carpetman1

How do the Niterider cordless units work? I'm guessing you still have a battery pack but it is not wired to the light???? If that is true, I can see the advantage. What are the disadvantages?If it works like I described, how close does the battery unit have to be to the light?

PaulRivers

I believe the "cordless" Niterider lights simply mean that the battery is built into the light, like how an iPhone has a battery but it's built into the phone. Like an iPhone you hook it up to a charger to charge the battery, you can't take it out.

carpetman1

Thanks Paul Rivers. After I posted the questions, I found a telephone number for Niterider and called them. You are correct, it is one unit. He said only disadvantage he knew of was it was very slightly heavier, but being one piece made a very good flashlight.

PhatBoyG

I have the MiNewt 350 and so far it's an amazing light. Very bright, three-levels of brightness, and charges up via USB. I would recommend it.

no1mad 

Cygolights models are both lighter and have the ability to change out the battery cell if needed. It's a proprietary design (so you're not just popping in AA's from the c-store), but having this ability allows you to extend the time riding at night. However, I think that they recharge in the light body itself, so if you swapped batteries on the road, you'd be swapping them at home to charge them.

Vicelord

I have the 250 and 600 MiNewts.

I have been moderately happy with each one, but with a few caveats.

The 250 had to be sent in for warranty after 6 months. The LED was burning out, and they repaired it free of charge. The 600 shows low battery after about two hours on low setting. I've never completely run it out, but it's advertised to run 4:30 on low, and I can't imagine it would show low battery at 50% charge... who knows though.

For positives, they are both simple to use, very convenient, and mount well onto the front of my road bikes, or my mtb helmet.

Finally, to answer your question, there is no separate battery pack. It's all one proprietary unit, which is nice for convenience, but bad if something goes wrong.

Big R

You also will have a somewhat shorter battery life/lumen in the all in one design. A separate battery pack should have a greater capacity for juice.

Hangtownmatt

Are you saying that the Niterider battery pack cannot be replaced?

Vicelord

They do not sell a replacement battery for it, and you would void your warranty if you opened the unit.

That said, I find it is just as bright as the Cygolight which I owned previously, and not having to mess with wires makes it totally worth it.

Hangtownmatt

hhhmmm. That's too bad. So it's a throw away unit once the battery gives up the ghost? I checked with the local Batteries Plus store before I bought and they said they cannot rebuild Li-ion battery packs. Too explosive. So I figured I'd just have to buy a factory replacement. Oh well ,,, I guess I should never assume anything.

Vicelord

You can take it back to an authorized dealer, have it sent out to NR, and get it back with a new battery pack. It's not expensive IIRC about $40

Hangtownmatt

That's good. Thanks!

carpetman1

My Niterider minewt 350 either had a charger problem or battery problem. Called them and they said send it in. Very promptly I had, free of charge a working unit. Don't know if replaced or repaired--but great customer service. I also had their cherry bomb tailight and I broke the mounting bracket. Called them and they said we'll put a free replacement in the mail to you. I am very pleased with the lights--I find the 350 to give all the light I need. With their great customer service--you wont go wrong buying Niterider (I'm not a rep--just a pleased customer)

Looigi

Recently got Cygolite Expilion 700 here. As mentioned by others, very nice light, battery is an easily removable cartridge so you can carry a spare to double the burn time. Batteries are proprietary and only available from Cygolite. Some lights, like the Lezyne Super Drive XL, take easily replaceable and readily available 18650 Li-Ion batteries.

You can get a decent idea of the light intensity and distribution of the various lights here: https://www.modernbike.com/light-comp...singleshotplus

jsilvia

I have the nightrider 350 all in one light, it is approx. 2 years old. I know the battery life is 2 to 3 years, My question is after the battery dies can I get new batteries for it, Can it be opened and the batteries replaced? Ive. heard Interstate Battery Co. does this. Has anyone had this done? Does Nightrider Co. refurnish them?

Burton

I kinda like NiteRider both because they make some nice stuff and because they have a nice customer service attitude.

This has been copied directly from the FAQ section of their website:


"Our commitment to you is to provide repair service and have available replacement parts for your NiteRider lighting system for as long as you ride it and that can be forever."

"Most parts of our light systems are repairable and rarely does one need to purchase a new lamp. Please contact NiteRider Customer Support at 1-800-466-8366, ext 4, to arrange service."

Haven't seen anything like that posted on any eBay or DX site yet!

JerrySTL

At the risk of dredging up an old topic, changing the battery on a NiteRider MiNewt is easy and cheap. And since MiNewts have been out of production for a while, warentee isn't an issue.The battery for the MiNewt 150 and 600 is easily replaceable. Looks like a AA battery on steroids. It's a 18650B 3400mAh 4.9A Protected Button Top Battery. Seems that there are different versions of the 18650 battery: plain, button top (like on an AA battery), and a protected button top battery which has a built-in fuse. Each battery is a different length so you need to get the correct one which is the protected button top. The original batteryon the 150 was only 2900mAh so I should get longer battery life than from the factory. Two batteries only cost $14 total including shipping.

Removing the 3 screws is easy if you have a long 2 mm Allen wrench. I have one for adjusting Shimano mechanical disk brake pads. It's a very easy job. One thing to remember is to fully charge the light before using it. The lithium batteries are shipped nearly fully discharged. I believe that the Lumina lights also have a replaceable battery as does the Fenix.

shmily_dana

I've had a MiNewt 600 for over 10 years. I don't have any battery issues. But one of our dogs bite the rubber charge port cover off. I want to replace the cover, but I have not found any parts for sale. Do you have any ideas? I thought about cutting the one for my MiNewt 250, so I have one for which ever light I take out.

JerrySTL

Duct tape when it's raining. Or you might be able to form something out of RTV or another rubber product.
Otherwise I wouldn't worry about it too much. I frequently don't bother top plug mine in.

fietsbob

I found their customer service good.... I have their Halogen sealed bulb/reflector lights I got in the 80's ..

bikebikebike

Lipo batteries are stored at 80% charge to improve their life.
always need charging before use

Good thread