Shimano Alfine Dyno hub

[Grldtnr]

I have a salvaged Shimano Alfine Dyno hub, I wish to fit.
Any advice on how to wire it, previously it was on a Khalkhoff e- bike, which had the notorious failed own brand motor , the Dyno was fitted because of German regulations required it, actually it was a very good system , with a standlight.
I ' like to rdtofit it to my old Thorn as a winter hack bike, but the rear light harness has been cut.
Is it just a simple case of splicing the harness back onto the Frame.
The Khalkhoff had internal wiring, I am not doing that with the Thorn, too much hassle, the lights are both LED ,I believe, at least the front was,I couldn't see the back one for obvious reasons
It does need to be reliable tho.

[Brucey]

so are you saying that you have lights you want to use,and you just need help with the wiring? or do you need help with something else eg the wheel build?

[Grldtnr]

Oh ,Brucey wise one of the wise .
No , the wheel is already built,, I just need to wire up the lamps and ground the wire to the frame, unless it's done via the axle, seems to be a spade type connector with the wire running inside the fork, it also went into the frame, then through the rear rack to the rear lamp, as I said the harness has been cut to the rear rack, so I am guessing I will need to splice into the harness.
I am unsure on how to wire it up,I used to run an old bottle type Dyno years ago, which of course was very draggy but reliable, the Shimano Alfine Dyno is a step up from the old school Union bottle type, it maybe it is a case of plug & play, but I just don't know about LED lamps.
Being LED Lamps ,do I need to have the correct wattage bulbs to stop it overloading., a problem I used to have with the Sanyo units we all used to run in the '80's

[jb]

If you are using the original lamp it should be self contained with voltage regulator and wotnot. Just make sure you use the same lead to the rear lamp if it's earthed to the frame otherwise a short will result. - In other words you don't want the non earth of the front lamp connecting with the earth of the rear lamp.

[Grldtnr]

Are you saying ,i need a single wire in a circle circuit,from one polarity, through the front lamp ,through the rear lamp back to the dyno

[rjb]

We need to know what lights you are using. Iirc the Shimano hub is earthed on one connection meaning if you have a conducting frame (no carbon forks etc) you may get away with a single wire providing you also earth you lights to the frame correctly as indicated on your lights. In this case a single wire to the front light looped then to the rear may be sufficient using the non earthed connection on the dynohub. A multimeter helps you fault find if it doesn't work.

[Cyclothesist]

Oh ,Brucey wise one of the wise .
No , the wheel is already built,, I just need to wire up the lamps and ground the wire to the frame, unless it's done via the axle, seems to be a spade type connector with the wire running inside the fork, it also went into the frame, then through the rear rack to the rear lamp, as I said the harness has been cut to the rear rack, so I am guessing I will need to splice into the harness.
I am unsure on how to wire it up,I used to run an old bottle type Dyno years ago, which of course was very draggy but reliable, the Shimano Alfine Dyno is a step up from the old school Union bottle type, it maybe it is a case of plug & play, but I just don't know about LED lamps.
Being LED Lamps ,do I need to have the correct wattage bulbs to stop it overloading., a problem I used to have with the Sanyo units we all used to run in the '80's

The Alfine dynohub is a single phase alternator producing A.C. at the 2 prongs of the E2 connector. As already stated by another poster l.e.d. dynamo lights contain circuitry to rectify and regulate that a.c. to the d.c. current required by the leds. You just need to run wire from the 2 prongs to each light. I wouldn't recommend using the bike frame as one of the conductors. You can get neat coaxial cable that will do a very tidy job.

[Grldtnr]

I believe that's what the old wiring harness is, its 2 core wire, one with a white stripe, the other just black.
Line old school speaker cable, except no connectors. Apart from the Dyno.

[jb]

Just because twin or co axial cable is used does not mean the lamps are not earthed to the frame, it depends on the bracket fixing method. Many a non working set of lights have been remedied by simply swapping the connections of the rear lamp around.

[edocaster]

This is the DH-S501 Alfine hub? It should work pretty much the same as the other Shimano 'sport' dynamo hubs (T660/665/670, DH-3N72, etc). They all use the 'lego brick' connector for two wires.

While you can use the frame for one of the connections, I don't see why you should.

In any case, you need to connect the dynamo to the front light's two AC inputs. The rear light will connect to the front light via another pair of connectors.

[Brucey]

nearly all LED front lights contain circuitry that holds the voltage down, making it safe to run a tail light. As others have already pointed out, the usual arrangement is to connect the rear light to the front, switching both lights on/off using the switch in the front light. This is normally more reliable, because it is highly unlikely to leave an unprotected rear light still connected to the generator. I would also suggest running twin wires throughout rather than rely on an 'earth return' type circuit as was commonly used with bottle dynamos. However a common and sometimes perplexing fault is seen in systems which use lamps [or a generator] with a built-in ground connection. This fault arises when the wiring is not correct, and the generator is effectively shorted to ground by the offending item. Shimano have not really helped themselves here inasmuch as they have made sure that all their new designs [in stark contrast to all their old designs] have no ground connection and are only suitable for twin wires.
In fact, so convinced are they that their new 'no ground connection' way is the right way are they that they have committed [in some people's eyes] a mortal sin; they have made and sold parts to either design with the same number on them.
Now it certainly makes no difference if you use twin wires with the polarities all correct, and I think the alfine generators only ever existed in the 'old' form i.e. with a ground connection. But I can't be sure. The good news is that we can easily tell by looking, so photos of your alfine hub would be useful.

[mattsccm]

I use the same thing. A length of speaker wire from the tab on the hub to the light. A B&M in my case. Doesn't seem to care which way round things are connected.
Get the "lego " block and as long as you have a bit of twin wire coming out of the lamp you can do it in less time than it took me to type this

[plancashire]

Check the instructions for the LED lights too. I have a Supernova E3 and their rear. The front supplies the power to the rear and also contains the standlight capacitor for both. The rear is tiny (but very bright) and probably has no electronics. Supernova repaired my front under guarantee (just) when it stopped providing power to the rear. B+M may have independent standlights - at least some rears do that I have disassembled.

Standard dynamo cable is black figure of 8 (looked at end-on) with a white stripe down one side. Co-ax looks neater but costs more and is fiddlier to connect. Never use the frame as a conductor - it is too unreliable. But see the warnings about earthed parts and short-circuits. If anything is earthed, connect black (no stripe) to that pole. Use some kind of stress-reliever at frame exists, such as a rubber grommet or heatshrink. Slide it on before making connections! You can also run the 8 cable through stiffer outer sleeves where cables are exposed for neatness, e.g. into the front lamp. A substitute is narrow black spiral wrapping as used for cable bundles.

[Brucey]

OK I have just been looking a pictures of hubs and I am now reasonably convinced both types exist, i.e. with and without a ground connection. They will of course look very similar to the untrained eye and they will both bear the DH-S501 model designation.