How to Make Power Pucks for LED Wheels
Materials required
Copper clad board (basically a circuit board. I bought mine from an electronic surplus store)
Carbon brushes (Bought mine from a hobby shop that deals a lot with RC cars. They come in different shapes and sizes. Get the round ones)
Pen spring
22 AWG wire
Battery
Heat shrink tubing
Wire strippers/crimper
LEDs
Gorilla glue or superglue
Soldering iron
Solder wire
Solder flux paste (optional. Dip the end of the wire in the paste, heat the wire and the solder will flow on the wire easier)
Clamps or vise grips
Drill bits
Hole saws (I used a 2 1/2”, 1 ¼” and 1 ½” for the Busa. Didn`t have a 2 1/4")
Dremel or drill press with sanding roll (I used a drill press since I don’t own a dremel)
If you want to do multi-colour LEDs it is more involved and you will have to buy the controller. The controller has to be mounted inside of the wheel.
1. Remove rear wheel from bike
2. On the brake rotor side remove the axle spacer and pry off the dust seal
3. Now we’re going to make the power puck. Take your 2 ½” hole saw and cut 5 pieces from the copper clad board. Then use the 1 ½” hole saw to cut out the center.
4. Peel the copper from all the discs except for one. Leave a little bit on one of the disc so you have something to solder to later on.
5. Now glue the five pieces together, clamp it and let it dry for at least an hour.While the power puck is drying we will make the contact ring which will go on the wheel.
6. Cut another circle from the copper clad board and drill out the centre. Start sanding the outside of the ring until it fits in the wheel.
7. Once it feels snug, take your axle spacer and place it on the wheel to see how much to sand off of the inside of the contact ring. It should not be touching the axle spacer.
8. Once done, file all the copper on the whole outer edge of the contact ring on an angle as well as the inner part. You don’t want any copper touching the wheel or spacer.
9. Take a piece of 22 AWG wire and solder it as close to the outer edge of the contact ring as possible. This will be your power wire for the LEDs.
10. Drill a hole through the wheel just above the bearing. This is so you will be able to pass your wire through to connect to your LEDs.
11. Take your LEDs and mount them on your wheels however way you want them and run the wires through the wheels exiting all in one location.
12. Drill another hole in your wheel for your ground connection. Connect all the negative wires of the LEDs together and crimp it to a connector then use a self-tapping screw to ground it.
13. Take all the power (+) wires and connect it to the power wire of the contact ring.
14. Take your battery and connect the (-) to the ground connection of the wheel and the (+) to the contact ring. If done correctly the wheel should light up. If not, double check your connections and make sure the contact ring is not ground out on the wheel.
15. Take your power puck and sand the inside of the puck first. Make sure it fits snug on the axle spacer.
16. Once done, sand the outside of the puck until it fits inside of the wheel. It should be able to spin freely with the axle spacer.
17. Now to mount the carbon brush. Drill a small hole first all the way through the puck where the copper portion is. Then, on the opposite side of the copper, drill a larger hole for the carbon brush to fit in but do not drill all the way through! You need a backing for the spring to sit on!
18. The pen spring is used to keep constant pressure of the carbon brush on the contact spring. I had to shave down nearly half of the carbon brush I had bought. You don`t want it sticking out too far out either when it`s pushed in. You will have to determine on your own how much of the pen spring should be cut.
19. Solder the tail of the carbon brush to the copper on the backside of the power puck. Do not solder it with the carbon brush compressed in the hole.
20. Solder another wire to the same copper spot of the carbon brush. This will be your power wire that will connect to the (+) side of your battery
21. Glue the power puck to the axle spacer. Make sure the copper on the power puck is not touching the spacer or it will ground out.
22. Mount your wheel back on the bike and connect the positive side to the battery. If everything was done correctly the wheel should light up!
23. The same thing is done on the front except it is mounted on the left side of the wheel and you do not glue the power puck to the axle sleeve. You drill 3 holes on the side of the power pucks and use set screws to hold it in place.
24. The contact ring and power puck are smaller on the front wheel. Use the 1 ¼” hole saw for the center.
25. Now go attract some attention!
Unfortunately, I don`t have any pics at the moment of my setup. I will update it again in the future when I take photos.
