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What's the best way to add a battery like device to a dynamo light (self.askelectronics)

submitted 3 months ago by coke38 to c/[email protected]

15 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hello everyone, I bought a bottle dynamo for my bicycle with a rear and front light. Though I have one little tweak that I would like to add and that's a way to keep it light up for about 1 minute (at least 30 sec) without pedaling. I thought of putting a capacitor in the circuit to store some energy but I would like what do you all think of it ?

Thank you for your time and have a nice day you all !

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

If I'm understanding it correctly this generator has like wires out that then connect to the lights or something right?

If that's the case you'll need to see what kind of voltage it's putting out to those wires and then you would want to splice those wires into diodes to prevent the current from leaking backwards out of the capacitors. Then attach as many capacitors as you need for the voltage that it is providing, remembering that it is okay to have higher voltage ratings but not lower voltage ratings.

Chances are this will cause the light to be less bright as the capacitors are charging, so for the first few moments when you are riding it probably will be less bright but after the capacitors reach a steady charge you should see the light take a much longer time to dim down.

[–] coke38 2 points 3 months ago

Indeed, 2 pair of 2 wires so 4 wires can be connected to the dynamo.

I will try that, I need to find some proper diode then find the capacitor or buy it and I should be good. I'll keep you in touch if I manage to find the parts. Thank you