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TECHNICAL MOTOBRICK WRENCHING In Remembrance of Inge K. => The Motobrick Workshop => Topic started by: TimTyler on August 20, 2012, 07:38:47 PM

Title: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: TimTyler on August 20, 2012, 07:38:47 PM
I installed the Rigid Industries Dually LED lights (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006H33ZU6/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006H33ZU6&linkCode=as2&tag=cinematographyco). I chose the black, spot beamed version (#20221) since I thought they might be better aimed away from the eyes of oncoming traffic, and they're supposed to illuminate twice as far into the distance as the flood version. I figured I can always add some diffusion to the housing if I want to soften the light output.

The build quality seems excellent. They feel solid. The case is made from just two aluminum pieces.

The lights ship with a well made wiring harness that Y's out from +/- battery connectors to a pair of water tight quick release plugs. The two fixtures have about 6" of nice jacketed cable, terminating at the quick release plug.  Rigid expects the lights to be mounted using the included brackets that attach with 6mm bolts.

I removed the fork reflectors and mounted the fixtures (without the brackets) using long 1/4" bolts since my local hardware store didn't have anything long enough in metric. I had to drill out the 6mm pathway for the bolts in the fixture to fit the slightly larger diameter 1/4" bolts. The store also only had one steel 1/4 x 3/4" spacer left too, so one of my fixtures is temporarily installed with a plastic/nylon spacer. I used star washers on each side of the fixtures to dissuade the lights from slipping. The bolts, which also help hold the plastic front fender, are torqued tight, but not extra tight.

Since the light draw less than 2 amps, I wired them directly into the unused BMW alarm socket in the relay box along with my USB phone charger. The lights will automatically be turned on only when the ignition key is in the Run position.

In full sun the lights are waaaaaaay brighter than the headlight, and they're very directional. I could not stare directly at them for more than a few seconds from 10 meters away. I've aimed them down a bit.

Going for a ride a little later and will report back.

Rigid Industries (http://www.rigidindustries.com/Dually-2x2-LED-Lights-Set-of-two-p/twoduallys.htm)
Title: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: Turkus on August 20, 2012, 07:48:24 PM
I'll be interested to know what the reach of the beam is on a dark road and just how much of a "spot" beam you really have....

Thanks !!  :2thumbup:
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: sh00ter on August 20, 2012, 08:28:33 PM
Nice, thanks for the write up-can't wait to hear more!
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: TimTyler on August 22, 2012, 11:58:37 PM
Sorry, no pictures yet. So far I've just had time for a 15 minute ride at dusk today.

The beam is extremely directional. I aimed the lights so the hot spots were on the pavement at about 15 feet from the bike. The LED's are so bright that many oncoming vehicles still flashed their high beams at me. The color of light is very white, probably 6k-7k Kelvin.

I viewed the bike from about 200' in front and the LED light (at dusk) was blinding.

Obviously I'll need to do something to reduce the intensity of the beam. Rigid makes strap-ons covers in various colors. Maybe those with some carefully placed bits of opaque tape might shape the beams.

Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: argent brick on August 23, 2012, 12:40:55 AM
I like these lights. Please keep us posted.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: Crapdealerbob on August 23, 2012, 08:14:37 AM
Wow - Those are huge !! 
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: TimTyler on August 23, 2012, 03:36:55 PM
I've moved the lights higher to better direct the beam away from oncoming eyes. It's only a foot higher, but it should make a difference.

These photos were taken at noon, mostly sunny.
Title: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: Turkus on August 23, 2012, 05:33:37 PM
Quote from: TimTyler on August 23, 2012, 03:36:55 PM
I've moved the lights higher to better direct the beam away from oncoming eyes. It's only a foot higher, but it should make a difference..

Any way to move them up near the mirror housings ??
The higher up you go, the less "splash-back" you get....and the more efficient for "spot type" beams.
(or so I'm told by long distance night riders  :dunno)
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: TimTyler on August 23, 2012, 05:37:19 PM
Moving them higher would require drilling holes in the side of the fairing.

