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Will a Revo run a rear light other than a Redeye?

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 11:15 pm
by lune ranger
Does anyone know if I soldered the correct type of barrel connector onto the wire if I could run a rear light other than a Redeye from a Revo Mk 1.
Specifically a B&M Secula Line Tec.
My grasp of electrics is not great and I' m still trying to get the light/charging set up on my krampus sorted.
I got a cheap Revo off eBay and want to run a rear light. Not overly pleased with the Revo. It's too much like a battery light in terms of the mount and connectors (I like a dynamo light to be fixture rather than an add on - guess I'm getting old) but the output and beam pattern are spot on (and it was cheap) I'm gonna add a rear light to the seat stay if possible to avoid conflict for seat post space with bags etc.
I could use a Redeye and extend the cable and alter the mount a bit as I know others in this parish have done. I prefer the idea of using the B&M as it has a seat stay specific mount and is a more permanent fixture.
Are there any techno-electro reasons I can't do this?
I presume the Revo output is 5v as it is USB standard (I think) doe this or anything else my Luddite brain can't perceive cause insurmountable problems?
Cheers.

Re: Will a Revo run a rear light other than a Redeye?

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 4:08 pm
by mat_swan
Pretty sure I've seen Revos with the mounting shoe removed and bolted to a fork crown mount before now if you want to 'permanentise' it.

Re: Will a Revo run a rear light other than a Redeye?

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 6:25 pm
by mountainbaker
Revo is not USB standard, though they use the same jacks as Exposure's other battery powered lights the input is 6V 1W AC. I am unsure of the output from the other port, but will try a test this weekend as i'm right in the middle of a little project to build a charging/cache battery system for dyno/revo/other light systems.

I do also run my redeye rear off my Toro (battery) light, so perhaps the revo does output DC, but probably not very clean. Will feed back once I've run some tests...

Re: Will a Revo run a rear light other than a Redeye?

Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 10:24 pm
by mat_swan
Pretty sure the revo output is the same as the battery lights ie. 5v dc, as I've run both the redeye and the 'exposure light to usb charger' adaptor off it. It's not really designed to output usb amounts of juice though so the power you get is tiny.

Re: Will a Revo run a rear light other than a Redeye?

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 9:18 am
by lune ranger
mountainbaker wrote:I do also run my redeye rear off my Toro (battery) light, so perhaps the revo does output DC, but probably not very clean. Will feed back once I've run some tests...
That's @mountainbaker.
Some poking around I've done elsewhere suggested the output is DC but somewhat less than USB standard, more like 3.7v DC according to one source. The Exposure Boost cable has some gubbins attached to bring the power up to 5v
Don't know what the implications of that are however.
A Sinewave Beacon outputs DC and they state that standard AC rear lights can run from them as well as DC lights eg Supernova.

Re: Will a Revo run a rear light other than a Redeye?

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 10:42 am
by mountainbaker
3.7v output would indicate they are powering the output from the standlight which I suspect is a very low mAh LI-Ion or LiPo cell.

Re: Will a Revo run a rear light other than a Redeye?

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 10:57 am
by sean_iow
The output is powered from the standlight as when I plug my redeye in it lights up straight away even with the bike stationary. It will do this even if I haven't ridden it for a week and there is no light from the revo so the redeye requires hardly any power to light up.

Also, when you stop riding one of the led's on the standlight goes out before the other one, so I assume the standlight has separate capacitors for each led and only one is connected to the output port?

Re: Will a Revo run a rear light other than a Redeye?

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 11:01 am
by sean_iow
lune ranger wrote: It's too much like a battery light in terms of the mount and connectors (I like a dynamo light to be fixture rather than an add on
Cheers.
I guess they've done this as it then uses the standard mount they make for the other lights. I think this is an advantage as the standlight is so good you can easily unplug it and take it off the mount and use it as a torch if you have a mechanical etc. Plus it's easy to swap between bikes.

Re: Will a Revo run a rear light other than a Redeye?

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 5:12 pm
by lune ranger
mountainbaker wrote:3.7v output would indicate they are powering the output from the standlight which I suspect is a very low mAh LI-Ion or LiPo cell.
What's the practical consequences of this?
Can you run a standard Dynamo rear light from this sort of input?
Can I break things if I try or will it either work Or not work.
Cheers

Re: Will a Revo run a rear light other than a Redeye?

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2018 7:44 am
by lune ranger
All set up now and I'm loving it.
Got the Revo mounted upside down on the loop of my Confucius bars.
Running with a Redeye in the end.
I made a little lead with a barrel jack and have wired the Revo directly to an Igaro power switch. All the wiring is under the bar tape and the switch sits by my left hand.
I added a section of wire to the Redeye and have again run the wiring under the bar tape. The Redeye is mounted on the right hand seat stay. I built up the stay with some folded inner tube and tape so the light sits at a good angle. It's a little obscured by the rear tyre but still very visible.
I can now switch between charging from my Igaro or full dyno lighting on the fly with the switch.
Loving the Revo. Not as bright as I hoped at low speed but no flicker which is a massive improvement over my old Supernova E3 Triple. I'll combine it with a Diabalo head light programmed to last all night. An ace set up I think.
Bring on the BB200 allnighter...

Re: Will a Revo run a rear light other than a Redeye?

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 9:33 am
by dlovett
lune ranger wrote:All set up now and I'm loving it.
Got the Revo mounted upside down on the loop of my Confucius bars.
Running with a Redeye in the end.
I made a little lead with a barrel jack and have wired the Revo directly to an Igaro power switch. All the wiring is under the bar tape and the switch sits by my left hand.
I added a section of wire to the Redeye and have again run the wiring under the bar tape. The Redeye is mounted on the right hand seat stay. I built up the stay with some folded inner tube and tape so the light sits at a good angle. It's a little obscured by the rear tyre but still very visible.
I can now switch between charging from my Igaro or full dyno lighting on the fly with the switch.
Loving the Revo. Not as bright as I hoped at low speed but no flicker which is a massive improvement over my old Supernova E3 Triple. I'll combine it with a Diabalo head light programmed to last all night. An ace set up I think.
Bring on the BB200 allnighter...
Revo, redeye and Diablo, that's what I have been running for two years flawlessly now.

Re: Will a Revo run a rear light other than a Redeye?

Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 9:54 am
by Trail-rat
'Pretty sure I've seen Revos with the mounting shoe removed and bolted to a fork crown mount before now if you want to 'permanentise' it.'

that was probably me .

I tried it as a way to get my light under my bar bag as it was cutting off the bottom of the beam. What i ended up with was a light that was too close to the ground to give any real spread..

In the end i fitted jones loops and mounted the light right ways up between my tri bars, and connected my red eye up and run it to the back

You can buy pre made connectors with the right plugs for the exposure light (which AFAIK are not availible in the normal sources - at least not when i looked) from Igaro who get them from Exposure and make them into assemblies.