Red light changer

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GREEN-LI ... ccessories

Do these things actually work? Most traffic lights use a coil of wire and are able to detect a car because the coil's inductance changes, right? The only way I can think to do that is to simply have more metal. I don't think a magnet (what I think that is) would do it.

 

TRUE STORY MAN......GOT ONE ON MINE

NO MORE WAITIN AT LIGHTS ANYMORE.

 

Rare Earth Magnets - Glue to frame under bike or glue on the soles of your riding boots better yet take the long way home that does not have lights

cheaper

 

I'm getting one for christmas.
I asked for a rare earth magnet.
I was asked how many pounds of pull it should be, so I did some research.
Best I could find is you need somewhere between 15 and 35 lbs of pull.
I had just given dimensions in inches.
From those dimension she had bought a 250lb pull magnet.
I told her that was over kill and I would worry that it would effect other things on the bike.
So I will get a store bought one.

 

These rare earth magnets you refer to are actually Neodymium magnets. (Neodymium Iron Boron). They are the strongest magnets on earth. I own several. One I have is 1" square. It has a 78lb pull strength. I use it on my work bench to hold things. It is so strong that I cannot pull it off the metal surface of the bench. To remove it I must slide it to the edge and pivot it to remove it. I also use it to pull metal shavings from my magnetic screwdriver bit. I also have a cylinder shaped one measuring 1/2" diameter by 1/2" long. It has a 20lb pull strength. They are very strong indeed.

You may purchase them at K&J Magnets, Inc

http://www.kjmagnetics.com.

 

I just checked the EBAY ad out for the Green Light Changer listed by the original poster. I'm puzzled by the need for adhesive tape and a twist tie. If these are indeed rare earth (Neodymium) magnets, there should be no need other than the magnets magnetism to hold it to the bike. They are that strong.

 

RE: Rare earth magnets. I just priced a magnet at K&J Magnetics.com in the 30-35lb pull range. Cost is about $5 plus $5 for basic shipping. Using the cheaper basic shipping, I had mine in 2 days. pretty fast for ground shipping I thought.

Also, there are different grades of the magnets. Grade N42 is strong. Grade N52 is even stronger. Although N52 cost a little more.

 

where do you put this so it doesn't affect anything else.

 

I don't know; if the magnet is that strong are you gonna end up attracting any metal road debris you might pass near like a Wil-e-Coyote scheme gone wrong? I'd hate to arrive home after the long outbound commute and find a clump of metallic junk stuck to the bottom of my exhaust collector.

 

BigFitz52 has a point. You might collect metallic road debris. Of course you could recycle the debris as scrap metal for profit. LOL
The 1" square cube shaped magnet I spoke of in an earlier post is strong enough to grap an ink pen's metal at 8" away. How much ground clearance does a motorcycle have?

 

something that strong should be able to pick up a dollar bill. if you cant do that its not strong enough.

i dont have any issues with lights around here.......?

 

Oh how often the simple solution evades us. Just run the light. In fact, why even stop in the first place? You ride a bike for the freedom of the road? Well how much freedom do you really have if every time "the man" blinks a red light you immediately bring your bike to a screeching hault and wait patiently for him to turn green. So I said fight the man. Run red lights.

 

According to my manual, for the 550 Seca it's 5.9". I ride in and out of downtown Detroit. I can see it now: Ball point pen springs, an old spoon or two, half a dozen used needles, a pair of eyeglass frames, a couple hose clamps, various nuts, bolts... I think I'll pass. Isn't there a way to do this electronically, like some sort of circuit that charges up and "pulses" a coil to create a magnetic "burst" when you need it to trip a light but isn't magnetically vacuuming the road the rest of the time?

 

many states have passed a law allowing a biker to go through a red light as if it were a stop sign. just don't get stupid.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... laws_N.htm

 

Does the magnet have to be mounted on the very bottom of the bike or can you mount it higher so it doesnt vacuum the road ?

