- August 6th, 2011, 1:23 pm#338417
By now, a significant number of people in this board should've gotten their King Sword bicycle lamps, a great alternative to the screen accurate Cat Eye lamps, which sadly are too limited in number these days to meet the market demand for Slime Blower builds.
However, with the lighting duties in the props we're building being handed over to power-efficient, longer-lasting LEDs, the fact that the lamps run off of bulbs is an inconvenient one. The solution to this is to convert the lamps to be lit with LEDs, meaning that you get more operation hours from a smaller power source (which can be removed from the lamps, reducing the weight strain on the green side tanks), and you can even wire them up so that they'll both be activated at the same time, potentially along with, or in sequence to the other LED installations found lower on the Slime Blowers.
Take care when dismantling the lamps, as initially there won't appear to be a clear reason as to why the silver funnels won't simply unscrew. The reason they won't turn on their own is due to the small screw fitted into the hinge point.
Once removed, twist the funnel clockwise (despite the direction to twist it counter-clockwise), and it should pop free of the interior fitting that holds it in place. From here on you can dump the screw if you wish, as the funnel holds on pretty well without it once it's been locked closed.
If you're lucky, the bulb should pop free from the plastic holder... however on the occasion where it's seized in place, fitting a small flat-head screwdriver beneath the bulb and gently pushing it like a lever should free the bulb from it's housing:
With the bulb removed, you can get a better look at how the power supply is delivered. As we won't be needing these bits of metal for powering the light, we can remove them. The bits of metal are held in place by the parts that join the lamp head to the battery pack, primarily consisting of a machine screw and a cap nut.
Unscrewing the screw is straightforward, as the plastic of the bracket holds the cap nut in place.
Once unscrewed, the secondary segment of the pivot point is revealed, a small piece of tubing that holds the two sections together.
The tube is easy to remove, and can simply be pushed out with a screwdriver. Once free, the two halves of the bicycle lamp are completely separated.
Once separated, it's here that the pieces of metal for the bulb can be pushed out of the lamp head. It should be noted that removing these will remove some of the stiffness of the lamp head pivot, so you should consider installing a washer or two to keep the lamp heads from flopping forward and pointing down at the floor.
Prior to the lamps arriving I ordered a selection of large LEDs, after some testing I've found that the 8mm diameter LEDs are the best fit with the existing architecture inside the lamp head.
Bending the LED legs around the plastic fitting, I proceeded to attach the wiring. (It should be noted that the leg for the - wire should probably be bent over the top of the plastic fitting, to prevent potential short circuiting. In addition, to ensure the LED stays in place, as it is a tad loose, it could be hot glued into position if you're happy to mount it in a semi-permanent position).
Once you're satisfied with the placement of the LEDs and wires (when wiring it yourself, you can use black wire for both of the lines, I simply used red for the + wire for illustration purposes), you can feed the wiring through the holes formerly occupied by the metal that delievered the electric current to the bulb.
Once happy with the fit, the silver funnel can be fitted back into position on the lamp head:
Due to the design of the battery pack, the wiring isn't going to be able to go through the dead center of the box, so alternately it will have to go through the wall of the pack, either side of the backets. The holes for the wires are going to end up being obsctructed by the battery contacts in their current position, so they'll have to go. A pair of plyers will make short work of them, as they're pretty easy to extract.
Once the contacts have been removed, select a drill piece that's close in size to the wiring you've chosen, and proceed to drill the holes fairly low into the side of the box:
Once drilled, you can proceed in feeding the wires through into the box.
It's here that you can make a decision as to how you set up the power supply for the bicycle lamps, you can either utilise the old battery box and put the new supply inside, or you can drill a second set of holes for the wiring and place the power supply lower on the Slime Blower (as the lamps are known to have hosing running up to them, you can hide the wiring inside the hoses).
The power supply you use is also important. In the following photos, I used a 9 volt battery limited to a rate of 50mA, this restriction, coupled with the fact the battery may be running low, may have contributed to the fairly dim appearance of the lamps when lit. A more dedicated power supply and lighting setup will almost certainly guarantee a brighter result... just bare in mind when preparing your supply, to ensure the lamps don't end up being too bright to the point of dazzling people nearby.
