Greetings fellow ESK8 apes… I was bored last weekend and added an LED strip to the back of my TSG pass. After posting a picture on this forum a few days ago, I got a few requests to share the deets. I apologize for not taking progress pics along the way. Hopefully this write up is self explanatory. If not, I can always take additional pictures or do the modification a second time.
Bill of Materials:
450mah 3s Lipo - $6.84
Waterproof LEDs - $5.15
XT30 Connector - $1.40
3mm Wire Mesh Guard - $0.79
24AWG Silicone Wire - $0.76
Steps:
- Trim down the LED strip to the desired length, since it’s supplied in a 1 meter length. Make sure to only cut where the scissor icon is located on the LED strip. I chose to only use 12 LEDs.
- Solder on the 24AWG wire to the positive and negative wire leads on the LED strip. I added about 12" of length to mine. Feel free to mock-up the wire length in your helmet before making the final determination.
- Install the black mesh over the 24AWG wires.
- Install shrink tube over the LED +/- contact points.
- Solder on the XT30 connector. It would probably be easier to buy a bag of loose XT30s, rather than use one that I linked.
- Shrink tube over the XT30 +/- contact points.
- Trim the mesh on the side of the helmet using snips. I cut a slot only big enough for the XT30 to slide through.
- Remove backing from the LED strip and apply heavy pressure to the helmet during application.
- Remove pads as necessary to route the wire.
- Install the battery using 3M dual lock tape.
- Charge up the lipo and enjoy your bad ass helmet.
Here are some pictures of the outside:
I chose to mount the LED strip below the ridgeline on the helmet, due to the angle that the helmet sits at while wearing it:
Here is how I routed the wire through the inside (hidden wire behind the padding illustrated in red):
Battery mounting location and XT30 connection point:
Lit up!
A few disclaimers:
- I didn’t use the exact lipo that is linked above, since I happen to have some spare ones lying around. The dimensions of the one I linked is close enough that it should fit in the helmet.
- I’m estimating the battery life to last about 3-4 hours, based on the mah capacity and the number of LEDs that I used. Be careful about selecting a larger capacity lipo, is it may not fit in the space in your helmet as well.
- You will need to have a lipo charger with balance capability to use this battery. Lipo chargers are pretty cheap. Let me know if you need any recommendations.
Enjoy!
Joshua