Also, if the bike tips over, the aluminum light housing would cause some real damage to the tupperware.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: Turkus on August 23, 2012, 05:40:44 PM
Quote from: TimTyler on August 23, 2012, 05:37:19 PM
Moving them higher would require drilling holes in the side of the fairing.

Also, if the bike tips over, the aluminum light housing would cause some real damage to the tupperware.

Just wondering what your options are........

I've got all the hardware for the R1200RT-P for auxilliary light mounts above my mirrors (when I pull the trigger on some lights) - what's out there for your Brick ??
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: frankenduck on August 23, 2012, 05:49:03 PM
You can use a bracket under the mirror mount - like so:

(http://home.comcast.net/~smithduck/tours/bmwo_hb1/bmwo_pics/IMG_0225.JPG)

Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: TimTyler on August 23, 2012, 06:23:20 PM
Where did those brackets come from?

I'm tempted to mount the lights above the mirrors, as illustrated in the mock-up photo attached.

I'm hesitant to mount them anywhere they'll do tupperware damage during a tip-over, which for me and my short legs is about once a year.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: frankenduck on August 23, 2012, 06:40:12 PM
Quote from: TimTyler on August 23, 2012, 06:23:20 PM
Where did those brackets come from?

I bought them on Fleabay many moons ago. (2005?)  I think Reynolds used to make them a LONG time ago.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: argent brick on August 23, 2012, 07:09:40 PM
If you can't figure out any other way, make a custom mount.  Find a sheet metal shop that has a laser cutter. Final cost should be minimal if your design is simple and you can wait for your parts until the laser is in use for a bigger project. Cost for supplies should not be that high. It is the set up and take down fees that give your wallet a pounding. I was quoted just a few bucks for a project if I could wait until the cutter was in use for a bigger order for another customer.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: CRASH on August 23, 2012, 07:40:27 PM
To avoid any unwanted attention, check your local laws for light height.  I know several people that have had issues.

For example:

V C Section 24402 Auxiliary Driving and Passing Lamps

Auxiliary Driving and Passing Lamps

24402.  (a) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not to exceed two auxiliary driving lamps mounted on the front at a height of not less than 16 inches nor more than 42 inches. Driving lamps are lamps designed for supplementing the upper beam from headlamps and may not be lighted with the lower beam.

(b) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not to exceed two auxiliary passing lamps mounted on the front at a height of not less than 24 inches nor more than 42 inches. Passing lamps are lamps designed for supplementing the lower beam from headlamps and may also be lighted with the upper beam.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: TimTyler on August 23, 2012, 08:34:50 PM
Interesting. The top of the headlamp is 42".

Damn.

WA State:

(3) Auxiliary passing lamps. Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not to exceed two auxiliary passing lamps mounted on the front at a height not less than twenty-four inches nor more than forty-two inches above the level surface upon which the vehicle stands. The provisions of RCW 46.37.220 shall apply to any combinations of head lamps and auxiliary passing lamps.

(4) Auxiliary driving lamps. Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not to exceed two auxiliary driving lamps mounted on the front at a height not less than sixteen inches nor more than forty-two inches above the level surface upon which the vehicle stands. The provisions of RCW 46.37.220 shall apply to any combination of head lamps and auxiliary driving lamps.

Fortunately the county I live in does not require vehicle inspection.

I went ahead and moved these to the fairing above the mirrors. They're at about 50" now. Guess I'll at least have to install an on/off switch for them.

Test ride tonight.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: mac on August 24, 2012, 04:57:14 PM
first post!
So I guess based on your experience you'd recommend against the Floods?
I was thinking of getting a fog-type pattern in amber for my K75T, and was considering the Duallys.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: argent brick on August 24, 2012, 06:06:31 PM
I am hyped up about these light too!

Hey Mac, Welcome. How about a post in the front porch section so we can all get to know you.
 
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: TimTyler on August 25, 2012, 12:44:09 AM
This afternoon I added a layer of orange photographic lighting gel between the reflector and the glass. The gel is made to withstand very high heat and its color converts cool daylight into warm tungsten. The LED's color now appears about the same as my headlamp. The gel also reduces the intensity of the LED output (by almost 2 stops for the photographers in the house).



Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: TimTyler on August 25, 2012, 01:08:08 AM
Took her out for a ride today at pre-dusk.