That concludes this rough tutorial for converting your Slime Blower King Sword lights to be powered by LEDs.
However, with the lighting duties in the props we're building being handed over to power-efficient, longer-lasting LEDs, the fact that the lamps run off of bulbs is an inconvenient one. The solution to this is to convert the lamps to be lit with LEDs, meaning that you get more operation hours from a smaller power source (which can be removed from the lamps, reducing the weight strain on the green side tanks), and you can even wire them up so that they'll both be activated at the same time, potentially along with, or in sequence to the other LED installations found lower on the Slime Blowers.
Take care when dismantling the lamps, as initially there won't appear to be a clear reason as to why the silver funnels won't simply unscrew. The reason they won't turn on their own is due to the small screw fitted into the hinge point.
Once removed, twist the funnel clockwise (despite the direction to twist it counter-clockwise), and it should pop free of the interior fitting that holds it in place. From here on you can dump the screw if you wish, as the funnel holds on pretty well without it once it's been locked closed.
If you're lucky, the bulb should pop free from the plastic holder... however on the occasion where it's seized in place, fitting a small flat-head screwdriver beneath the bulb and gently pushing it like a lever should free the bulb from it's housing:
With the bulb removed, you can get a better look at how the power supply is delivered. As we won't be needing these bits of metal for powering the light, we can remove them. The bits of metal are held in place by the parts that join the lamp head to the battery pack, primarily consisting of a machine screw and a cap nut.
Unscrewing the screw is straightforward, as the plastic of the bracket holds the cap nut in place.
Once unscrewed, the secondary segment of the pivot point is revealed, a small piece of tubing that holds the two sections together.
The tube is easy to remove, and can simply be pushed out with a screwdriver. Once free, the two halves of the bicycle lamp are completely separated.
Once separated, it's here that the pieces of metal for the bulb can be pushed out of the lamp head. It should be noted that removing these will remove some of the stiffness of the lamp head pivot, so you should consider installing a washer or two to keep the lamp heads from flopping forward and pointing down at the floor.
Prior to the lamps arriving I ordered a selection of large LEDs, after some testing I've found that the 8mm diameter LEDs are the best fit with the existing architecture inside the lamp head.
Bending the LED legs around the plastic fitting, I proceeded to attach the wiring. (It should be noted that the leg for the - wire should probably be bent over the top of the plastic fitting, to prevent potential short circuiting. In addition, to ensure the LED stays in place, as it is a tad loose, it could be hot glued into position if you're happy to mount it in a semi-permanent position).
Once you're satisfied with the placement of the LEDs and wires (when wiring it yourself, you can use black wire for both of the lines, I simply used red for the + wire for illustration purposes), you can feed the wiring through the holes formerly occupied by the metal that delievered the electric current to the bulb.
Once happy with the fit, the silver funnel can be fitted back into position on the lamp head:
Due to the design of the battery pack, the wiring isn't going to be able to go through the dead center of the box, so alternately it will have to go through the wall of the pack, either side of the backets. The holes for the wires are going to end up being obsctructed by the battery contacts in their current position, so they'll have to go. A pair of plyers will make short work of them, as they're pretty easy to extract.
Once the contacts have been removed, select a drill piece that's close in size to the wiring you've chosen, and proceed to drill the holes fairly low into the side of the box:
Once drilled, you can proceed in feeding the wires through into the box.
It's here that you can make a decision as to how you set up the power supply for the bicycle lamps, you can either utilise the old battery box and put the new supply inside, or you can drill a second set of holes for the wiring and place the power supply lower on the Slime Blower (as the lamps are known to have hosing running up to them, you can hide the wiring inside the hoses).
The power supply you use is also important. In the following photos, I used a 9 volt battery limited to a rate of 50mA, this restriction, coupled with the fact the battery may be running low, may have contributed to the fairly dim appearance of the lamps when lit. A more dedicated power supply and lighting setup will almost certainly guarantee a brighter result... just bare in mind when preparing your supply, to ensure the lamps don't end up being too bright to the point of dazzling people nearby.
That concludes this rough tutorial for converting your Slime Blower King Sword lights to be powered by LEDs.
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