New BUMM IQ FLY E-light, 6-42V operating, & new Toplight Line Plus

[Andre Jute]

I've fitted the new BUMM IQ FLY E that works with batteries between 6 and 42V for use on electrified bikes. It is essentially a CYO R in different packaging, with protection circuits, and a passthrough controller for a dumb rear LED light. (Except the Linetek lights aren't dumb, they have stand lights, and I don't see the point of auto-switching sensors if you're going to keep the light running day and night anyway, as I do.)

I've also fitted the new BUMM Toplight Line Plus.

They're good too as daylight running lights.

There are photographs at http://coolmainpress.com/BICYCLINGbuildingpedelec5.html and more are coming when I get a chance to shine them against a wall with comprehensible height indicators (otherwise known a supermarket carpark in the middle of the night).

Andre Jute

[Danneaux]

I've also fitted the new BUMM Toplight Line Plus...

And a remarkable light it is!

I am coming to appreciate mine more by the day. The visibility at a distance is remarkable, and the "line of light" really does make a difference to closing traffic. It has a neonlike glow about it that looks far larger than it is, and the effect competes very well with my focused 1-watt LEDs. Most surprising to me was the "open architecture" of the lens that allows the light to spillover and illuminate the reflector as well as the fresneled lens. In total darkness, the effect is remarkable. The standlight is well worth the money, and illuminates for a good 4.5 minutes in my own tests.

Isn't it grand to find our lighting options getting better and better? The poorest LED is now far superior to the old incandescent offerings in nearly every way.

You did your usual fine job on your photo-essay, Andre; very much appreciated and a nice reference work. Good photography to go with your usual well-crafted writing. A lot of care went into this, and it shows.

Best,

Dan.

[Andre Jute]

The final photo-essay of the saga of building my e-bike is now posted:
Building an Electric Bike 6:
SETTING UP CAR STRENGTH LAMPS ON AN ELECTRIC BIKE
BUMM Fly E & Toplight Line Plus
by Andre Jute
http://coolmainpress.com/BICYCLINGbuildingpedelec6.html
Includes photos of light throw and pattern of BUMM IQ Fly E and Toplight Line Plus.

If you're new to this set of photo-essays, they start at http://coolmainpress.com/BICYCLINGbuildingpedelec1.html

Andre Jute

[Danneaux]

Andre,

As far as I am concerned, your latest photo-essay showing light patterns is simply outstanding, and (in my estimation), narrowly beats the photos shown on Peter White's site and even those of Wouter Scholten ( http://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/verlichting/koplampen/BM_cyo_rt/index_en.html for his test of the IQ Cyo with the greatly inferior daytime running lights, and http://swhs.home.xs4all.nl/fiets/tests/verlichting/koplampen/BM_IQ_reflector/index_en.html for his treatise on the changes BUMM made to the previously excellent reflector), though both are very good efforts indeed.

You said...

That hotspot is deeply unfortunate...

And indeed it is. Greatest disappointment of my own IQ Cyo R with Nearfield. The hotspot utterly spoils what would be (and previously was) a perfectly, evenly distributed pool of white light. The eye is drawn to the hotspot, washing out the rest, and completely ruining the new light pattern compared to the old. Unfortunately, the older version is no longer available here (US) and the new ones are shipping as current stock from most of not all volume dealers (I have confirmed this through extensive correspondence with the larger UK and EU firms). Further, it seems the new reflector also correlates with increased reliability in the circuity (the circuitry was upgraded along with the reflector) so I suppose it is a necessary evil from the consumer's standpoint, but still a terrible disappointment when I first turned it on, expected to see what I saw of my Dutch friend's older IQ Fly (same reflector previously, now changed) and got...the dreaded hotspot.

Sigh.

None of this detracts from your excellent effort, Andre, and one that is very much appreciated. I know from personal experience how much work it took in setup and photography, and the narrative is wonderful as well. You're really nice to share it with us.

By the way, I leave my lamp-to-bracket bolt just loose enough to allow me to alter the aim of the light manually as needed, but tight enough to prevent shake-down by any amount of road vibration. I agree it really works well to re-aim the light as conditions dictate, and there are no increments or "steps" to the untight-bolt method. A nylock nut prevents loss of the nut or bolt.

Very nicely done!

All the best,

Dan.

[Andre Jute]

Very flattering of you to say so, Dan, but Peter White's effort, with many more lamps, and the effort of controlling the circumstances and the vantage point over quite a spread of time, makes me tired just considering it! I just follow where Peter leads. I like Scholten's analysis of the old and new Cyo, but you're right, he doesn't quite have the knack of photographing in low light conditions. Still, it all adds to the panoply of information.

The 42V edition I need is a recent model which comes only with the new reflector, with the "feature" of the hotspot.

It might be time to look into the Phiilips Saferide.

Andre Jute

[Andre Jute]

One has to wonder how much current the new LED lamps actually consume.

Yesterday I returned from a ride on my bike that should have consumed at least a fifth of an 8.8Ah bottle battery, built with the famous Panasonic lipo cells. This bottle battery, supplied with some of their kits by the British supplier of Bafang/8fUN electric motor kits ( http://www.8funbike.com/store.asp/d=5/c=45 ), is known to be more commodious than its official rating, but it would be useful to know by how much. My longest ride is 22km of mixed hills, on which the battery is engaged for half the time going uphill at full throttle with me perhaps adding half the power, and the lamps are on all the time, used as daylight running lamps, and yet I've never managed to deplete this "small" battery fully.

