Does single-wire wiring work if you want to use a dynamo plus battery-powered lamps?
I'd like to power my bike with a dynamo. However, I also want the lights to illuminate when I stop (eg, at a red light). For this, I need lights with a battery that can be continuously recharged by the dynamo.
My question is whether a two-wire wiring system (for positive and negative) is absolutely necessary, or whether a single-wire wiring system for the positive wire will suffice. In this case, can the bicycle frame be used conventionally as the negative terminal for the front and rear lights? Are there any potential problems that could prevent the lights from glowing after the light is switched on?
Which bicycle trekking enthusiast can understand this problem or has even tried it successfully?
Timeoscillator is happy about your experiences and thanks you 🙂
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Hello time!
The lights with parking light function have a capacitor, not a battery. The capacitor only provides power for a few minutes, but it lasts a long time.
The dynamo produces alternating current. On a bicycle, these poles are called positive and ground. Yes, you can run the ground wire through the frame, but be careful! Current doesn't flow through paint, for example. Other parts can also cause problems.
Dynamo means hub dynamo; anything else is nonsense. So it won't be cheap, but it's worth it. If you want to ride all year round, you need one.
Thank you for your helpful reply, as always!
I don't have a hub dynamo (yet). Just a conventional one that presses against the tire. It's an older Peugeot bike. The dynamo, by the way, is mounted on the rear wheel. It's sufficient for my purposes – but every now and then, it produces a disco glow (that's what I like to call it^^). Of course, this is especially true in bad weather, and that's when it's actually most important.
LG "Time"
The "disco glow," as you so vividly describe it, is caused by the side-mounted dynamo losing its grip on the casing. If the dynamo slips, it won't spin and therefore won't produce any power. Your lights will go out. Or if the dynamo loses its grip, even for a brief moment, they'll flicker.
With a hub dynamo, this can no longer happen to you.
The buffer capacitors in modern LED lights are primarily used to keep the lamp lit for 2-5 minutes at traffic lights.
You'll have to explain in more detail what's so nonsense about a classic dynamo compared to a hub dynamo.
The auxiliary generator is clearly more convenient. But both work reliably.
Today, for example, with a 5 cm layer of snow on my path, a side-by-side scooter would have gone haywire. It doesn't grip reliably in wet conditions, and even less so in snow. Besides, the snow already created enough drag when driving. I'm completely worn out. I wouldn't have wanted to push a side-by-side scooter on top of that.
I can and will confirm what Felix wrote. A "normal" dynamo is truly rubbish, or as Felix so aptly puts it, nonsense! I've experienced this time and again with a wide variety of dynamos. Just as Krabat mentioned, there are always issues with grip. But on dry days without rain, snow, or otherwise wet roads, it's fine.
Oh well, the side-wheel runner doesn't produce that much more resistance, just a few watts more or less.
Admittedly, I don't ride my bike that much anymore. But for the 15 years I did it regularly, my side-wheeled bike was always reliable.
But of course, if I had the choice, I would still go for the hub dynamo.
The most important thing is that you have lights at all. Regardless of whether it's a hub dynamo, side-mounted, or battery-powered. It's scary how many you see (or don't see) riding through traffic without lights, even in winter.
It doesn't matter whether you run a ground cable or use the frame as a ground as long as your frame is made of metal.
Regarding the topic of photoluminescent lamps:
These typically consist of a set of front and rear lights. The dynamo is connected only to the front light, and the rear light is connected to the front light via a two-pin cable.
This is because the capacitors which store the current for the parking light function must be charged with direct current and the rectifier is part of the front lamp.
Yes, it works with the frame as a return conductor.
But for years now, all bicycles have had a two-wire system.
And it is not really reliable if the current flows through the steering head bearings
Thanks for your answer!
I didn't even think about the handlebars with their moving parts…
Using the frame as a ground wire is pretty straightforward, regardless of whether it is AC or DC voltage.
Decades ago, I was already annoyed by side-mounted dynamos, especially in snow and rain. I simply installed a barrel connector with a switch, to which I could connect a battery at any time. The rear light was connected directly to the headlight bulb, not to the dynamo connector. The dynamo was then only used in emergencies when the battery was empty.
I've since converted the lights to LEDs and Li-Ion batteries (3-4V from old laptop batteries). The front uses a step-up converter that acts as a constant current source. The back simply uses several red LEDs connected to a battery via resistors. This consumes significantly less power, and a battery charge lasts a very long time.
😉🙏🍀 BRAVO!
Good heavens, Machtnix = that reads – to me – like Swahili = the language widely spoken as a lingua franca in East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda) and large parts of Central Africa (Rwanda, Burundi, Congo). It is one of the most important lingua francas in Africa, its function in East Africa comparable to that of English in Western Europe.
https://www.google.com/search?q=kiswahili
Asante on uwe on siku njema.
As far as I know, the technical terms don't seem to be a problem for our questioner.
Oh! How kind is THAT, Felix! Thank you for the invitation to use Google Translate. You're welcome. 😉🙏 And have a wonderful evening, too. Best wishes from Seren. Sweet idea!
So you only need a capacitor with a large capacity. Typical gold cap.
And you can always connect the capacitor in parallel to the voltage source. It then acts as a small battery for a few seconds or even a few minutes.
There's no single-wire connection in any circuit in the world. There are always at least two wires. The second is the metal of the wheel.
You would have to connect one pole of the electrolytic capacitor to this.
Since dynamos usually generate alternating current, the voltage would have to be rectified.