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Thought this might make an interesting little workshop project.
I have a bit of a road/cycletrack commute out of the city for off-road night rides, and that's the only time really I encounter any other people/cars. I ride with a helmet light (Axis on low) and bar light (Maxx-D), and use a range of options: ride with just the helmet light, have the Maxx-D on but dip to to 450lm with the bar remote, or turn off the Maxx-D temporarily via the bar remote when I encounter someone.
I'd thought before about taping over the lens to cut off the beam, but figured the tape would just melt. Then I found these and wondered how I might modify it into a filter that cuts off the beam but doesn't ruin the light performance within the remaining beam area:
Perhaps you could saw off the attachment ring and discard the beacon part, glue some plastic over the opening, then glue a dark plastic on top that would define the beam shape?
I get it'd be far from perfect, an optical engineering is complex. But worth a try?
See if you can get some stick on fresnel prism to cover the lens. This would dip the lens a bit. I was going to try this once then realised I was too lazy.
After some quick experimentation it turns out more complicated than I thought. It has four LEDs, with the bottom one being a "fog" lens over it. You'd need to devise some pattern then duplicate it in front of each LED.
Those stick-on yellow things that you put on headlights before driving your UK car in France... Can you get those, but not yellow?🤷
I've tried those, they didn't deflect the beam enough. A suitable Fresnel lens would be a great product.
Just found this very informative thread from around 2015:
They key seems to not fire the LED forward, and instead bounce it off a reflector properly designed for the purpose.
So perhaps for a Maxx-D the only option might be to mount the entire light body pointing upwards or downwards, and construct such a reflector. At which point it's not something convenient to switch between on and off road modes.
Just but an STVZO light - it will produce the results you're after, much more satisfactorily, and save you a load of hassle.
The difference between dipped/clipped beams and a properly shaped one is quite remarkable.
I have a Busch & Muller Icon IQ, but there are cheaper options...
Just but an STVZO light – it will produce the results you’re after, much more satisfactorily, and save you a load of hassle.
This was more out of interest in hacking something together and learning how things work, than real need. My current approaches are fine for the duration I'd use it and frequency I come across others.
I don't think you will be able to do it with 4 light sources unless you made 4 mini hoods. Could you rotate it round by 45 degrees and put in 2 hoods, one stacked above the other? Might help as a starting point
This was more out of interest in hacking something together and learning how things work, than real need. My current approaches are fine for the duration I’d use it and frequency I come across others.
Yes, I get that - I enjoy the challenge of building my own version of things, just for the fun of it.
The point, in this case, is that the results are likely to be less than optimal.
Have fun doing it, though, and keep us updated on your results.
I opened this thinking 'this sounds like something I'd be interested in', then realised that the old thread above is one I started....
I cut a hole in a ping pong ball that fitted over my similar light and thus ended up with a wide diffuse light source that did not dazzle on the road.
The clever thing about STVZO (and automobile lights) is the way the light is distributed by the reflector. If you shine it against the garage wall it looks like a letterbox, but when projected down the road the brightest spot is at the top of the rectangle, and thanks to trigonometry that's the bit that's spread out furthest. So the net result is the light is evenly spread down the road.
You could perhaps achieve something similar by taping over the bottom half of a reflector lenses (the bottom of the reflector is the bit reflecting up). Depends if it's a refracting or reflecting lense though.
Every year Lidl do USB chagrable STVZO lights for £13 a set, I've got two sets now as they're my go-to lights for commuting if I'm not on the dynamo'd bikes.
Can you not just tilt the light down a bit when on the road? It’s what I do with my really bright unbranded light. Then tilt it up again for off road.
Have fun doing it, though, and keep us updated on your results.
This and the linked thread have convinced me the chance of success is so low as not to be worth trying!
You could perhaps achieve something similar by taping over the bottom half of a reflector lenses (the bottom of the reflector is the bit reflecting up). Depends if it’s a refracting or reflecting lense though.
On the Exposure Axis (one LED and reflector, to simplify), covering the bottom half cuts off the bottom of the beam - as I'd have expected before you said this.
Can you not just tilt the light down a bit when on the road?
I could, but as I said I already have an adequate solution.
Can you not just tilt the light down a bit when on the road?
It's not about beam angle, it's about beam shape.
The design of the Magicshine 12000 is a good illustration of what different lenses/reflectors do:
On the Exposure Axis (one LED and reflector, to simplify), covering the bottom half cuts off the bottom of the beam
I guess that if you were going to black out a section of the reflector itself, you'd do the bottom but once the light's out of that space you need to shield it from the top ?? 🤷♂️
Oh, and that's a pretty impressive-looking beam shape !