Originally Posted by
Tourist in MSN
This indicates that there are two versions of that battery pack, one for the GH6 dynohub and one for the AG or FG which I assume is not a dynohub.
We still do not know if the bikes the OP has dynohubs.
I would not try disposable type batteries in it if there is a dynohub charging it, I would only use NiMH.
In my previous post I suggested AA NiMH batteries in D size adapters, I made that recommendation because AA NiMH are quite common and easy to buy.
But if it is not a dynohub system, I would expect that three D sized batteries might be perfect, disposables could be used.
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In case I haven't mentioned it, I know next to nothing about SA dyno-hubs, and essentially nothing about the standlight schemes that were in place so long ago. They are intriguing, though!
I've heard of other gadgets that would connect a battery pack to the lights when the AC was gone, so I'm not surprised that SA would have such a system too.
The use of the term "accumulator" does hint that they might have some rechargeable cells in some systems, although people used to say that carbon-zinc cells could be recharged too. Perhaps in a limited sense?
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has used one of these systems, just to see what it was like.
Back in the days of incandescent bulbs, I built a system that used a Schmidt dynamo to charge a 5 cell nicad battery, and then used that battery to deliver a regulated amount of power to the Lumotec headlight. It worked fine, as long as the bike didn't spend much time stopped. Running the light at full power when stopped used a lot of power, and there was precious little spare power when riding with the headlight on, so recharging the battery was a very slow process. In the winter, when the light might be used on both parts of my commute, it wasn't uncommon to completely drain the battery. It didn't take too long for me to come up with a very different approach to standlights.
Steve in Peoria