So, on returning I left the battery mounted on the bike with the front and rear BUMM lights shining. Now, by my reckoning, by analogy with a hub dynamo driving a halogen light, and by reading the relevant German legislation which fixed the format of all bike lamps now in general use with tourers and commuters, the lamps between them consume 500mA at 6V, so 3A spot consumption or 3Ah per hour of use. Even a full 8.8Ah battery should be depleted in 3 hours by the lamps alone...

I left the bike standing at 5pm with the lights blaring out loud, and when I went to bed at 3am -- the lights were still blaring out loud, absolutely full power. At this point I abandoned the experiment as these lipo batteries need to be watched near depletion and while charging as they have a track record (in computers, not on bikes) of spontaneous combustion when under stress.

There are only three possibilities:

1. That "8.8aH" battery is monstrously underrated.

2. That "3W total" LED lamp set doesn't consume 3Ah per hour.

3. I made a wrong assumption somewhere along the line of reasoning.

I fancy #2, economical lamps. What do you think?

Andre Jute

[Danneaux]

Hi Andre,

For sometime, I have come to think the "3W" rating for modern LED bicycle light sources is an artifact of the German lighting regulations, and a handy way to standardize references for placement on bicycle store shelving. I don't think the rating is outdated so much as inaccurate.

I can't speak to the Pedalec-specific versions, but I cannot imagine my IQ Cyo consuming anywhere near 3W in operation with the B&M Topight Line Plus LED taillight.

Assuming they are equipped with anything near a standard driver and a Cree or Nichia LED similar to the ones in my (human-worn) LED headlamps, then your experience is spot-on. The battery may be underrated to a degree to reflect not only production tolerances but to anticipate age-related loss of capacity over its stated service life, but that still would not account for the performance you witnessed, nor would it square with what I have observed as well.

I'm right there with you on Theory #2, economical lamps. Kinda makes a person consider mounting two IQ Cyos, aimed with different reach to really light up the night. I do know I can still achieve charging with the Tout Terrain The Plug 2 (sans the PAT booster cable) even with the LEDs on...just not at the same rate as with them off.

All the best,

Dan. (who really hopes Andre's bike won't burst into flames if the battery is overstressed)

[trebor58]

One has to wonder how much current the new LED lamps actually consume.

Yesterday I returned from a ride on my bike that should have consumed at least a fifth of an 8.8Ah bottle battery, built with the famous Panasonic lipo cells. This bottle battery, supplied with some of their kits by the British supplier of Bafang/8fUN electric motor kits ( http://www.8funbike.com/store.asp/d=5/c=45 ), is known to be more commodious than its official rating, but it would be useful to know by how much. My longest ride is 22km of mixed hills, on which the battery is engaged for half the time going uphill at full throttle with me perhaps adding half the power, and the lamps are on all the time, used as daylight running lamps, and yet I've never managed to deplete this "small" battery fully.

So, on returning I left the battery mounted on the bike with the front and rear BUMM lights shining. Now, by my reckoning, by analogy with a hub dynamo driving a halogen light, and by reading the relevant German legislation which fixed the format of all bike lamps now in general use with tourers and commuters, the lamps between them consume 500mA at 6V, so 3A spot consumption or 3Ah per hour of use. Even a full 8.8Ah battery should be depleted in 3 hours by the lamps alone...

I left the bike standing at 5pm with the lights blaring out loud, and when I went to bed at 3am -- the lights were still blaring out loud, absolutely full power. At this point I abandoned the experiment as these lipo batteries need to be watched near depletion and while charging as they have a track record (in computers, not on bikes) of spontaneous combustion when under stress.

There are only three possibilities:

1. That "8.8aH" battery is monstrously underrated.

2. That "3W total" LED lamp set doesn't consume 3Ah per hour.

3. I made a wrong assumption somewhere along the line of reasoning.

I fancy #2, economical lamps. What do you think?

Andre Jute

Hi Andre,
 To Clarify Power use of led lights a 3 watt light is using about .5 of an amp with a tail light about .6 of a watt  is using
 approximately .1 amps= a total of approximately .6 amps at 6 volts. As your battery is 42 volts you will only be using a small fraction of that for your lights as they run on 6 volts and are electronically regulated to protect them from over volting.
I am not sure on the battery version but the Dynamo version needs air cooling so suggest it is best if you are not stopped for extended periods.
Putting  two lights side by side will give plenty of light and you can improve beam width by spacing them apart.
They also have a new super cyo but it is not in Australia yet.

Cheers Rob.

[Andre Jute]

Thanks for that, Rob. On that math, the lamps alone should deplete an 8.8Ah battery (assuming it is correctly rated, which no one believes of this particular battery) in about 25-26 hours then. Or, the more practical conclusion: unless you routinely use your battery to the last dregs for the motor, it isn't worth the bother to switch the lamps off at temporary stops because the drain is insignificant.

I switch the battery off anyway every time I use my n'lock, as a routine matter of not leaving lights on to attract a thief. It's a three-second routine to turn the n'lock and remove the key, switch the battery off and arm the alarm, and three seconds in reverse when I return.

Andre Jute