I left the LED's on, pointed the same as the other day (but they're mounted much higher now) and no one flashed their brights at me. That's good. Oncoming traffic was flashing me the other day under the same lighting conditions.

After dusk I experimented with different combinations of low beam, high beam, and LED aux lights on some dark country roads travelling about 40mph. Ultimately I preferred the standard K75 high beam for dark lonely roads, especially since its easily switched off for oncoming traffic. (Like a fool I mounted the Rigid switch on the right side above the glove box. Doh.) The BMW high beam is shaped nicely. Its reflector was designed perfectly for the task IMO.

The Rigid lights are incredibly bright, even after adding the lighting gel. Turning them on was like having a police helicopter illuminating the 50' of road directly in front of the bike. Unfortunately that's not terribly helpful unless I'm travelling at 30mph. Aiming them higher (straight on) helps, but would be absolutely blinding to any oncoming eyes.

I think what I'll end up doing is adding some diffusion gel to the LED fixtures so they're not blinding, remounting them below the headlight, and using them strictly for "conspicuity" lights during daylight driving. Who knows, maybe flood LED's would be better rigged up to the BMW high beam switch.

These photos were all taken using the same exact settings.
They are: BMW low beam, BMW high beam, high beam with LED's aimed a little down, high beam with LED's aimed straight on.
FYI - These photos appear darker than what the eye sees (unless you're 60+ years old  :lol:).
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: sh00ter on August 25, 2012, 08:09:00 AM
Nice.   Why not wire them in to your high beam switch? Then you have easy on/off and can point them a little higher. 
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: TimTyler on August 25, 2012, 11:10:48 AM
Quote from: sh00ter on August 25, 2012, 08:09:00 AM
Nice.   Why not wire them in to your high beam switch?

Maybe. Is that just a matter of tapping into the high beam wire at the headlamp?
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: frankenduck on August 25, 2012, 11:16:44 AM
Quote from: TimTyler on August 25, 2012, 11:10:48 AM

Maybe. Is that just a matter of tapping into the high beam wire at the headlamp?
[/quote]

Or tapping into the white wire from the left combo switch if you're using a relay - which you should do regardless of how they're wired.  (A good time to add headlight relays while you're at it.)
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: TimTyler on August 26, 2012, 09:34:31 AM
Thanks for the "high beam switch" suggestions. That's what I did.

I removed the orange gel, remounted the lights back under the headlight, and added a relay for the high beam and LED's.

Went out for a ride late last night on some pitch dark country highways. (https://maps.google.com/maps?q=46.631757,-123.199705&ll=46.611715,-123.22197&spn=0.272633,0.44014&num=1&gl=us&t=m&z=11) The amount of light output from those LED's is astonishing. I have the Rigid fixtures tilted straight forward (horizontal) and angled just slightly to the outside, and on a straightaway at 65mph I can clearly see about 5 seconds of the road ahead. That's 5 seconds of very bright road and whatever is just off the roadside.

I think the spot beam was actually the best choice since it compliments the BMW beam to illuminate near and far quite evenly. Enough of the LED light spills to the sides to see into the roadside brush and if there were deer hanging out just off the road they would be illuminated.

Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: mac on September 07, 2012, 03:27:29 PM
Got my duallies (white spot) and a Skene Design IQ170 lighting controller this week. Planning on installing on the brake caliper bolts this weekend. The controller will allow the LEDs to run at a configurable low-power when the low beams are on, and full blast when the high beams are on. Hopefully this will keep oncoming traffic happy. Will report back.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: mac on September 07, 2012, 10:07:08 PM
Installed, minus the IQ-170. The IQ-170 is supposed to modulate the ground leg of the circuit, but the housing and mount of the Duallies are grounded, so the circuit shorts to ground, bypassing the IQ-170. I've emailed Skene Designs to see if there's a way to use the IQ-170 in the +12V side of the circuit instead, otherwise I'll have to find a way to isolate the lamps from the chassis, which isn't possible where I've got them mounted now (the top caliper mounting bolt).

ADVmonster.com sells a "lamp one" fork mount light bracket (http://stores.intuitwebsites.com/hstrial-QualiRegResou/-strse-9/Fork-Mount-Bracket/Detail.bok) that replaces the M6 bolts for the reflector on the K bikes.

