I plan to put 6 volt lights on my bike, if I leave them on permanently, how much will the affect battery life?
Bike Light Battery usage
- Thread starter TripHazard
- Start date
Your lights make relatively low power demands on your battery. Don't worry about the battery.
The amount of current a '6 Volt' light might take will depend on the particular light.
So if you find out how much current that particualr light takes, you will know the impact on the battery life.
So the lights take 0.5A at 6V.
If you power the lights direct from the battery via an efficient switched mode converter (not expensive) the current consumed from the battery, say 36V, is only going to be around 0.1A.
So a 10Ahr battery would run the lights only for around 100 hours.
Not a lot, but why use e-bike power anyway? On both the e-bikes I have owned, when the battery signalled "empty", it turned off thepower to the motor AND lighting. Highly dangerous at night!
Which is why I have battery driven lights, with rechargeable batteries, that work independently of the bike battery. They also are very reasonably priced, so I have mounted two of them on the front for backup and a wider beam.
The rear one is a rechargeable rear light (over USB) with a sensitive alarm as well.....
regards
Andy
I do have rechargeable lights, But I also have a 20ah battery and would like permanent lights fixed to the bike. 2 things I worry about. Range and being seen.
As you should of course, both are important.
Maybe add bike battery lights, with the rechargeable as backup? But you do need to check and see what happens to those bike battery lights, when the bike battery is empty and you cannot use motor drive anymore! That is highly important....
regards
Andy
It's crank drive (your favorite) I often ride it with the power off as there is so little resistance, that is my plan, battery lights, with rechargeable for back up. I can get a silly mileage on one charge so I dont think it should really be an issue.
PS you are the first person I've noticed praise hub motors over crank. I'd never go back to hub drive again. But I'd probably never buy a pre built bike again.
I've got four lights wired to my battery, one is very bright - 1800LM. I keep them on during the day and I'm sure they prevent collisions, and they don't seem to affect range at all. I have a torch on the handlebar as a backup. I'm certain this driver only noticed me, because of my bright 1800LM headlight.
Mine are not that bright.. But yes.. I believe its safer to have them on in the day. I almost took a cyclist out once I didn't see.
I use three 12V lamps in series on a 36V bike. Lots of light, no need for DC-DC converter.
I highly recommend this headlight. Lights up the road very well. If I could find space on my handbars for a second one to make me more visible to cars during the day, I would another.
A couple more dozy driver experiences will surely compel me to use another 1800LM as a tail light on it's crash/epileptic fit inducing horror strobe setting, I've bought red heat resistant acetate sheet which can be slipped in under the glass.
A couple more dozy driver experiences will surely compel me to use another 1800LM as a tail light on it's crash/epileptic fit inducing horror strobe setting, I've bought red heat resistant acetate sheet which can be slipped in under the glass.
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I have never run out of bike battery power completely, but keep a bright LED torch on the handlebar stem, just in case it ever happens. I suppose the solution, is buying a big bike battery.
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Hub bikes are the largest in sheer numbers that are sold each year, by far, mainly because they are far cheaper, and far less complicated, and do not have the "push the bike home" feature, if say the chain breaks on a mid motor.
See here:-
Where you can read the following:-
Mid Drive eBikes: Pros and Cons
Pros
- More range- Mid-drive ebikes offer around 10-15 miles more range than hub motor models.
- Better handling- The motor placement makes the bike feel more balanced.
- Better ride quality- Mid-drive ebikes deliver power through the drivetrain and use torque sensors. This smooths out power delivery.
- Use of the gears- Mid-drive motors deliver power through the drivetrain.
- Lighter- Mid-drive motors weigh 2-10lbs less than hub motors.
- They climb better- You can shift down to make climbing easier.
- Better performance- Mid-drive ebikes accelerate faster, climb better, and have a higher top speed.
- Safer- Frame failure is less likely.
- More efficient- The gears keep the motor in its optimal RPM.
- More frequent maintenance- Mid-drive motors put stress on drivetrain components.
- More expensive- Mid-drive ebikes start at around $2000. Maintenance is also more expensive.
- Less reliable- Mid-drive motors have more moving parts.
- Fewer bike options- Mid-drive ebikes are less common. Fewer options exist.
- No throttle- Most mid-drive ebikes require that you pedal.
regards
Andy
I agree with most points except this one.
There are lots of quality hub motors weighing in the region of 2kgs-3kgs like crank motors.
for example: Aikema 85SX 1.6kgs front, 1.8kgs rear, MXUS XF08C rear 2.8kgs etc.
For comparison, Bosch Bosch Performance Line CX GEN 4 weighs 2.9kgs.
Hub motors rarely go wrong and when they do, can be easily and cheaply repaired by the average DIYer.
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