 

mine is mounted on the center stand the side facing the ground when I ride. mine hasn't picked up any debris off the road .

 

A couple of years ago I saw a schematic of a home-made flasher that would signal the traffic light to turn green. Here where I live, emergency vehicles use this technology to get all green lights on the way to the emergency. As the vehicle aproaches the intersection, the little strobe fires a burst of flashes at the right frequency to trigger the small sensor that hangs by the traffic light. Of course local law enforcement would frown on non-emergency vehicles having this ability. It would most likely be hard to hide it's use from others on the road. Then you wouldn't even need to stop at the intersection.

 

ya, i think that if you stuck the magnet under your front fender it would work good, although it couldnt be very thick

 

This is illegal in NY for sure.

 

I doubt it wound be effective that far from the sensors.

In NC a bike can turn left on a red after waiting 3 minutes. The one left I have issues with is a blind corner so this is a bit risky to say the least.

 

Same here flash...... never picked up anything on mine an im pretty
damn low....

I wouldnt worry bout any spent needles fitz.....LMAO.

 

Here's some more info on the devices & abuses.

http://www.drivers.com/article/651/

http://www.komonews.com/news/5682166.html

"Concerns

Las Vegas-area officials are concerned that the switching devices being marketed over the Internet could be used by the public, creating traffic problems for a community already balanced on the edge of gridlock. There's also the possibility that the traffic-light changers that have been distributed to authorized personnel are being used for simple convenience in addition to being used to speed emergency response.

Rohleder estimates daily use of the switching system in the Las Vegas urban area at 1,200 to 2,200 incidents per day. "The first thing the region needs to do is to gauge the existing level of abuse," he says. Officials from FAST, North Las Vegas and the Regional Transportation Commission are working on the problem now.

Local agencies are upgrading the existing traffic-light preemption system along Las Vegas Boulevard from downtown Las Vegas to Nellis Air Force Base to allow the system to restrict access to the official Opticom changers."

I don't like the devices - they cause more trouble for everyone, but not for much longer. Beginning soon at an intersection near you emergency vehicle MIRTs and their receivers will be coded. This means illegal MIRTs, without the electronic codes, will be useless. So what was the $300 - $500 spent for?

 

Im in total agreement on the electronic changers....
leave that to the emergency rigs.

The magnets just make us bikers appear as cars, equalizers
if you will, as we are not big enough to trip the sensors.

They just acknowledge us, not change the light.

 

bigfritz,
Great idea. The hard part would be creating the same field strength as a neodenium magnet without using huge amounts of current. I don't think you could use a pulse, the traffic light wants the 'mass' to be present for a period of time before it'll trigger (I think).

 

Just to clarify; I wasn't advocating the use of light CHANGERS to force a change in the lights' normal operation. I was wondering if the "making ourselves appear larger" effect could be accomplished with other than a strong permanent magnet.

 

the light changers are just a pulsing infra red light that is at an exact frequency. my friend made a bunch for all his vehicles. they work, but only on lights that have the sensor. these are illegal for non-emergency vehicle use.

the magnets are not illegal at all. they do not force a light change, they simply trip the sensors to request a light change, for lights that are equipped that way.

 

To get the signal light pickup loop to see your mass, you need to parallel the loop coil. This means stopping to the side of it, directly over the loop with the center of your bike tangential to the loop's circumference. If you stop in the center of the loop, it will not see any mass as your rims are aluminum and the frame (the farrous part of the bike) is too far from the loop to be sensed.
A crude illustration |O . Just park your can (hiney, tush, rump, etc...) over the loop's edge and you should be fine. Of course, even here there are loops that are not sensitive enough to see us and a magnet is a very good idea. Secure it under your frame rail with some nylon ties (this assumes that your magnet is a bar) and you should be good to go.
Best of luck to you in your efforts. And I would steer clear of the light sensor strobe, it's just an ethical no-no and the local bears won't like you very much if they catch you at it.