Materials required
Copper clad board (basically a circuit board. I bought mine from an electronic surplus store)
Carbon brushes (Bought mine from a hobby shop that deals a lot with RC cars. They come in different shapes and sizes. Get the round ones)
Pen spring
22 AWG wire
Battery
Heat shrink tubing
Wire strippers/crimper
LEDs
Gorilla glue or superglue
Soldering iron
Solder wire
Solder flux paste (optional. Dip the end of the wire in the paste, heat the wire and the solder will flow on the wire easier)
Clamps or vise grips
Drill bits
Hole saws (I used a 2 1/2”, 1 ¼” and 1 ½” for the Busa. Didn`t have a 2 1/4")
Dremel or drill press with sanding roll (I used a drill press since I don’t own a dremel)
If you want to do multi-colour LEDs it is more involved and you will have to buy the controller. The controller has to be mounted inside of the wheel.
1. Remove rear wheel from bike
2. On the brake rotor side remove the axle spacer and pry off the dust seal
3. Now we’re going to make the power puck. Take your 2 ½” hole saw and cut 5 pieces from the copper clad board. Then use the 1 ½” hole saw to cut out the center.
4. Peel the copper from all the discs except for one. Leave a little bit on one of the disc so you have something to solder to later on.
5. Now glue the five pieces together, clamp it and let it dry for at least an hour.While the power puck is drying we will make the contact ring which will go on the wheel.
6. Cut another circle from the copper clad board and drill out the centre. Start sanding the outside of the ring until it fits in the wheel.
7. Once it feels snug, take your axle spacer and place it on the wheel to see how much to sand off of the inside of the contact ring. It should not be touching the axle spacer.
8. Once done, file all the copper on the whole outer edge of the contact ring on an angle as well as the inner part. You don’t want any copper touching the wheel or spacer.
9. Take a piece of 22 AWG wire and solder it as close to the outer edge of the contact ring as possible. This will be your power wire for the LEDs.
10. Drill a hole through the wheel just above the bearing. This is so you will be able to pass your wire through to connect to your LEDs.
11. Take your LEDs and mount them on your wheels however way you want them and run the wires through the wheels exiting all in one location.
12. Drill another hole in your wheel for your ground connection. Connect all the negative wires of the LEDs together and crimp it to a connector then use a self-tapping screw to ground it.
13. Take all the power (+) wires and connect it to the power wire of the contact ring.
14. Take your battery and connect the (-) to the ground connection of the wheel and the (+) to the contact ring. If done correctly the wheel should light up. If not, double check your connections and make sure the contact ring is not ground out on the wheel.
15. Take your power puck and sand the inside of the puck first. Make sure it fits snug on the axle spacer.
16. Once done, sand the outside of the puck until it fits inside of the wheel. It should be able to spin freely with the axle spacer.
17. Now to mount the carbon brush. Drill a small hole first all the way through the puck where the copper portion is. Then, on the opposite side of the copper, drill a larger hole for the carbon brush to fit in but do not drill all the way through! You need a backing for the spring to sit on!
18. The pen spring is used to keep constant pressure of the carbon brush on the contact spring. I had to shave down nearly half of the carbon brush I had bought. You don`t want it sticking out too far out either when it`s pushed in. You will have to determine on your own how much of the pen spring should be cut.
19. Solder the tail of the carbon brush to the copper on the backside of the power puck. Do not solder it with the carbon brush compressed in the hole.
20. Solder another wire to the same copper spot of the carbon brush. This will be your power wire that will connect to the (+) side of your battery
21. Glue the power puck to the axle spacer. Make sure the copper on the power puck is not touching the spacer or it will ground out.
22. Mount your wheel back on the bike and connect the positive side to the battery. If everything was done correctly the wheel should light up!
23. The same thing is done on the front except it is mounted on the left side of the wheel and you do not glue the power puck to the axle sleeve. You drill 3 holes on the side of the power pucks and use set screws to hold it in place.
24. The contact ring and power puck are smaller on the front wheel. Use the 1 ¼” hole saw for the center.
25. Now go attract some attention!
Unfortunately, I don`t have any pics at the moment of my setup. I will update it again in the future when I take photos.
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