by my LiteSpin Wheel Dynamo. Each system has its lights. This gives me a lot of flexibility. Having toured at night and experiencing riding on my last tier of lighting, I feel it safer to have a three-tier system.

E-WERK CRW_1005.CRW Now, let’s take a closer look at tier-two [mechanical—powered by my SON Hub Dynamo] as it relates to the Power Box. We know Ashley Guy has my SON Hub Dynamo and that he will place it at a location to best convert motion to electricity. That will be either the chain or the rear axel. To the best of my knowledge, that question will soon be answered by a design update. Connected to the hub will be a head & taillight and E-WERK [placed in the Power Box]. I put it there for modularity & concealment.

 
Power into The Power Box E-WERK within the Power Box Power out of The Power Box
 

E-WERK Voltage & Amperage Dials The E-WERK can deliver electricity at various voltage and current levels. I’ll use it and its cache battery [to be added] to power my iPhone 3GS. If a situation warrants, I can use it to charge or operate other devices.

At this point, I have no reason to route the power from the wheel dynamo into the Power Box. I’m really liking the modularity of this setup.

My BROL Quad [Fargo] Setup Thread