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Lights and Batteries
I need a little advice on batteries for my mtbing lights...
I have a lamp that runs of a 7.4 v Lithium ion ( MagicShine) battery that failed and was quickly replaced under warranty, but it has failed again, and has now been recalled. I have been told there is a 12month waiting list for replacement...and from reading blogs on the 'replacement' batteries they do not sound much better than the original batteries. I am not prepared to spend good money after bad on any more batteries from this brand and was wondering what my options are? Surely other batteries of the same voltage can be wired in to power the lamp??? The lamp is bright and never fails, it is the battery that is the issue!
I have another set of lights that run off a 7.4 v Lithium polymer battery ( Ay Ups) and I am wondering if anyone had tried to wire the Ay up battery to the Magic Shine/NightLight lamp???
Is there any theoretical reason it could not be done? Both batteries have the same voltage...
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Yes you can use any other battery with those lights. I'm using one on my Magicshine now. Check out ebay for LiPos - you'll find a suitable replacement for about $20. Add another $5 - $10 for a charger and it's a cheap replacement.
The hardest part will be matching the connector. You could cut the connector off your failed battery and put on the new battery, or you could replace the connector on the light with a "T" style connector that is common on many batteries and RC applications and you'll be able to easily utilise a few spare fully charged batteries.
I bought a replacement battery for my magicshine light on ebay, delivered for about $70. Works a treat and is assembled in the ACT using Panasonic cells. Lasts a lot longer than the original and the connection seems to snap together much better as well. I had a lot of trouble with the light cutting out and had to fiddle with the cable connection to get it to work again mid ride. There is also a smaller battery for about $50 delivered.
Delivery was super quick taking 2 days and came with a free tail light!!! I was going to post a recommendation earlier about this shop but i wanted to test the performance first. Cannot rate them highly enough.
Thanx for above comments... and as I just discovered from a quick visit to the local hobby shop, there is an array of battery choices, and yep, the only tricky bit is wiring the plugs ...
I got a 3300 milliamp 7.4v battery for $40- apparently it should run for approx 8hrs on high.... and is still relitively light weight... YAY, just have to cut the plug off the dead magic shine battery and wire it to the new one! SORTED!!!
If you have bought lipo make sure you use a proper lipo balancing charger with them, DO NOT use the charger from the magic shine batteries or it is quite likely the lipo pack will catch fire!
if youre buying that battery - rather than cutting and modifying the original connectors, why not make a link/convertion cable? that way, you can use the battery on you magicshine lights but can still use the correct charger for the battery?
Thanx for the advice... used a bit of common sense and enquired about appropriate chargers when I bought the new battery, have correct balancing charger!
Rockz - thats exactly what I am actually doing- making a connecting cable with a magic shine connecter at one end, and the appropriate connecter for the battery on the other... but had I have cut n wired a MS connecter directly to the new battery i would still be able to charge it with the special balance charger as the charger come with many adaptors...and is programable to charge almost any battery around, including lead acid...
I did a good bit of home work on what to buy...
That's interesting. Ive had the same problems but have got around it from the other side so to speak. The standard battery has a balancing PCB fitted but this has two big faults.
1. It isn't moisture proof so once water, or worse still sweat "Yeuch" gets into it the PCB is stuffed.
2. The cells are wired in series then paired, the charger pcb cannot see each cell individually so if there's an in balance between the paralleled cells it cannot charge the individual cells correctly.
When mine got damp and failed I bought a few 7.4v monitor pcbs off of e - bay. http://www.amazon.com/Li-ion-18650-18500-battery...
They are cheap but in my opinion your option is better long term as I suspect that the batteries I have are also pretty rubbish. At the moment I am experimenting with using a pcb for each series pair of cells.
The only plus point with mine is that it's cheaper as it doesn't require upgrading the whole power supply system.
BTW. I've also got a couple of 7.4 LiPo packs and a smart charger for important riding. Do you waterproof yours?
I waterproof my batteries by putting a bead of clear silicon on my 2nd Generation Magicshine batteries which are rubberised. There's only one entry point for water with these batteries, on the opposite side of where the cable comes out. It's highly water resistant as it is but a bit of silicon along the rubber cover works treats.
Any First(cheapo) generation plastic shrinkwrapped batteries are not water resistant let alone waterproof. Easily indentified by blue or black shiny plastic wrap over the 18560 cells. I'd stay away from those.
The new Magicshine MJ-828 is waterproof in alloy casing with LCD display. I find it little too big for a 4.4Ah cell. Next battery purchase I will go for is the Samsung celled Magicshine 5.6Ah Li-ion which comes standard with the MJ-868. This will give me longer ride time and a quality battery in a rubberised casing. I sent an e-mail to these guys I found on Facebook, Magicshine LED Bike & Scuba Lights(fantastic page with pics and videos of light beam shots). Told me they will be getting more of the Samsung cells selling for $62.00 because they proved popular over standard Magicshines. Stocks in Melb and free next day delivery!
For several years I have been using those Lithium batteries that they use in model aeroplanes. You can get them on eBay from Hong Kong. They have connections that allow you to charge each cell separately, which brings me to my second point.
You should be spending more on the charger than you do on the batteries. The key to good reliable batteries is a good charger. Buy the best one you can get, (not the best you can afford).
Thirdly, there usually isn't a problem with moisture getting into batteries, the problem is getting the moisture OUT. It's better to make sure that all your electronics is clean and dry before you pack them away. Corrosion on terminals and wires generally occurs slowly. If you have dirt, moisture and a voltage you get electrolytic action,(corrosion). Take away the dirt and moisture and everything will be ok.
If you need to clean electronics that has dropped into mud or sea water, such as a mobile phone, use pure water, remove the battery and dry it out. Pure water does not conduct electricity. If you're lucky it will survive. I once put a new mobile phone through a cycle in a washing machine and it survived. (Accidentally of course.)
Just wondering if anyone has tried their non ayup batteries on their ayups. For example has any one run ayups from magicshine batteries.
As a 6600mah battery on fleabay can be purchased fro about $60.
I know the ayup ones have internal protection.