Philips LED bike light

[jfcl]

I liked my SafeRide 80 so much this year that I bought two of the last 2nd generation SafeRide 80s from Rose Bikes.

Thank goodness they fixed the problem where you can't get it out of low-power mode in the 2nd generation. That's the main reason I bought them new ones. My 1st-gen SR80 with an external battery (see reply #131 above) wasn't very friendly to flaky battery cables because of the firmware issues (any power loss and light stays off and the low-power mode issue).

The power-loss-off issue is still there. But they fixed the low-power mode issue, so I put 3 1.0 F super-caps inside. This will ride through any intermittent cable issues and I don't have to worry about getting stuck in low-power mode.

Here's a summary of the differences between 1st-gen and 2nd-gen SR80:

• You can switch back to full-power mode even after it automatically switched to low-power
• Lower power consumption: now 0.90A/0.30A was 1.0A/0.33A
• No change in brightness or color
• Increased PWM frequency of low-power mode so it doesn't seem like a strobe light
• Changed from an hex key screw to a phillips/coin-slot screw for the battery compartment
• More subtle green/amber/red battery level indicator - the blue LED strip was rather glaring

I like the SR80 and have gotten used to some of its oddities I noticed when I first started using it a year ago. Now that I can use it with an external battery without having to keep AAs in it as well, I'm happy.

I haven't seen a better light. The B&M/Schmidt lights look comparable, but not particularly better. It is too bad Philips decided to drop such a good product. Maybe they can sell the product line to some other company!!
--tom

 

[jfcl]

Just an update on my 2nd-gen SR80 with an external battery: This has been working fine. The super-caps work to take care of minor interruptions, and if makes it into low-power mode, the 2nd-gen can be put back in full-power mode.

The super-caps last about 35 seconds on low.

This is a great light, and with an external battery I can get 5 or more hours out of it!
--tom

 

[abvgdee]

(just some random bit of thought.. might be interesting to some..)

I measured the stock driver efficiency to be ~79% - high mode.

Power at batteries can be measured easily: 4.5W (4.84V 0.93A). LED power consumption is tricky, so indirectly. With a custom linear (true DC) current-source driver: 2.185W (0.38A 5.75V), and max lux value = 62.397. Max lux value from the stock driver = 101.23. So effective LED's power on high = 2.185*101.23/62.397 = 3.5448W.

 

[SemiMan]

Only way to measure efficiency is to measure volts/amps at LED. LED efficiency drops with current.

 

[kilou]

Here is a pic of the parts

The DC-DC converter needs a (max)5V enable, I used a 4,7V zener and a resistor.


My test setup

The DC-DC convertor only gets warm, not hot at all.


Finished, there is plenty of room for the electronis in the battery compartment.

(With the light upside down)


But there is a drawback; the light will only shine on max for 45min, then I have to disconnect the battery, reconnect again and then it will shine for another 45min, and then you will have to repeat again until the battery is drained.
Apparently the battery monitoring circuit in the light includes a timer based on initial battery voltage.

My next modification of the light will be to replace all of the electronics with a LFlex
http://www.taskled.com/lflex.html
a b2Flex would be more efficient but the higher overhead voltage for it means that I wouldn't be able to use the same battery.
But that will take another two months or so.


/Håkan
SWEDEN

Hi,

I'm also trying to use a DC-DC converter to use the saferide 80 (2nd gen) with an external battery pack on my bike. I'm using a converter with a LM2576HVS chip. The voltage input is 16V (car battery charger to make some tests) and I set the output to 5.7V. I connected the output wires to the + and - inside the light housing. The light turns on properly but it cannot go to the high beam mode. If I press the light's button, it just turns the light on and off but only the low beam mode is used. However if I remove the cables and uses the light with the stock NiMH batteries, everything works fine and pressing the light's button will switch between the low and high beam mode.

What am I doing wrong? Why is the high beam mode unavailable when powering the light from the external battery? Should I connect the wires differently (in the second pic above, + is connected to the lower rightmost pin and - to the lower leftmost pin)? Any help appreciated. Thanks!

 

[E45]

Does anyone know where to find the Philips handlebar bracket?


There's a couple of Busch & Muller Ixon brackets that look similar.


Has anyone tried using those?

 

[angerdan]

They don't fit each other.

I would try to get hands on one at eBay.

 

[abvgdee]

My SR80 modification.

Back to the blinding artifacts - I recently installed the wall (black, between the halves):

(hi-res)

Color-zoomed-in (to better see artifacts) original vs. wall:

Main pattern is almost same, became about 2.6% narrower (I expected worse):

(hi-res)

(hi-res)
(you can't determine the "2.6%" from these images; camera beamshots visualized with my octave scripts)

I decided against replacing stock LEDs.

Another thing I did - I installed my own driver (since I fried original one; with my own "Cantor" firmware), powered by 3x 18650:

(hi-res)

(hi-res)

Finally I did it!

 

[Steve K]

18650's fit? I don't use them for anything, so I have no experience with them. That's got to improve the run time quite a bit, doesn't it?

I'm assuming that they are wired in parallel. How does the charging work out?

Nice to have a project work out well. Congrats!

