BAJA DESIGNS **GROUP BUY** SQUADRON from RIDE ON ADV

[stevepsd]

I just started fooling around with mounting the Squadron lights and noticed that the mounts 'almost' line up with the upper mounting hole on the bike's built-in mount, so I decided to slightly modify the 'U' brackets to have them fit correctly. Only one side of each bracket has to be modified. Mounted the bracket to the bike with a 6mm counter-sunk screw (works great since the hole in the bracket is 8mm and the counter-sunk head centers the bracket with the mounting hole on the bike).

They are now up as far as possible and just about touching the bottom of the headlight housing. I will have to see how they beam pattern looks tonight (I have not wired them in yet, so I'll have to improvise!) to make sure that I can get enough vertical adjustment. If they need horizontal adjustment I'll have to work on that as there is no adjustment in the mounting brackets (as least as they come from Baja Designs - I can fix that!).

I also have almost 7.5" of clearance between the fender and the bottom of the lights.

Take a look.

-steve

 

[~TABASCO~]

Watch out for heat and touching the plastic. Don't want ya to melt the factory housing.

 

[stevepsd]

Watch out for heat and touching the plastic. Don't want ya to melt the factory housing.

Absolutely.

 

[Ridetherock]

my lights arrived today. all looks good.

 

[stevepsd]

I started to think about the heat buildup in these lights, especially being mounted within 1/4" of the headlight housing plastic, so what does a good engineer do? I go run a test.

I hooked up both lights to my spare Optima Jeep battery and let them run at 100% power for 30 minutes, taking temperature readings of the lights themselves (hottest part is the heatsink!) and the plastic headlight surround. This should be worst case, since there was no cooling airflow as in the case if you are riding.

Here are my results:

Ambient temp at start of test 80F, dead-calm.

Elapsed Time(min) Light Temp(F) Plastic Temp(F) Battery Voltage (under load)

0 80 80 12.5
5 129 112 12.5
10 153 122 12.5
15 158 136 12.5
20 158 136 14.2 (put on charger to see if increased voltage caused the temp to rise - it did not)
25 158 136 14.2
30 160 136 12.5

Ending ambient temp: 76F, dead-calm.

Turned lights off at 30 minutes and timed the cool-down.

Lights OFF Elapsed Time(min) Light Temp(F) Plastic Temp(F)
0 160 136
5 129 116
10 108 100


I see no evidence of any melting, discoloration, softening of the plastic. Nothing. So I think it is safe.

My wife came out to see why I was lighting up half the neighborhood (these things are BRIGHT) and just shook her head saying something like I need to get a life!

Ugh.

 

[houndman]

It would be interesting to see what the temps are like if you flowed air from some fan in front of lights what temps would be. Thanks for the experiment. Neat.

 

[~TABASCO~]

Good job ! Now we know

 

[stevepsd]

It would be interesting to see what the temps are like if you flowed air from some fan in front of lights what temps would be. Thanks for the experiment. Neat.

They would be less.....not sure exactly how much, but based on the size of the heat sink probably quite a bit.

 

[Tremor38]

I started to think about the heat buildup in these lights, especially being mounted within 1/4" of the headlight housing plastic, so what does a good engineer do? I go run a test.

I hooked up both lights to my spare Optima Jeep battery and let them run at 100% power for 30 minutes, taking temperature readings of the lights themselves (hottest part is the heatsink!) and the plastic headlight surround. This should be worst case, since there was no cooling airflow as in the case if you are riding.

Here are my results:

Ambient temp at start of test 80F, dead-calm.

Elapsed Time(min) Light Temp(F) Plastic Temp(F) Battery Voltage (under load)

0 80 80 12.5
5 129 112 12.5
10 153 122 12.5
15 158 136 12.5
20 158 136 14.2 (put on charger to see if increased voltage caused the temp to rise - it did not)
25 158 136 14.2
30 160 136 12.5

Ending ambient temp: 76F, dead-calm.

Turned lights off at 30 minutes and timed the cool-down.

Lights OFF Elapsed Time(min) Light Temp(F) Plastic Temp(F)
0 160 136
5 129 116
10 108 100


I see no evidence of any melting, discoloration, softening of the plastic. Nothing. So I think it is safe.

My wife came out to see why I was lighting up half the neighborhood (these things are BRIGHT) and just shook her head saying something like I need to get a life!

Ugh.

You are a rockstar! Thanks! What did you use to modify the brackets with..removed material with a Dremel maybe??

 

[stevepsd]

I used a bench grinder and a half round file to smooth things out.

 

[Tremor38]

Re: Re: BAJA DESIGNS **GROUP BUY** SQUADRON from RIDE ON ADV

I used a bench grinder and a half round file to smooth things out.

Thanks!
Sent from my F-05D using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ridetherock]

i had to change those temps to canadian lol. 136 is less than 60 degs C, so the plastic should be just fine.

what about up/down adjustability with them mounted like that? still lots for proper beam aim?

 

[stevepsd]

i had to change those temps to canadian lol. 136 is less than 60 degs C, so the plastic should be just fine.

what about up/down adjustability with them mounted like that? still lots for proper beam aim?

No issues with vertical adjustment as far as i can tell from my static tests (they are not wired into the bikes electrical system yet). The UP adjustment is limited by the plastic bodywork, but appears fine.

I do believe that these lights need to be adjusted a bit left & right (maybe 10 degrees) as the beam pattern (from my static tests) shows a overpowering center spot. Need to work on that since the is no provision for for side to side beam adjustment. Maybe as simple as a slight tweak of the bracket.

 

[merchant]

I do believe that these lights need to be adjusted a bit left & right (maybe 10 degrees) as the beam pattern (from my static tests) shows a overpowering center spot. Need to work on that since the is no provision for for side to side beam adjustment. Maybe as simple as a slight tweak of the bracket.

Think about placing shims behind the brackets on the sides closest to each other. One idea would be to remove the brackets, drill a small hole in the plastic and throw a screw in the hole. When you replace the brackets, the screw will push the lights off center. You can adjust how much off center by screwing in or letting out your shim screw. I'm pretty sure the mounting brackets for the lights are stiff enough for this to work. If nothing else, its a cheap experiment.

 

[stevepsd]

merchant,

Since it appears that you have your lights mounted how is the beam pattern? Is it 'to bright' in the middle and/or could stand some improvement in the side lobes?

 

[merchant]

Steve, mine are mounted using a bracket fabbed out of aluminum. I posted some pics earlier in this thread (page 10).

On the plus side, I can adjust up/down and side to side without issue. On the negative side, I only have 6 inches of clearance between the lights and the fender.

 

[stevepsd]

Steve, mine are mounted using a bracket fabbed out of aluminum. I posted some pics earlier in this thread (page 10).

On the plus side, I can adjust up/down and side to side without issue. On the negative side, I only have 6 inches of clearance between the lights and the fender.

Yep, I saw how your lights were mounted. Easy to adjust but hanging a bit low.

My original question was how is the light beam pattern? Have you adjusted your lights a bit to the side or are they pointed straight ahead? My static tests show a overpowering center spot with the lights pointed straight ahead - so bright I think anything that stays there for long would burst into flames!

 

[merchant]

I agree and have angled mine to each point a bit to the outside (left light pointing left, right light pointing right). Even at ~60% power, I get much wider coverage than with stock headlight alone. Plus, it has to make me more visible to others (maybe more important).

 

[johnpitts01]

Looks like mounting the lights with the flathead screw will work.

Will change to that when I get back home later in the month.

Thanks

 

[stevepsd]

For those that are using the dimmer...did you find another place to mount it other than where the tool kit resides?