Cycling UK Forum

I wish to connect the lights listed below, but I need to buy some connectors, I am a bit stuck as to what to buy.

What connectors/sizes do I need for the following lights?

Basta Pilot front light (for dynamo hub) front light for dynamo
https://ebike.hu/products/accessories/l ... or-dynamo/



BASTA AXA RAY STEADY LED BIKE CARRIER DYNAMO REAR LIGHT/STAND LIGHT FUNCTION

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392146158882 ... i0QAvD_BwE

Get the lights first and then you can see what connectors you may need. Many dynamos and lights use bare wire connectors meaning you strip a length of insulation off your connecting wire and insert into a clamped connector in the light. Ie no terminal connectors required.

rjb wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 7:14pm Get the lights first and then you can see what connectors you may need. Many dynamos and lights use bare wire connectors meaning you strip a length of insulation off your connecting wire and insert into a clamped connector in the light. Ie no terminal connectors required.

I do need connectors, so that is why I am asking.

Please can you add some photos of where the wires will connect.

Thanks

Jonathan

If you can see past all the nagging adverts, I think these may be the instructions for these two lights - similar looking lights with same model names (Pilot and Ray) but a different brand:

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/ ... titoe-road

The wiring instructions are in sections 8 to 10. It looks as if for the front light, you strip the end of the wire and poke it through the connector and fold it back on itself and hold it in place with a plastic cover. B+M lights have a similar arrangement. I've used a short length of narrow heat shrink instead when I have lost the cover. For the rear light, again it looks as if you just need to strip the end of the wire, and in this case there are spring clips on the lights so there are no additional connectors needed.

Stranded copper figure of 8 wire with one of the wires striped makes things easier.

Screen grabs of the relevant sections below because the pesky ads are SO annoying!

The Axa Pico and Riff use 2.8mm spade connectors (2A red, male on the lights) so I'd be surprised if those didn't.

The rear one at least is bare wire - you push the sprung metal tabs in until the holes in the plastic and metal line up, poke the wire in and release. The front one may come with a plastic bit that you poke the wires through and fold over then push onto the metal tabs which may also be compatible with spade connectors (can't remember the size, maybe 3mm? Could check tomorrow) - some of the axa ones we use are like this.

I'll have a look and see if we have either of these lying around in our box of spares at the workshop tomorrow.

Why do you want to use such a dim front lamp? I can find several variants with this description either LED or halogen and 10 lux (min StVZO) or 15 lux. You don't need to spend much more to get 40 lux, which in my experience is the minimum you need to see anything if you ever cycle in the wet and/or against oncoming car lights (always).

backnotes wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 8:08pm If you can see past all the nagging adverts, I think these may be the instructions for these two lights - similar looking lights with same model names (Pilot and Ray) but a different brand:

https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/ ... titoe-road

...

I do not see any ads at all with Ad And Stuff Blocker on my Mac.

plancashire wrote: ↑30 Aug 2023, 8:52pm I'll have a look and see if we have either of these lying around in our box of spares at the workshop tomorrow.

Why do you want to use such a dim front lamp? I can find several variants with this description either LED or halogen and 10 lux (min StVZO) or 15 lux. You don't need to spend much more to get 40 lux, which in my experience is the minimum you need to see anything if you ever cycle in the wet and/or against oncoming car lights (always).

The front light is on an existing bike set up, it belong to a customer.

Advise the customer to take it to a proper bike shop who can do those simple repairs.

rjb wrote: ↑31 Aug 2023, 8:11am Advise the customer to take it to a proper bike shop who can do those simple repairs.

HAHA

I am the mechanic trying to increase their knowledge base so I can do this simple repair.

rjb wrote: ↑31 Aug 2023, 8:11am Advise the customer to take it to a proper bike shop who can do those simple repairs.

I suspect half of bike shops won't have dynamo spade connectors and would try to replace the lights with battery ones.

backnotes wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 8:08pm If you can see past all the nagging adverts, I think these may be the instructions for these two lights - similar looking lights with same model names (Pilot and Ray) but a different brand:
https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/ ... titoe-road

The wiring instructions are in sections 8 to 10. It looks as if for the front light, you strip the end of the wire and poke it through the connector and fold it back on itself and hold it in place with a plastic cover. B+M lights have a similar arrangement. I've used a short length of narrow heat shrink instead when I have lost the cover. For the rear light, again it looks as if you just need to strip the end of the wire, and in this case there are spring clips on the lights so there are no additional connectors needed.

Stranded copper figure of 8 wire with one of the wires striped makes things easier.
...

I have been to the workshop and found both front and rear lights. I can confirm the above and elaborate.

The front we have is new, 15W LED, so I can see that you also have some twin wire, two small black plastic tubes and no instructions. The light has two flat strips with holes near the end. You hold the stripped ends of the wire on by pushing these through the hole, then sliding on the tube.

The rear has no extra loose parts to lose. It has two flat strips, much bigger than the front ones, which are housed in the plastic casing and spring-loaded. If you press, a hole in the strip lines up with a hole in the casing through which you poke the stripped end of the wire, then release the strip, which springs back and grips the wire.

Reading the packaging, I realised that these lights are also used in France. Based on this and some searching in French I found the company web site. AXA is actually Dutch, which explains the bodge connectors: Dutch bikes are a nightmare (worked on one today). The front light is likely this: https://www.axasecurity.com/bike-securi ... -15-switch . They seem not to make the rear light you have now. I can find no instructions here either, including for the dynamos! I stumbled on the FAQs and found this gem:

How to connect my lighting on my bicycle?
The explanation on how to connect your lighting can be found in the manual.

There is no manual with the new light I saw today. Presumably the Dutch are born knowing how to fix their bikes.

plancashire wrote: ↑31 Aug 2023, 4:31pm

backnotes wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 8:08pm [...]
The wiring instructions are in sections 8 to 10. It looks as if for the front light, you strip the end of the wire and poke it through the connector and fold it back on itself and hold it in place with a plastic cover. [...]

I have been to the workshop and found both front and rear lights. I can confirm the above and elaborate.

The front we have is new, 15W LED, so I can see that you also have some twin wire, two small black plastic tubes and no instructions. The light has two flat strips with holes near the end. You hold the stripped ends of the wire on by pushing these through the hole, then sliding on the tube.[...]

I'm reasonably confident that either the above descriptions are wrong or I'm misunderstanding them.

The little black plastic plugs supplied in the headlight are Axa's poor-man's tool-free spade connectors, which I've had before but forgotten because they go slack or crack after a few years of sunny summers and cold winters, so I've replaced them with crimped-on metal spades.

Instead of using a tool for Axa's connectors, you put the stripped wire through the round side (not the hole in the flat metal strip aka male spade connector) and fold it back over the dipped edge of the rectangular end, then slide the rectangular end over the male connector to hold it in place. It's similar to Shimano "lego brick" dynamo connectors, but for one wire at a time.