Wireless Motorcycle Helmet Brake Turn Signal - EL WIRE

[spawn-ian]

Hi all,

I am thinking to merge the below ebay item:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251603700366? ... EBIDX%3AIT

With some EL wire that will be sewn into the back of a leather jacket, so when I am braking the whole of my jacket glows red and my arms flash orange when indicating.

I am technically minded and do understand very basic electronics, but I wondered if anyone has already done something like this and would mind sharing the circuit diagram ??

I am going to buy the Ebay item anyway, as this will resolve the need to design the wireless part but I am not 100% sure how to convert the DC part of the receiver into AC which is required to work EL wire.

Hope this all makes sense..

[pebe]

The site that you link to states they are out of stock, so no description is given. Looking at a similar item from another site shows it is fed from 2 x AAA batteries. To connect EL wire from there requires a voltage step-up converter. You would need two of these – one for each LH and RH turn.

This site sells EL wire and a suitable 3V converter:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1M-2M-3M-5M-F ... 462da7abcd

Hope that helps

[spawn-ian]

Cheers.. they will have stock in about 2 weeks, so will buy one and open up and see whats inside.

The transmitter part runs from the 12v feed from the bike, and had 4 cables:

Green = positive feed on right turn.
Red = positive brake feed.
Yellow = positive feed on left turn.
Black = Ground feed.

The receiving unit is only 3v DC, so not 100% sure these will produce bright enough on EL wire being 3v.

I guess buying the below, 3v battery case will do for the inverter part and just wiring the receiving unit to act as the on/off for the battery pack.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1M-2M-3M-5M-F ... Tube-Wire-
Rope-Kit-3V-12V-/301413673933?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&var=&hash=item462da7abcd

I guess I have the understanding of the theory, just have to get the parts and see if I can get my head around the electronics.

[pebe]

The receiving unit is only 3v DC, so not 100% sure these will produce bright enough on EL wire being 3v.

I guess buying the below, 3v battery case will do for the inverter part and just wiring the receiving unit to act as the on/off for the battery pack.

The EL wire requires about 100VDC to light it up (google "el wire wiki" for an explanation).
This voltage is obtained by 'lifting' the 3V to 100VDC with the inverter sold with the EL wire in the link I gave you. Assuming the existing LED drivers can cope with the extra current drain, you will need one inverter in parallel with the the left LEDs and one in parallel with the right LEDs. Power will come from them instead of from the 3V battery that is part of the inverter unit. As L or R indicator is lit it will supply power to either of the two inverters and light up EL wire for that side.

Alternatively, you could ignore altering the headset and do a hard-wired connection instead, like this. When you wire up the transmitter, you could also make available the 0V, L and R indicator wires that you need to pick up, and wire them to an extra socket. You could then plug into that a cable feeding two 12V inverters fitted in your jacket. It means connecting the plug every time you got on your bike, but it may be easier to make up.

[spawn-ian]

Many thanks, all makes sense..

I did think about a hardwired approach, but previous experience tells me wireless is a better route all bit it more complex.

Ideally I would have the electronic know how to build one from scratch, and I know I could given time, but having a young family time to learn new skills is not always available.

The aim if this works is to make it a sellable product, and one that is cheap enough and easy enough to install, and more importantly one that will save a bikers life.

I will keep you all posted with as much detail as I can, and maybe someone could reverse design the unit I will buy.

Cheers for your help.

[pebe]

Yes, please keep us all posted. You have set me thinking.

[spawn-ian]

As most of the work is done by the bike electronics all I need is a 3 channel transmitter:

Left indicator
Right indicator
Brake light

And a receiver + power pack + inverter to drive the El wire.

I did find a few on aliexpress, but just lack the time realy to put it all together.

[spawn-ian]

Was thinking to use 3 of the below items:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/RF-wirel ... 70215.html

One for each channel required, not really sure if they would conflict.

Then a 12v DC - AC inverter

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini-12V ... 28376.html

Then use the below Lithium-ion Battery Pack to power the EL wire:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000mAh- ... 35853.html

Happy for input as to if the above components would work together ?

[spawn-ian]

maybe the below would be a better combined tx/rx unit, as it looks like its got 4 input feeds.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/433MHz-Arduin ... 3f1f4ddf4b

[spawn-ian]

If my understanding is correct the TX diagram below:



GND = Negative/ground
VCC = Not sure this is needed ??
10 = Left indicator
11 = Right Indicator
12 = Brake
13 = SPARE

The unit works on 12v, so will work off the 12v bike battery.

RX unit

5 v unit, so not 100% sure how to power this..



10 = Left indicator
11 = Right Indicator
12 = Brake

and the EL Inverter would then sit between pin 10/11/12 with the EL wire.

Sorry for the ever changing thread, just trying to get an understand and throwing as many ideas with my limited understand to see what will actually work.

[pebe]

Four individual Tx/Rx combinations would never have worked because the transmitters would have interfered with each other. Your idea of using a single 4way link is much better.

I cannot understand the 'learning' stage although I read the blurb over and over again. The Chinese never seem to describe things adequately. The data sheet for the PT2262 encoder it uses is equally vague. The answer is to buy one and try it out.

The description says both Tx and Rx must be fed from ripple-free power supplies, so the TX is best fed form the 12V bike supply via a 7809 or 7805 regulator. The Rx must have between 4.5v and 5.5V. You cannot get that from a battery so again a 7805 regulator should be used. It requires a minimum of 7V input, so you could use a couple of rechargeable lithium cells in series. They would provide all the power you would need for the LEDs and EL wire. You need the three transistor drivers to power them. The Stop LEDs would be just those in the helmet, but the two Turn indicators transistors would each have to power the helmet LEDs and one of the EL inverters.

A point to consider. Do the L and R indicator electrical points you will pick up on the bike wiring give a constant voltage when the indicator is selected? If so, you may need to add a flasher.

[spawn-ian]

Hi, need to check the voltage on the bike but 99% certain it will be on/off as the indicators are just LEDs and not much else, the flasher unit is built into the bike.

Not planning to keep the led for the brake light, the idea is to have El wire for indicator and brake light on the jacket.

Does this alter your recommendation ?

And thanks again for all your input

[pebe]

No problem with that, but if you use EL wire as brake light then you will need 3 inverters.

[spawn-ian]

Thanks pebe, just need to price up each solution and see what's the cheapest.. I suspect the £6.99 led unit from eBay + inverter and wire will be, and if so I will open the units up and get some photos as it might be a good way to revers engineer what they have already done.

Going to be several weeks before I have time, so sorry before hand if its a long time before I reply.

[spawn-ian]

Hi, just thinking if I use a 7805 to reduce the 7.4v to 5 I would need a 5v EL inverter, is my understanding correct ?