 

[abvgdee]

Probably. I don't really care about runtime. (what I do care about - unlike other people, is SR's near field.. really hate it)

Yes, parallel. I put my charge connector where the original was (USB) - at the back. Any Li-Ion charger will do the job (I use one from a bike light, 1A), after you solder appropriate connector on its cable. Cells should be similar.

It was pretty easy and fast actually, 5 full days may be. All needed things were done in the past, and mechanically - glue was my best friend. "Grit and spit, and spit, a lot of spit, and grit, and sticktoiteveness" (Madagascar2)

 

[angerdan]

My SR80 modification.
I installed my own driver (since I fried original one; with my own "Cantor" firmware), powered by 3x 18650:
Finally I did it!

Any updates on your mod?
How about weather resistance, charging, weight difference...?

 

[abvgdee]

Hardwarely - no changes, nowhere. Weather - if you mean buttons hole cover - it's fully rain-proof. Charging - old.

Weight, and center of gravity difference - small enough. AFAIR, it was tilting down when riding on bumps about same as the original. A piece of flat rubber glued on the handlebar makes this tilting almost-never happening.

Sorry, not much to add - been built to last long!

Raindrops won't get inside - nohow. So, when raining - I have no objection. Contrariwise!

 

[andrew_s]

Spanninga have bought the rights to the Philips bike lights, and there are now updated versions in production.
http://www.spanninga.com/

The Philips Saferide is now the Spannings Axendo, coming in 4 versions: 80 lux e-bike; 60 lux dynamo; 60 lux li-ion, USB charged; and 40 lux li-ion USB-charged, with reflector.

The Philips Lumiring rear dynamo light is now the Spanninga Elips. There's also a 2xAAA battery version.

 

[find_bruce]

Has anyone found a good online source for Spanninga ? I'm in Australia & there doesn't seem to be any dealers outside Europe & the US

 

[angerdan]

No, but you could try to aks some german shops if they would ship it to australia.
Or if some german members from this forum would put it on eBay with international shipping

 

[samsavvas]

Has anyone found a good online source for Spanninga ? I'm in Australia & there doesn't seem to be any dealers outside Europe & the US

This is great news isn't it! I've been using the Saferide 60s for several years and they are easily the match for the (older) SON lights I also have. Hollandbikeshop list all of the Axendo lights, although they seem to be out of stock at present. Which of course suggests that production is still gearing up to meet a healthy level of demand - a good thing I think! I expect Spanninga's first priority will be all of the local bike shops they distribute to before they get onto the online market. I'd just monitor Hollandbikeshop and other shops such as Bike24 and bike components.de until they become available. Dutchbikebits too. All used to stock the Phillips lights so I'd guess they'll be keen to carry the Axendo as well.

Sam.

 

[samsavvas]

...Hollandbikeshop list all of the Axendo lights, although they seem to be out of stock at present....

Actually I was wrong. hollandbikeshop have the Axendo-40 & 60 series in stock:
Xdo - without stand light
Xdas - with stand light
Xe - for ebike (max 36v).

80 series is out of stock (I can see why!)

Post cost to Australia seemed a bit steep - about Au$50 for either 1 or 2 lights. But given the relatively cheap cost of the lights themselves this may still be a reasonable outlay!

Sam.

 

[samsavvas]

Rather excited today. I have received an Axendo 60 Xe and matching tail light from Holland Bike Shop in the Netherlands. I'm not sure if it has turned out to be the best deal for this light, but I was impatient and it's what I went with. Anyway, I'm please!

It's an e-bike light destined for the ongoing refurbishment project for my old Bafang BBS-powered Kemper Filibus cargo bike. Although I haven't yet connected it up I can tell you that the Axendo is small - not tiny, but certainly much smaller than the Phillips Saferide dynamo light, even though it appears to use the same reflector and front window profile. If you've held the rather bulky B&M Luxos, we're talking about something of similar size. The case is made from what seems to be die-cast alloy and feels pretty solid.

Being an e-bike light there's no switch and only two recessed & polarised spade connectors underneath - no dangling wires. It used what appears to be the same 'pressed wire' bracket that the Phillips came with.

I'll post some pics on Flickr shortly. It will be interesting to see if the dynamo versions of this light are the same size (illustrations on the packaging suggest that might be)! If so, and if it performs as well or even better than the old Saferide, then - given the price point - I think Spanninga will have a winner!

Sam.

 

[gipsyman]

Hardwarely - no changes, nowhere. Weather - if you mean buttons hole cover - it's fully rain-proof. Charging - old.

Weight, and center of gravity difference - small enough. AFAIR, it was tilting down when riding on bumps about same as the original. A piece of flat rubber glued on the handlebar makes this tilting almost-never happening.

Sorry, not much to add - been built to last long!

Raindrops won't get inside - nohow. So, when raining - I have no objection. Contrariwise!

Built to last long alright. I have an Lflex modified SafeRide that now has over 1000 hours of use and it is still going strong. I purchased it back in 2013 and within a week I tore it apart to do the HakanC driver replacement and external power modification. I am pushing 147 milliamps in low mode for a 27 lux beam and 1 amp in high mode for a 126 lux beam.

But now we have a USA automotive lighting engineer designing a cut-off beam light similar in looks to the Supernova M99 series.

See this link: http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-riding/outbound-lighting-focal-series-discussion-1055278.html

 

[angerdan]

Thanks for the link!
But why create something which is already available by Specialized (Flux Pro & Expert)?