Cycliq Fly12CE battery - questions for current owners
11-18-19, 11:12 AM
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Cycliq Fly12CE battery life & charging - questions for current owners
(1) Can the Fly12CE charge while the light and camera are running?
(2) Does anyone know if the internal battery can be replaced after its output has declined too much?
I'd like to be able to charge from a USB battery pack or, maybe someday, from a dynamo hub for indefinite run time. A friend has lent me a Fly12 (the old model) to try out; that light shuts off immediately when plugged into the wall or a battery pack. I'm hoping they've changed this for the Fly12CE. Their customer support (I know, I've read the threads here and elsewhere) responded to my question very promptly but didn't answer my question all that clearly :/ And without seeing the Fly12CE internals it's hard to know if eventually replacing the battery is doable/advisable. I'm open to doing some soldering once a year (or two) to extend the useful life of the product.
My headlamp has bit the dust so I'm looking for a new one. I like the combined camera/light in Cycliq's Fly12CE, but I'm concerned about the battery life. A couple of hours runtime is usually long enough for me, but occasionally I like to take all-day rides. I don't like having to decide which parts of a long ride are deserving of lighting and where to conserve battery, or how much lighting I can use during daylight and have enough left for darkness.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Tim
(2) Does anyone know if the internal battery can be replaced after its output has declined too much?
I'd like to be able to charge from a USB battery pack or, maybe someday, from a dynamo hub for indefinite run time. A friend has lent me a Fly12 (the old model) to try out; that light shuts off immediately when plugged into the wall or a battery pack. I'm hoping they've changed this for the Fly12CE. Their customer support (I know, I've read the threads here and elsewhere) responded to my question very promptly but didn't answer my question all that clearly :/ And without seeing the Fly12CE internals it's hard to know if eventually replacing the battery is doable/advisable. I'm open to doing some soldering once a year (or two) to extend the useful life of the product.
My headlamp has bit the dust so I'm looking for a new one. I like the combined camera/light in Cycliq's Fly12CE, but I'm concerned about the battery life. A couple of hours runtime is usually long enough for me, but occasionally I like to take all-day rides. I don't like having to decide which parts of a long ride are deserving of lighting and where to conserve battery, or how much lighting I can use during daylight and have enough left for darkness.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Tim
Last edited by Twhilton; 11-18-19 at 04:38 PM. Reason: make the thread title more specific
11-26-19, 05:55 PM
#2
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Your questions got me thinking, so I dug mine out and tried it. See answers below.
J.
Looks like it can. I started mine up and plugged in the charging cable and the light kept running and the charge light came on. That said, all of the connectors and the SD card access are behind a battery door that weather seals it. So, you will have the cord plugged in the side and the little door open and at right angles to your direction of travel which is not optimal, or even advisable, by any stretch. I would guess that you and the battery door will be parting ways fairly quickly.
I also don't know how fast it will charge while operating. Camera + light is a significant battery drain so you may just keep even. You'd have to ask the mfg about this. It's also a USB-C device so it's going to be best if you have a USB-C battery. Whether it does PD charging or not is something I don't know.
My battery, when the light is set to flash, runs at least 4-5 hours. It beeps in a countdown fashion at every 25% mark while operating (or, at least you can configure it that way) and I go down about 25% in something over an hour. So you do know where it is at least. I'd guess that performance with the light full on is going to have a shorter runtime.
Should be able to but it's a small company etc... I'm not sure that after the battery starts decreasing (500 charges, or 3-4 years, I'd guess) that you wouldn't be better off replacing it with state of the art. At that point for sure it will have much better resolution, image stabilization and especially battery consumption.
At any rate, taking something like this apart generally means the weather sealing gets whacked. I wouldn't want to give that up if it were me.
You won't have to touch it every year. Li-ion batteries last 3+ years and/or 500 or more charge cycles. I've had mine since they came out and I notice no appreciable change in battery performance.
A couple of other notes
J.
Looks like it can. I started mine up and plugged in the charging cable and the light kept running and the charge light came on. That said, all of the connectors and the SD card access are behind a battery door that weather seals it. So, you will have the cord plugged in the side and the little door open and at right angles to your direction of travel which is not optimal, or even advisable, by any stretch. I would guess that you and the battery door will be parting ways fairly quickly.
I also don't know how fast it will charge while operating. Camera + light is a significant battery drain so you may just keep even. You'd have to ask the mfg about this. It's also a USB-C device so it's going to be best if you have a USB-C battery. Whether it does PD charging or not is something I don't know.
My battery, when the light is set to flash, runs at least 4-5 hours. It beeps in a countdown fashion at every 25% mark while operating (or, at least you can configure it that way) and I go down about 25% in something over an hour. So you do know where it is at least. I'd guess that performance with the light full on is going to have a shorter runtime.
(2) Does anyone know if the internal battery can be replaced after its output has declined too much?
At any rate, taking something like this apart generally means the weather sealing gets whacked. I wouldn't want to give that up if it were me.
I'd like to be able to charge from a USB battery pack or, maybe someday, from a dynamo hub for indefinite run time. A friend has lent me a Fly12 (the old model) to try out; that light shuts off immediately when plugged into the wall or a battery pack. I'm hoping they've changed this for the Fly12CE. Their customer support (I know, I've read the threads here and elsewhere) responded to my question very promptly but didn't answer my question all that clearly :/ And without seeing the Fly12CE internals it's hard to know if eventually replacing the battery is doable/advisable. I'm open to doing some soldering once a year (or two) to extend the useful life of the product.
My headlamp has bit the dust so I'm looking for a new one. I like the combined camera/light in Cycliq's Fly12CE, but I'm concerned about the battery life. A couple of hours runtime is usually long enough for me, but occasionally I like to take all-day rides. I don't like having to decide which parts of a long ride are deserving of lighting and where to conserve battery, or how much lighting I can use during daylight and have enough left for darkness.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Tim
Thanks!
Thanks!
Tim
1. From when I did a lot of night riding - I don't think 600 lumens is enough and generally find that at least twice that (i.e equivalent to a car headlight) was about right. I'd suggest having more or a supplemental light for serious rural dark riding anyhow. Lights are so cheap now, this shouldn't be much of a problem.
2. I have used the video on a number of occasions to fix driver behavior either through the management if the miscreant was a commercial driver or with the local law enforcement when a privately owned vehicle. For that purpose, the camera is indispensable and works very well. The alternative would be a GoPro which typically doesn't have the battery life and you'd still have to add a light. This is a nice well integrated package that meets (especially) daytime lighting needs and camera needs for cycling. I'm not sure I'd go there for it as a sole night riding light. It does a nice job of eliminating some of the doodads hanging off the bike by integrating the light and camera.
J.
2. I have used the video on a number of occasions to fix driver behavior either through the management if the miscreant was a commercial driver or with the local law enforcement when a privately owned vehicle. For that purpose, the camera is indispensable and works very well. The alternative would be a GoPro which typically doesn't have the battery life and you'd still have to add a light. This is a nice well integrated package that meets (especially) daytime lighting needs and camera needs for cycling. I'm not sure I'd go there for it as a sole night riding light. It does a nice job of eliminating some of the doodads hanging off the bike by integrating the light and camera.
Last edited by JohnJ80; 11-26-19 at 05:59 PM.
