# NiteRider 6 V Halogen/NiMH conversion to LED



## Gonz (Feb 8, 2004)

Hi

I want to convert a NiteRider 6 V Halogen headlamp unit to LED technology. I would like to retain the existing 6 V NiMH battery and charger. Can you advise DIY advice ?

Pictures of the existing unit below:


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## SkUG (Feb 19, 2008)

Gonz said:


> Hi
> 
> I want to convert a NiteRider 6 V Halogen headlamp unit to LED technology. I would like to retain the existing 6 V NiMH battery and charger. Can you advise DIY advice ?
> 
> Pictures of the existing unit below:


Is the casing plastic?


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## .40AET (Jun 7, 2007)

I had a friend give me his old demo's. 6 singles and 2 doubles. They were all plastic. I tore them apart and couldn't figure out how to heat sink them and then get the heat out of the housing. I'd be all ready to go to town on them if something good comes out of this discussion.


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## Jim Z in VT (Sep 9, 2007)

Maybe the led star mounted on a piece of "L" aluminum protruding through a slot out of the top of the housing, with a finned heatsink mounted on top of that? 

(led on the vertical leg of the (inverted) "L" inside the case; heatsink on the horizontal leg outside (above) the case)

JZ


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## Gonz (Feb 8, 2004)

*heat disapatator, what else*

so heat disapation is a major concern on account of the plastic housing. Thats a challenge.

What else ? What electrical considerations must be taken into account to make it work off my existing 6 V NiMH battery ?


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## Prophet Julio (May 8, 2008)

*Halogens are not cold or cool*

I have the same light. I made my own 2 X Cree XRE with 1amp buck puck. I look at my old Niterider and I know that a nice handlebar mount 1 X Cree XRE at 1000ma with the original 6V battery and a flood optic is waiting to happen.

The Halogen is hot and less efficient, so it seems that a LED could work. I am going to open it up and have a look. Post some pix in a week or so.


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## Jim Z in VT (Sep 9, 2007)

If you go with a single led (~3.7v) you can use your 6v battery with a "buck" driver (reduces the voltage). Options range from the $15 BuckPuck (which can be bought pre-wired so it's super easy to set up), to the little DX drivers which only cost a couple dollars but take a bit more skill to solder up. But that housing is begging for a triple led setup, so if you want to keep the 6v battery you'd need a "boost" driver (raises the voltage) to get the ~11.1v the 3 leds will need. I haven't worked with boost drivers yet, so someone else will have to jump in here and let you know if that's workable on 6v. A low budget way to do a triple could be to use 3 of the DX drivers, one for each led, running in parallel off the 6v battery.

Cutter sells a MR-11 (35mm) triple (or quad) boost kit with leds/optics/driver, but they're pretty pricey.

Julio is correct that halogens run very hot, so the Nightrider plastic should be able to take the heat. The difference is that halogen bulbs run fine when hot, but leds lose brightness and eventually fail if they're too hot. That's why it's essential to have an aluminum heatsink to conduct the heat out of the housing where airflow can dissipate it.

JZ


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## sdnative (Aug 10, 2008)

*Want one?*

Why not ... turn yours into this :thumbsup: MSG me, they're for sale!

The setup: ~700 lumens. Cree MCE, BoomSS, FATMAN, NiMh x 8 (~10v) ...but will work on stock 6 v battery  just fine. Used my NR cage brick for a few rides, but it was basically old and tired, so retired it.



















Your stock 15 Watt halogen, Fully charged!









My Retrofit plugin :eekster:


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## Jim Z in VT (Sep 9, 2007)

Hmmm....I think I like the 15w halogen beam better.  

Wow, what a difference. And a very straightforward way to get the heatsink out of the case. nicely done.

JZ


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## sdnative (Aug 10, 2008)

Yeap, gotta get that heat out and away from the NR body! 

Works well with ~14 sq inches of total cooling surface. Since the piece is Alum and pretty thin, except where it's needed ...it's also very light! 

The sink has screw mounts for the LED base, so when it is firmly clamped down, the heat gets drawn out of the LED as fast as it ever possibly could (w/o a solid copper or silver base material that is)


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## racerdave (May 12, 2007)

That is so cool... I'm sort on "information overload" looking at all the various DIY options, but yours is a great way to use a serviceable (if somewhat ancient) housing/switch, etc.


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## Jim311 (Feb 7, 2006)

I upgraded a Trail Rat halogen 6V setup to a 14.8V Lion 15watt halogen setup with good results. Excellent runtime but not really what you're looking for!


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