Bottle dynamo, worth persevering?

[klunkrider]

I have just given my 1961 Flying Scot a bit of a revamp and one thing I've added this time is a bottle dynamo.

I did a brazed on mount on the fork and everything but, its really disappointingly bad!

Admittedly today's shakedown ride was wet, snowy and pretty much all at sub zero temps but what good's a dynamo if it doesn't work in these conditions right?

The dynamo is a Lucifer Baby 800, chosen for it's name rather than it's performance. At the start of the ride it was running alright but when I got the first bit of descent it started slipping. At that point I was able to push it into the tyre by hand and it ran alright...for a while. Before long I was noticing that even pressing it into the tyre wasn't working and I was worried about wearing the tyre away so gave up on it.

As far as I can tell the dynamo is at the important 90deg to the tyre but I'm not sure if I have it set too far from the tyre when pulled out maybe?

Wondering if it's worth perservering with this or should I just run battery lights?!

 

[klunkrider]

Some more photos of its positioning.

 

[novocaine]

we used to put a piece of road innertube around the input wheel. in this cold, the tyre is going to be hard and it will be difficult for the knurl to bite in to the side wall.

 

[Woz]

Ride in daylight and you will be fine.

Falling that, for urban lit street duties you will be fine too.

Country unlit roads. Errr...errrr....regardless of weather it will try to output with a good grip something not sufficient unless you change bulbs to LED.

There is a still future in these bottle dynamos, but the initial design and system sadly was not that sufficient.

 

[klunkrider]

I have (had) it paired to an led headlight so output seems pretty good.

Might try some innertube around the wheel. I'd heard of a kind of wire brush wheel attachment for greater grip but also that they were pretty abrasive to the tyre.

 

[pigman]

My experience from a long time ago with a subitez bottle dynamo.
Used regularly, say commuting, it worked well and was reliable. But when it hung on the bike to be used occasionally or in emergency, it was temperamental. It didn't earth well, bulbs blew. The advent of LEDs made me scrap it.
Surprisingly, when mounted on the fork, old school style, it cast a decent beam of light using standard bulbs

 

[novocaine]

I do wonder if theirs a usage case were by you fit a buck converter and charger and use the dynamo in day light to top up a battery for LED lights. I suspect you'd still be charging them normal style as well but it could be an interesting little project.

 

[Woz]

I have (had) it paired to an led headlight so output seems pretty good.

Might try some innertube around the wheel. I'd heard of a kind of wire brush wheel attachment for greater grip but also that they were pretty abrasive to the tyre.

The problem, per se, is not the dynamo, but the tyre. Back in yonder, tyres had side walls to help.

The Michelin World Tour - a kind of reference since we were breast fed in aged product continuity with a side profile aimed to help the bottle dynamo. I have sold several vintage bottle dynamos, and I'm pretty sure it's the low distant urban environmental crowd that see the the appeal of them these days in more of a city type bike.

 

[klunkrider]

Yeah I have noticed dynamo tracks on tyres and was aware these do not have them.

My thinking with the bottle dynamo rather than a hub one was that when it’s disengaged it’s giving zero resistance. It was also much cheaper than a hub dynamo! I’ll probably just use rechargeable lights until I can pick up a cheap hub dynamo.

 

[Woz]

The old Sanyo was a big hit BITD. A more complicated wiring.



But to to be honest, for practically, all these systems are now obsolete if you really need to light your way.