New dyno hub for my Moulton.

[Mick F]

speedsixdave

Absolutely excellent photos, and they have given me much food for thought.

[speedsixdave]

the traditional approach is to route the wire up one of the mudguard stays.

That makes sense now I look at it.

BTW it may seem tempting to put inline connectors everywhere, and indeed it can make various jobs a lot easier. But it also introduces plenty of points at which you may later get an intermittent contact. If I use crimp connectors on a bike that is to be used in the winter, I proof the crimps with loads of waxoyl; if road salt enters the crimp it is usually a disaster.

That is a fair point Brucey. I think the ones near the rear suspension might be vulnerable. The ones near the kingpin joint and those by the S&S couplings on the tandem are reasonably far from the urk and have been OK so far. But I might try some heatshrink around the crimps.

Are there better options than those inline crimp connectors? Having at least one pair of some sort of connector is pretty essential on a separable bike. The TSR2, like its predecessor the Moulton Stowaway, is very carefully designed to have no cables running front to back so the split is easy. And I have spoilt that by messing about with dynamo wires!

[speedsixdave]

speedsixdave

Absolutely excellent photos, and they have given me much food for thought.

Thanks Mick. Moultons and dynamo lighting are two of my pathetic passions so very glad to help! Good luck with it,

Dave

[Mick F]

"Nothing is simple with a Moulton"
This should be a mantra?

Not had so much fun with a bike for many a long year.

[Brucey]

...Are there better options than those inline crimp connectors? ...

it is a bit like screw fasteners; there are gazillions of different ones that have marginal advantages for some applications. Some connectors that are used for engine management systems are waterproof but they are also relatively bulky and expensive. The main appeal of simple crimp fasteners is their ubiquity; they are readily available and will be easy enough to replace (or fiddle with) should they give any trouble.

If you use coaxial cable there are special gold-plated plugs that are meant to be a cut above but I think the cable and the connectors that go with it are probably somewhat fussy, bearing in mind that you could use an earth return and a single wire if you wanted to make the (demountable) connections simpler/more reliable.

BTW heat shrink comes in various flavours, including some that has a coating on the inside that melts and makes a better seal to the wire/connector. Heat shrink without this (or something else to deter water ingress like waxoyl) may act as a crevice for water to sit in. However heat shrink does also provide some measure of strain relief which is useful.

cheers

[Mick F]

I think I'm making up my mind about the rear light and connectivity.
I can buy a B+M toplight from SJS and also include four female and two male 2.8mm spade connectors.
That's two females at either end and two more plus the two males to make a disconnection at the frame split.

I have some thin and light two-core cable available.

If I order the connectors, it saves me going into town and hoping Mr Maplin will have it all. They do spade connectors of course, but I can't see any on their website that are 2.8mm that the lights need.

[rfryer]

For connectors, I've gone with a Tamiya mini connector positioned by the frame connector. They're cheap, effective and the right size (smaller than they look on eBay ads).

The main drawback from an aesthetic point of view is the colour (against my black frame), but at least it makes them easy to remember when separating the frame.

[Mick F]

For connectors, I've gone with a Tamiya mini connector positioned by the frame connector. They're cheap, effective and the right size (smaller than they look on eBay ads).

The main drawback from an aesthetic point of view is the colour (against my black frame), but at least it makes them easy to remember when separating the frame.

These?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-x-Pair-RC-M ... SwwvZZXMJ8

[rfryer]

Them's the ones!

[Mick F]

Thanks!
I'm not doing much today, so by the end of the day, I'll have made my mind up about what I'm doing.

Ebay sounds the best place for connectors, so instead of ordering a light from SJS plus the connectors, I could get the light cheaper from Bike24 and get all the connectors from Ebay.

[rfryer]

One further thought on connectors. My initial thought was to get something that was well sealed, and therefore expensive and complex to assemble.

But then I looked at the rest of the system, with loose fitting, unsealed spade connectors attaching the wiring to the lights, and realised that I'd have to work hard for my connectors to be the weak link!

[Mick F]

All ordered.
Bike24 for a B+M Toplight and eBay for connectors.

[Brucey]

several different B&M rear lights have projecting connections for crimp terminals but also have a connection in the back for use with bare wires. If so, you don't need connectors per se.

This is a toplight line plus



and the tags are not needed; you just poke bared wires in the two little holes and swing the little lever; job done.

cheers

[Mick F]

B+M TopLight arrived yesterday, and I've just wired it up like Speedsixdave has done. I decided to mount the front light on the brake bridge even tough it's a bit low because it looks neater and the wiring is much simpler like that.

I've used 2.8mm spade connectors at the front and rear and a Tamiya connector at the frame split. It fits nicely inside the RH cable guide loop. It may not be very weatherproof, but we'll cross that bridge when and if the issue arrives.

With the bike upside down, and spinning the front wheel, both lights work, so all I need now is a ride in the dark.

As explained on another thread, the front Spanninga light is defective as far as the ON/OFF switch is concerned, and they're sending me another one as a replacement. Meanwhile, the old one will be fine for now but I can't switch it off.

After a dark ride or two, I should be able to see my way forward with all this.
Pardon the pun!

[deliquium]

Just a thought Mick - if you find the Spanninga light not bright enough and require more illumination, or you'd just like to compare it to possibly the top dog? I have an Edelux2 (90 LUX) dyno headlamp which I'm still scratching my head/faffing as where to mount on my TSR

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/lighting/36 ... -polished/

Would be happy to post it down to you to try/compare - as long as you don't cut the wires and will post it back It's got a bracket suitable for the brake bridge.

PM your address if interested