nitelight's - how do they rate

R

rangie

Likes Dirt
yes, you generally get what you pay for. often a couple of high powpered torches give better performance due to the batteries being enclosed. however, beam patterns are not great.

a good indication at a 24hr race for example is to see how many failures a lot of these lights have when the going gets tough...by these i mean at the cheaper end of the scale...unfortunately its just the way things are.

:-(
 
B

BrindiCruiser

Likes Dirt
battery died

After a few rainy nights on my commute, it looks like my battery has died. I bought mine from DX at the start of winter. So looks like a new battery will need to be acquired.

I will put that in my bag in rainy weather in future.

One other point, I really dislike the battery mounting system for this light. Just not easy to use, especially when I take it from bike to bike.

BTW- can you buy a charger with an australian plug for a reasonable price?
 
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S

spiderpig

Likes Dirt
Are you guys with the failing batteries sealing them up first with silicone to stop moisture getting in? Or is the failure related to something else?
 
Big Chuck

Big Chuck

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spiderpig said:
Are you guys with the failing batteries sealing them up first with silicone to stop moisture getting in? Or is the failure related to something else?
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One battery failed due to water ingress. A light shower while riding. The plastic heatshink cover cracked between two of the batteries. The other two batteries have just died. They were sealed with electrical tape and have not been exposed to any water. None had any more than 10 charges.
 
B

Beechie

Banned
Water proof batteries

On my fourth battery in eight months. Glad the Lbs swaps them over no questions. Yes it is possibly a water ingress issue BUT how do I guarantee that it won't rain? Reckon before I use the new battery I will glad wrap it, put it in a rubber bag and tape it. Of course consumer legislation requires that a product be suitable for it's purpose - clearly this criteria is not met. I'm still a happy user.
I have used the local Battery World to supply non genuine replacements for light packs in the past - they ended up costing one third of the genuine stuff and worked as well as.
 
Knopey

Knopey

Likes Dirt
My two batt's have had >20 charges each and still going fine. Only 2 or 3 rides in the driving rain though.

If I was needing to totally weatherproof them though, I'd take them out of the pouch, pop them inside a balloon, and cabletie the baloon closed over the lead. Should be nukeproof then you'd think?
 
D

diskoe75

Likes Bikes
Big Chuck said:
One battery failed due to water ingress. A light shower while riding. The plastic heatshink cover cracked between two of the batteries. The other two batteries have just died. They were sealed with electrical tape and have not been exposed to any water. None had any more than 10 charges.
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I'm hoping my batteries last longer than 10 charges!
I've had them out while on a night ride in pouring rain and they have come up fine. But, i did have them inside some small zip-lock plastic bags, to keep the moisture out. ;)
I think there is some plastic dip that you can get off the net, where you submerge the battery into the plastic, which hardens after a few minutes, and it seals up all the circuitry making it waterproof.
Don't think it's available here in Australia though. =/
 
B

bakers

Likes Bikes
Hi

Plastic dip is available in Australia www.plastidip.net.au/

Not cheap but might be cheap insurence.

I have had two batteries fail. one from being dropped (doh) and cracked one of the little gizmos on the pc card and one from a combination of poor soldering on the batteries and water ingresion.

ATM I have stripped the batteries,checked soldering and sprayed with an electronics varnish I had in the garage. Have wrapped the batteries in duct tape and it seams to be working ok on the training rides BUT: I will be stripping them down befor october and double checking everything.

BTW does anyone know if there is an issue with the batteries with regards to how much (if any) ventilation they require. Ie if they are sealed in 400km of duct tape will they overheat in use or while charging????

Regards

Bob
 
L

Lard

Likes Dirt
I've got 2 magicshines and they haven't failed yet. Has anyone tried just ripping out the PCB on the batteries after it dies? I think it's just there to prevent overcharging so in theory they will probably work perfectly well without it.
 
Big Chuck

Big Chuck

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Lard said:
I've got 2 magicshines and they haven't failed yet. Has anyone tried just ripping out the PCB on the batteries after it dies? I think it's just there to prevent overcharging so in theory they will probably work perfectly well without it.
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Was going to look at my spare dud battery on the weekend. Not sure I would charge/discharge the battery without the protection circuit though.
 
S

spiderpig

Likes Dirt
I think i sore on the deals extreme website that you can buy those circuit boards seperatley, might be the go if it dies and just replace that rather than whole battery.

Anyone know whereabouts on the deals extreme website they list the replacement battery packs? Wouldnt mind getting a couple of extras.
 
Chuckie

Chuckie

Likes Bikes and Dirt
so whats the verdict on those purchased from nitelights.com.au?

any issues and whats their warranty like?
 
Big Chuck

Big Chuck

Likes Dirt
Chuckie said:
so whats the verdict on those purchased from nitelights.com.au?

any issues and whats their warranty like?
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Mostly they are great. There are a few battery issues and I guess you get what you pay for. At A$100-$120 I would just buy a set. The RRP is A$220, for that money I would consider Ay-UPs or something similar.

Just checked my dud battery and it looks like the cells are not charging/discharging evenly. Two cells are at 2.4 volts and the other two are 4.2 volts. This appears to stop the charging of the flat cells, the charger must think they are both charged. I then managed to get a small charge into the flat cells and the battery pack is now working. Will need to top up the two flats cell and then test it.
 
J

johndh

Likes Dirt
I have had a range of different lights, and still do, and you can have problems with any of them, especially with the batteries. I have 2 nitelights and ayups (for a helmet light) and find them good, if I do a battery and the outside it will cost me $50 to replace it. Compare that to other lights.
 
spikenet

spikenet

Likes Dirt
The circuit board performs over-discharge protection. If lithium based batteries are discharged to much the crystalline structure changes inside that can (and usually does) cause a short circuit and a fire.

Try to revive over-discharged cells at your own peril!
 
Big Chuck

Big Chuck

Likes Dirt
spikenet said:
The circuit board performs over-discharge protection. If lithium based batteries are discharged to much the crystalline structure changes inside that can (and usually does) cause a short circuit and a fire.

Try to revive over-discharged cells at your own peril!
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Thanks, in my case the battery was not over discharged as the PCB in the battery and light prevents this from happening. It appears cells are matched in the factory but this is not perfect as in my case. More info here. http://www.analogzone.com/pwrt0207.pdf

Some good reading here about Lithium Ion batteries.
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-12.htm

All of my cells in the pack are now fully charged, time will tell if the process was a success. Note this battery pack was only a few charges old.
 
S

spiderpig

Likes Dirt
Big Chuck said:
Thanks, in my case the battery was not over discharged as the PCB in the battery and light prevents this from happening. It appears cells are matched in the factory but this is not perfect as in my case. More info here. http://www.analogzone.com/pwrt0207.pdf

Some good reading here about Lithium Ion batteries.
http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-12.htm

All of my cells in the pack are now fully charged, time will tell if the process was a success. Note this battery pack was only a few charges old.
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Chuck, how did you go with reviveing that battery, still working?

I bought 2 spare packs and both died on the first ride and wont charge now :(
 
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