Headlights for Enduro

[glazump]

We are running an enduro, with two segments in the dark. Any suggestions on head/tail lites would be appreciated.

[Neal Stewart]

just solder 2 LED's to the lead wires, where it connects to the guide flag, and run them out the front, as for rears, u have to figure that one out on your own.
later,
Neal

[glazump]

What kind of bulbs would I use that weigh the least, but are still somewhat durable?
And still the questtion of the taillights.

[JBriggsK9]

years ago, we use to use grain of wheat light bulbs.... you should be able to find them at a good hobby shop..... as for the rear.... you might try the same bulb and just paint them red......

Chris

[Overdrive]

One of the smaller ( and therefore ) lighter LED types is called a "T1" type. www.digikey.com sells a 15 volt Yellow T1 led (# 160-1054) for 25 cents each. They also have a red as # 160-1046. LED stands for Light Emitting Diode ( a Diode that puts out Light ). All diodes allow power to flow in one direction and not the other. Unfortunatly they also consume power and therefor will also provide a voltage drop in power going to the motor ( not "A Good Thing" tm ). Also they will only be lit up when you are squezing the trigger. If I were going to do something like this I would instead use a very,very small 3 volt lithium coin cell # P022 that has PC board solder tabs already applied from the manufacturer and solder 3 volt LED's ( # 160-1146 ) to the pin's via real thin wire, insulate it all and firmly attach it in right before the heat starts ( BTW, you should figuire out how to do all this before the race begins ) The coin cell should provide enough power for about a hour or two. As for the brake lights, While I never have done this I would think that wiring those 15 volt Red's backwards to the motor power connections will provide what you are looking for. Because they will not allow power to flow through them backwards there will be no power loss to the motor and when you let off the trigger the spinning motor will become a reverse power genorator thereby supplying power to LED's in the proper direction. Thereby providing realistic brake lights. Seeing as you are trying to slow the car down at this moment you won't mind if a little power will be consumed. Hope I've helped here and good luck!

Best Regards

OverDrive

P.S. digikey has a $5 handling fee for orders under $25. Also I do not work for digikey and you could get simular parts from other electronic distributors.

[Foamy]

Buy stuff from alot,get it in a couple days...everytime...

[Rick56]

We used to run enduros with headlights at a track that I raced at and it was a blast. Just a hint though, put a light inside the interior so it shines out the windows because sure as cah-cah your headlights will get knocked out but the interior light will save you when it happens. Coat it with armature dye if someone else steals your idea so you can pick out your car with the overhead lights out.

[glazump]

Great ideas guys. Much appreciated.

[Aubin 3 sixteen]

Most enduros require a minimum of one working headlight and 1 tailight at all times, not just under braking. My personal experience is that you will want to have full time working tail lights, otherwise you won't be able to see the car when it is going away from you. Once the dark heats are over you can just rip all the lights out. The VERY minimal slower lap times from the power drain caused by the bulbs is easily offset by a couple of less crashes due to good lighting.

[RomanK]

This web site has exactly what you are looking ffor

http://www.slotservice.com/Home/Products/Xenon_light-kits/Light-kit/light-kit.html

[Rotorranch]

That is just way cool! Great link, Roman!

I really like the exhaust flames. Guess I'll have to start saving my pennies for some more slot car accessories!

Rotor

[ryan540]

go see Hella. I'm sure they could sort out a big spotlight or something, then you could REALLY see your car.;)

[Fastmint]

I used to make the lights for our EEC (European Endurance Championship) cars. The Belgian round was a 24 hour race, with 8 hours of night running.

For rear lights, we used small, low current LED's powered by a button cell. (eg CR2032) -- one of these will run the back lights for a couple of days if you add a resistor to limit the current used. Mount to the rear of the body by poking a hole through, enlarging it with a small round file, then glueing the LED in place.

The EEC rules specified that incandescant lights should be used for the fronts. We tried the grain of wheat type bulbs, but found that they break easily in big accidents. In the end we used LES type bulbs that can be screwed into a holder. If the bulb gets smashed, it can be replaced quite easily. - If you do use some threadlock on the holder, as the bulb will unscrew itself and stop working after a while. You also need to find a way to get the track power to the lights.

For connecting wire, try to find some with very thin insulation, that has lots of thin strands. --It's easier to install, and less likely to let you down.

hope this helps

Steve

[Phonepuke]

I just bought one of the LED kits from slotservice and it looks excellent.I don't have the one with the exhaust flames.That just came out last month............GS

[John Secchi]

:) :) :)
I am at the moment prepairing this years entry for the Belgium round of the EEC series [ Team SCD-WOS ], the night section is 8 hours long so we need at least 2 bodies ready with lighting.
The rules for front lights changed a couple of years ago, we can now use white LED at the front which are powered by a small "Button" battery cell, this has enough power to last the whole night section!
As for the rears, these are red LED's and again are powered by a battrey cell, still have them working from last years meeting!
[oneofwos]