High Power LED Headlight. Oooo So BRIGHT....

The lighting system in my cousin's bike was very dim. He requested me to build a full LED headlight. After a lot of research that I did about LEDs on the net, I finally came up with a master piece the "TRIDENT". The TRIDENT is the name that I have given my headlight because of the three High Power LEDs that is used. The one thing that I really like about this LED headlight is that it combines power and good looks. It gives the contemporary dot like LED look. The LED headlight gives me good range too.



With minimum modifications it can serve many purposes such as:

This can also be used in case of electrical failure or disruption of electricity in one's home. The Lights also find application as high power flashlights and torches. A 12v Battery can be used to supply the required voltage of electricity to light it up.

It can be used in bicycles and by adventure enthusiastic riders who ride their mountain bicycles at night. One can do so by simply connecting it to a dynamo or to a 12v Battery.

The LED Headlights can be mounted on a motorcycle or on a bicycle. The headlights can be mounted on the bicycle that you ride to school. It would be a head turner and would attract a lot of attention.

By building a pair of them, the LED Headlight can also be used in cars.

An adhesive, or glue, is a mixture in a liquid or semi-liquid state that adheres or bonds items together. Adhesives may come from either natural or synthetic sources. The types of materials that can be bonded are vast but they are especially useful for bonding thin materials. Adhesives are advantageous for joining thin or dissimilar materials, minimizing weight, and when a vibration dampening joint is needed. I have extensively used glue (adhesive) in this Instructable to bond the LEDs with the Circuit Board, as well as to make the protective box waterproof.

I would like to thank Dipankar, Captain Slug, phephq, Artificial Intelligence, bhvm and many other instructable members who introduced me to this concept and helped me in solving my doubts.

DISCLAIMER:
The High Power LEDs are very powerful and causes sort of a flash blind. Do not stare into the LEDs. LED headlights are not DOT approved, so use it at your own risk.

For making this headlight you need the following parts :

Supplies :
1. 135pcs of white 5mm LEDs( 10000mcd or higher )
2. 15cms x 10cms PCB
3. 3pcs of 1watt high power LEDs
4. Aluminium heatsink
5. Thermal compound
6. 45pcs of Resistors(1/2 watt 120ohms resistors)

7. Capacitor( 100ufd / 50v)
8. 4pcs of Diode IN4007
9. Connectors
10.Glue
11. Silicon Sealent


Tools :
1. Hacksaw
2. Drill
3. Soldering iron
4. Solder
5. Soldering wax.

Place the 5mm LEDs on the PCB and glue them to the board. I used fevicol since it is cheap, and it dries to become transparent. Remember to leave some area in the centre of the circuit board to mount the heatsink and the high power LEDs. Once you have glued the LEDs on the circuit board, then you should have something that looks like the second image given below.

Now gently bend the leads of the LEDs and using the schematic circuit diagram given below begin to solder......... Once you finish soldering, it should look something like the second image. You should only get two wires coming from the LED panel. One for the positive and another for the negative.

Afraid hearing the word 'TRIDENT'? Do not be afraid. Its only three high power LEDs. Solder the three high power LEDs in series as shown in the second image. Apply some thermal compound on the back of the LEDs and using the silicon sealent stick them on the heatsink.
I preferred using a round heatsink for the high power LEDs. Now you can place the lens over the emitters of the LEDs. you can also apply some silicon around the lens to make them completely WEATHER PROOF.

Once you have finished constructing the 'TRIDENT', its time to mount it on the LED panel. Note that there is a wooden piece below the heatsink. This wooden piece gives the high power LEDs an upwards angle which acts as the upper beam of light. For mounting it on the panel I used nails and glue that fixes the heatsink rigidly to the LED panel. After you have finished mounting, you are done with most of the work.

Now you need to construct a box inorder to protect your circuit. I constructed a water proof box using sunmica. I really loved the wooden finish on it which gives it a classy look. Finally you have to use the connectors just to make it presentable. And there you have it.... you have your very own full LED headlight !!!!!

The bike generates AC electricity. But your LED headlight requires DC. So to solve this problem a rectifier is used. It converts AC to DC current. Solder the four diodes and the capacitor as given in the circuit. And the rectifier is ready.

The headlight is very bright and it illuminates a lot of the road. In the last two images they do not appear too bright but actually they are very bright. Here are a few pictures of the headlight. For driving the high power LEDs you can use an LED driver, but I am using Artificial Intelligence's Super simple high power LED driver. If you have any difficulties in constructing it, please feel free to ask me.


GREAT!!!!! NOW GO AHEAD AND CONSTRUCT ONE YOURSELF!!!!! : )