What are you guys using for the bulb housing?
I built one at home out of a pvc union but i've seen some pics lately of dive lights constructed from maglite flashlight bodies and they are pretty sharp.
For the pvc users are you mounting a bracket for helmet mounts or just velcroing the whole thing down?

http://www.airspeedpress.com/MagliteInstant.GIF

here is mine made out of pvc neoprene. i just ziptied it to an old pump mount for the bars. still havent figured a good way for the helmet yet.

the maglite looks slick. if you are gonna cannibalize one why not just use the bottom half of the light and make a cap for it instead of using the pvc?

here is a nice Housing (http://trailheadlights.com/details.html#diy) for $33:.

Malibu DIY yard light with hood trimmed off $8.97, Sylvania MR-16 12v 20w flood bulb $5.98 all from Lowes, and a big thick velcro strap bolted to the bottom of the housing (laying around). Powered by an NP1 style 13.2v 5000mah battery and charger $68 from eBay. This battery has more than enough kick for 2+ hours but needs to be carried in a Camelback.

Malibu DIY yard light with hood trimmed off $8.97, Sylvania MR-16 12v 20w flood bulb $5.98 all from Lowes, and a big thick velcro strap bolted to the bottom of the housing (laying around). Powered by an NP1 style 13.2v 5000mah battery and charger $68 from eBay. This battery has more than enough kick for 2+ hours but needs to be carried in a Camelback.Damm only 2 hours? i am building your exact light but was hoping for burn times closer to 3 hours with a 4500 mah battery. How does the brightness compare to commercial lights?

I have never let them run out, but they are still going strong at 2:10. They seem every bit as good as any non-HID system.

after a quick calculation kustomz setup should give him 2:25 run time before brownout.

I have never let them run out, but they are still going strong at 2:10. They seem every bit as good as any non-HID system.

Kustomz, hey I played around a little with one of those malibu lights.
They seemed really heavy to have as a helmet mount.
How does it feel up there?
Also, how did you mount the velcro, under the swivel?

Kustomz, hey I played around a little with one of those malibu lights.
They seemed really heavy to have as a helmet mount.
How does it feel up there?
Also, how did you mount the velcro, under the swivel?
There is no noticeable weight factor that I can tell. I did not use the swivel, just the light can only. I simply punched a hole in the velcro strap and secured it to the can with a bolt and nut.

Yeah, the housing makes or breaks DIY systems. As mentioned, amy go for PVC setups, and they can look pretty good. There are heaps of links further down the page here with may great DIY housing ideas.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=852

Cheers, Dave.

Low Rider, my DIY HID should be ready for production pretty soon.
What did that led system end up costing you?
I'm getting a HID 10w bulb and ballast for a good price.
The housing is going to be a $10 maglite D cell model.
I'm hoping to get in under $150 total.

Just finished up my rough draft DIY 2.0.
MR16 20w spot $3 (loews)
Mag Light D Cell Head and end cap $9 (loews)
Wire, thumbscrews, aluminum stock for base, solder, solder iron, small bolts, connectors $15.00 (loews, frys)
Total of $28.00
Now the battery should be done by next week but thats another story.........
http://209.163.187.180/images/diylight1.jpg
http://209.163.187.180/images/diylight2.jpg
http://209.163.187.180/images/diylight3.jpg

Its a little heavy but looks a ton better than the pvc setups i've seen.

Good stuff!! Looks very neat indeed!! :D

You'll have riding buddies putting in orders in no time :D

Cheers, Dave.

Damm you Bronze, that puts my Garden/bike light DiY to shame. Off to Lowes i go. Did you have to mod the Maglite very much to get this to work?