I think with that mount i could possibly electrically isolate the lamps. That'll have to be the next move I think. I was trying to avoid spending the $60 for that kit though.

Time for a night ride with the night blasters. If you're around Cambridge, get out yer sunglasses.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: mac on September 07, 2012, 10:15:21 PM
Super quick response from Jerry Skene.  No joy on using the IQ-170 in the +12V leg. Fork mount brackets ordered.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: mac on September 25, 2012, 02:12:40 PM
Install done (for now). Needed to electrically isolate the duallies to allow the IQ-170 to switch the ground leg of the circuit. Without isolating the lamps, they short to ground and go to full brightness all the time.

Here's how I did it.

I used:

First, I put one of the M6 washers onto the M6 bolt, then a 1/2" long or so piece of heat shrink tube, shrunk in place like so:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31568967/Forums/Photo%20Sep%2011%2C%206%2030%2039%20PM.jpg)

Then nylon washer, then dually, then nylon washer, then "lamp one" bracket, then nylon washer, then M6 washer, then nylon lock bolt!
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31568967/Forums/Photo%20Sep%2011%2C%206%2031%2000%20PM.jpg)

It occurred to me that the bottommost nylon washer isn't strictly necessary since the rest of the bolt is insulated, but I went with it anyway.

Here's what they look like on the brackets from advmonster:
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31568967/Forums/Photo%20Sep%2025%2C%206%2024%2051%20PM.jpg)

The IQ-170 works great. I can now point my duallies higher without blinding oncoming traffic.

The advmonster brackets are a bit too springy for my taste with the big, relatively heavy duallys.

Another option that I could look into would be to take the lamps apart and try to internally isolate the housing from the ground side of the circuit. Then I could just bolt them right back on to the brake caliper bolts, a much more solid mount, and a mounting position I liked much better aesthetically(below).
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31568967/Forums/Photo%20Sep%2009%2C%2012%2042%2033%20PM.jpg)
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: mac on October 26, 2012, 11:28:08 AM
Update: one of my LampOne brackets broke from fatigue.  Didn't last long.

Plus, one day I parked the bike after a rainy ride and noticed that one of the two lamps was flickering on briefly every few seconds. After racking my brain for a while, I realized that the cause was probably a very weak short to ground caused by the water, that was allowing a little bit of current to trickle through until the voltage regulation circuit in the lamps built up enough charge to flash the lamps.

So I can't recommend the approach I took. I'm now looking at internally isolating the lamps again.
Calling all eggheads (wmax, thats you) that want to help out with that issue: I've started a  stackexchange question (http://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/45574/how-to-electrically-isolate-a-pcb-from-a-heat-sink) on how to provide electrical isolation while still allowing the heat to get out.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: mac on October 26, 2012, 02:51:48 PM
Rats. damaged the PCB while trying to remove a stripped mounting screw. Knocked a capacitor off.

Called Rigid Industries hoping they could sell me just a PCB. No dice. Also, of note, learned that any vendors selling Rigid Industries products on Amazon (where I got mine) are in violation of Rigid's distributor terms.

They wouldn't offer me discounted pricing on a single lamp. Also, opening the face of the lamp as I've done voids the warranty. I kinda figured this was the case, but oh well.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: mac on March 15, 2013, 12:12:10 PM
I was able to get the tiny surface-mounted capacitor back in place on the PCB, and finished the job of insulating the back of the aluminum PCB with kapton tape. The lights are back on the brake caliper bolts now, and so far, everything is working perfectly.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: TimTyler on March 15, 2013, 12:42:45 PM
Check Massachusetts laws about driving light height boundaries before you get started.

My experience with the Dually's is that the beam will will be too bright to oncoming traffic if mounted that low, unless you're aiming them down at the road 6 feet in front of the bike.
Title: Re: Rigid Industries Dually LED Lights
Post by: mac on March 22, 2013, 04:36:51 PM
I may be running afoul of the regs, but my hope is that with the dimmer from Skene designs set to under 40% that it won't be so dazzling as to attract the wrong kind of attention. So far, so good.