Author Topic: WIRING A HUB DYNAMO FOR EASY WHEEL REMOUNTING  (Read 6324 times)

Andre Jute

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4063
WIRING A HUB DYNAMO FOR EASY WHEEL REMOUNTING
« on: May 29, 2019, 12:06:28 am »
WIRING A HUB DYNAMO FOR EASY WHEEL DIS- & RE-MOUNTING IN THE DARK

The slides connecting my BUMM lamps to the SON hub dynamo have been pulled off and slid back on only a dozen times but are in a sorry state, the cheap shrink-wrap covers torn, the metal mangled so that I doubt they can be bent around the wire one more time, because I can't bend that far and have to do the business by touch. The whole design of a single piece of wire between the hub dynamo and the lamp is stupid, stupid, stupid: unless you commit the aesthetic solecism of wrapping the wire around and around a fork leg you have to fix the wire somewhere with zip tie. Add to this that no motor factor, hardware store or electrical store that I've telephoned stocks the slides BUMM and SON in their unique and lonely wisdom fit, and this p!sswilly wire and its wretched slides can immobilise your bike as soon as it gets dark -- while the pubs are still open!

Here's a trial run of how to make a better setup, at a cost of few grammes, to be refined and made less visible when new slides come from Germany, and a wall wart male to female extension power cord comes from China.

I'll cut the power cord in two, the short male part to have slides attached to fit the SON:



Here, from overlayers of shrink tube I've made a little plug that holds the two slides in position, in case I ever again want to remove them. I'll make the final item smaller and less visible when the components arrive. The slides will be fitted to the bare ends of the male part after the power cord is cut in two. The intention is that they will stay on the SON when the wheel is removed and that unplugging will be done on the inside of the fork a few inches away, where one can what see what one is doing.



A working mockup of what I intend, made with the parts I could find at a motor factor. In the final version there will be only one tidy plug and socket. The top half will be the female socket of the power extension cord, cut long enough to reach the lamp. It will be made watertight by a hood extending about a centimetre over its forward edge and over the male plug, made from a few layers of shrink tube.
« Last Edit: May 29, 2019, 12:29:12 am by Andre Jute »

Danneaux

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8229
  • reisen statt rasen
Re: WIRING A HUB DYNAMO FOR EASY WHEEL REMOUNTING
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2019, 01:05:26 am »
Your ultimate method looks much like my own preferred hub connection option, Andre. See attached photo below.

For more on my wiring schemes, see: http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=12065.msg87783#msg87783

They have proven reliable and trouble-free with no corrosion over the last 7 years on my Nomad, even longer on some of my other bikes and in severe conditions of desert playa and alkali dust with water, ice, snow, and coastal salt air and spray, as the connections use gold plated pins and fit tightly enough to be self-shielding. I use a silicone dielectric grease between the hub's male spade terminals and the female connectors on the stub wiring before the Deans connectors. I prefer to leave a "drip loop" in the wire so water doesn't collect at the spade connectors.

All the best,

Dan.

Andre Jute

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4063
Re: WIRING A HUB DYNAMO FOR EASY WHEEL REMOUNTING
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2019, 01:39:11 am »
That's a copacetic installation, Dan. If it's good enough for the playa, it's bound to be good enough for my far less strenuous use. I'll put in a loop for drips.



PH

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2294
Re: WIRING A HUB DYNAMO FOR EASY WHEEL REMOUNTING
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2019, 04:09:45 am »
I have a longer loop on my wires and they thread through the mudguard stays, if needed I can lift the wheel out of the dropouts enough to change a tube without disconnecting, which is what I'd do in the rain or dark.  I'm also a little anti zip ties, I have two on my fork (Colour coded of course  ::)) one above the brake boss and the other where the cable leaves the fork, between the two a few blobs of superglue keep the cable tight on the inner of the fork. 
I've just treated myself to an Edelux II light and as I was pushing the boat out anyway went the whole hog and got the version with the Coaxial Adapter, the only thing wrong with it is I now want something as simple on my other two dynamo lights...