Thinking of a craft project

KCScooterDude · Post by **KCScooterDude** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:50 pm

I see these videos on You Tube where people (mostly French or Italian males, I think) trick out their scoots with LED underlighting.

It occured to me there might be a way to do this and bypass the Buddy/Blur electrical system altogether.

Basically I'm thinking about attaching a solar photocell to the top of the topcase, running it through some type of rechargable battery in the topcase, then running it to LEDs under the scoot. Obviously, it would have to charge during the day, store the charge and then discarge at night. I'd have to rig in a switch. I'm sure good old Radio Shack has all the parts.

I wonder if anyone has tried something like this? Is it even possible?

robtaylor · Post by **robtaylor** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:04 pm

when we bought a used buddy the guy that had it before us put some of those neon lights underneath the scoot. i disconnected them but the lights are still mounted there. you can get some at many auto parts stores. of course to run them on solar you'll need the solar panel another battery and some sort of small inverter a set up like that might fill your whole pet carrier.

7eregrine · Post by **7eregrine** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:11 pm

They sell little 'stick on' LED's at PoC that are battery operated.

Pro: No wiring needed
Con: you have to turn each one off individually

EP_scoot · Post by **EP_scoot** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:18 pm

Also check marine supply stores speciallizing in sailing. Long distance sailors have been using solar powered contraptions for eons.
www.westmarine.com comes to mind. And all their stuff is designed for the most rugged weather.

Piedmont · Post by **Piedmont** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:45 pm

I've posted it here before, but depending on how cheap you want to be this site has some cheap solar christmas lights.
http://www.dealextreme.com

alienmeatsack · Post by **alienmeatsack** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:05 pm

You will also want to check with your local officials regarding legality of the lighting, and what colors, if any are legal.

Here, any undercar lighting is frowned upon, and any lighting that is similar in color to law enforcement or emergency vehicles is illegal.

fft

KCScooterDude · Post by **KCScooterDude** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:15 pm

alienmeatsack wrote:You will also want to check with your local officials regarding legality of the lighting, and what colors, if any are legal.

Here, any undercar lighting is frowned upon, and any lighting that is similar in color to law enforcement or emergency vehicles is illegal.

fft

Breakin' the law, breakin' the law!

In Kansas just about anything is legal, (except teaching evolution) including riding sans lid and, once you get a car into the state and the trooper checks the VIN number, you might as well do anything you want to it because it's never going to get looked at again.

I was thinking more along the lines of just sitting there looking pretty for pictures.

alienmeatsack · Post by **alienmeatsack** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:17 pm

Cool.

Just thought I'd mention it. I know when neon was all the rage for tuners here, the cops had a field day bustin chops on the kids cars.

If yours is going to be for show and fun, you can do what you like and have some fun with it. Maybe use lighting underneath with gels so it projects Buddy logos on the ground too?

7eregrine · Post by **7eregrine** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:19 pm

KCScooterDude wrote:
In Kansas just about anything is legal, (except teaching evolution)

Hate to bump a thread just to LOL it, but I nearly shot coffee out my nose at that.

LOL!

NathanielSalzman · Post by **NathanielSalzman** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 1:37 pm

robonz23 wrote:when we bought a used buddy the guy that had it before us put some of those neon lights underneath the scoot. i disconnected them but the lights are still mounted there. you can get some at many auto parts stores. of course to run them on solar you'll need the solar panel another battery and some sort of small inverter a set up like that might fill your whole pet carrier.

You won't need an inverter as you're not going to need to switch from A/C to D/C power. The solar cell will produce D/C current, store it in a battery, and the LEDs will run on it directly. You might need a transformer depending on the current needed to actually charge the battery, however. There are lots of LED flash lights that run on hand cranks as well. You might repurpose one of those as a power source. Just mount the crank inside the top case or pet carrier, give it a couple dozen turns and you'll be glowing for quite a while.

KCScooterDude · Post by **KCScooterDude** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:42 pm

NathanielSalzman wrote:
robonz23 wrote:when we bought a used buddy the guy that had it before us put some of those neon lights underneath the scoot. i disconnected them but the lights are still mounted there. you can get some at many auto parts stores. of course to run them on solar you'll need the solar panel another battery and some sort of small inverter a set up like that might fill your whole pet carrier.
You won't need an inverter as you're not going to need to switch from A/C to D/C power. The solar cell will produce D/C current, store it in a battery, and the LEDs will run on it directly. You might need a transformer depending on the current needed to actually charge the battery, however. There are lots of LED flash lights that run on hand cranks as well. You might repurpose one of those as a power source. Just mount the crank inside the top case or pet carrier, give it a couple dozen turns and you'll be glowing for quite a while.

Thanks. I think I have one of these old Russian surplus crank flashlights around here somewhere. I like the idea of using solar though.

brape · Post by **brape** » Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:02 pm

Just take apart some of those solar garden lights