Cyclist0383

I see, you are talking about industrial rack mounted chargers. Not exactly practical for home use.

If you're into some of the extra features they have such as the ability to revive dead cells, break-in new ones and measure capicity, the Maha I linked to offers them in a much more user friendly package. If you find that you like your Eneloops it's well worth the $50.

Kingshead

If you saw pics of my electronic gear you would understand why I looked at these.

This pic shows a portion of my bedroom setup (McIntosh and Nakamichi), the McIntosh 2002 power amp and servo controlled Infinity sub are not shown.


This is my living rm surround setup. Eleven components all rack mountable (not the turntable).


This pic shows the rack handles on the Carver and Nakamichi gear.


I have 3 more complete setups in my boy's rooms and a walkin closet stuffed to the ceiling with gear still waiting to be used. My wife thinks I'm nuts, and she's most likely right. Collecting electronics is a sickness of mine.

dougmc

For the record, it's convenient to have a "dumb" charger of some sort in addition to the Maha, because it can't really revive dead (totally discharged) cells.

The Maha will refuse to charge any cell that's under 0.5 volts or so -- it'll just say "null" as if there was no battery in that slot. So you put the dead (you left it in your flashlight and left it on for a few days, for example) battery into your dumb charger, let it charge for five minutes, THEN put it in the Maha and it'll charge it. You might have to cycle it once to bring it fully back to life, but that the Maha can do.

Unlike LiPo/LiIon cells, fully discharging NiMH cells doesn't really damage them. (But there is still room to damage them if you have two or more cells in series, and one cell has less capacity than the rest, so it goes dead first, and then as the discharging continues the other cells reverse charge it, which can make it even weaker (i.e. damages it.) This is the reason why you don't want to let your NiMH or NiCd cells go too low -- but there's no reason not to revive them after that, and the Maha is good at that (once you get the voltage back up a little bit.))

I'm just saying this just to make sure that if somebody does gets the Maha and it won't bring a battery "back from the dead" -- that doesn't mean it's time to give up.

allgoo19

Cateye's newest model.
https://bit.ly/t1bN3R

https://amzn.to/tExf3A
Reviews in Amazon Japan. 4-1/2 stars.

There's a rechargeable version called EL540 RC. It comes with 4xAA rechargeable (probably not LSD type) and a charger for about $10.- more.

Light pattern samples:

Kingshead

Might be a great light, to bad it's so f'n ugly, but I absolutely abhor plastic. There's a company out there that discovered the one and only good use for it, Whamo.

Received two of the lights I ordered, will post review after charger and batteries arrive.

dstedman

This may end up being the new king of cheap headlights, though it is $51 shipped.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...-in-Four-Parts

lopek77

It's more expensive that the one I bought... I paid 41 with 7 days shipping, and my friend bought same one for 36 with shipping...
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post13466122

formulaP

It is $18.83 now, and it is faily good for that price and i purchase some gadgets including a helmet along with a gun-type clamp. and they ship from the same place as the ebay claimed---Brooklyn. to my surprise, it cost me just 5 workdays for waiting. i just feel a pity to know its runtime. it may last a more longer runtime if i squeezed it out, or get anther 18650 battery. thanks!@chicagobent

davidad

Three colors, and a choice of which modes you want and cheap. You supply two 18650 batteries and the charger. https://www.intl-outdoor.com/shadow-6...ght-p-132.html

lopek77

$6 upgrade, wide angle lens. This one is made from plastic, comparing to original one made from glass.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/280752532003...84.m1439.l2649

lopek77

I just came back from night ride and this wide angle lens is awesome. The whole trail is nicely bright from side to side, with no "hot spot" as with original lens. The only drawback is that light output is not as strong as through the original (plain) lens... Hard to decide which one is best. It depends on the trail or personal preferences I guess.
That's what I think:
- Original / plain lens for straight trails with not many sharp turns, where seeing from far away is important (night rides alone - dogs, freaks etc ), great for "cutting through" cars lights when riding in the city... This one is more like a very powerful flashlight with some good flood light and one round hot spot.
- Wide angle lens great for mountain biking, trails with turns and uneven surface, light distribution is very wide and even with good throw. You can easily see double lane road with this one, but with much shorter throw.

Both lenses will be a good choice for riding fast, even 20+ mph

Photos of wide angle lens ( the one pointing at the building is about 30 ft away, and the one pointing at the mail box is about 50-60 ft away. Photos taken with cell camera, ... It's much brighter and with better throw than you see on the pic... )

dougmc

Unfortunately, cameras adjust for the light, so if you really want to show the differences between two different lights (or more to the point, modes of the same light) you need to have both going on in the same picture. Which means you need two lights.

Still, I'm intrigued by this diffuser, and I've ordered one. Thanks for posting it! It sounds like it might really shine in a two light setup -- where one has the diffuser and one does not.

lopek77

My point was to show light distribution rather then light throw. If u have two same lights with different lenses, it should work perfectly for u.

Ferrino

How do the MagicShine-style headlights stand to the vibrations of road riding? I recently bought a multi-mode CREE flashlight that seems to change modes every time I hit a moderate bump in the road and it's getting old fast!

Also, what's the cheapest price/seller on a MagicShine-style headlight, please?

lopek77

No problems with light switching modes while on a bumpy road. I did several hundreds miles with this light attached + 700 miles trip with the light on the bike on the bike rack...Very solid.
As far as price goes, I saw older model MagicShine for around $80, and you can buy the one I have ( copy of Magicshine, and probably made by the same company ) for around $30-40 on auction or around 40-50 "buy it now". It comes with bicycle mount ( I replaced mine with the original MagicShine mount - $7 in parts for mount and rubber rings ) + head strap mount and battery. The one I got have only 2 cells comparing to the original MagicShine battery with 4 cells. On high I'm getting at least 1.5hrs on high when it's around 32F. When is warm, you can get 2-2.5hrs on high. Extra battery pack is around $7 if you buying it from the same seller that I bought my light.
Some good tip, plug the hole with some silicone where the power cable goes inside the light head...This way this light will be pretty much waterproof. I did that and I was driving 300 miles ( around 5 hours ) in a pouring rain...no issues.

Ferrino

Thanks - do you have any links to listings, please?

lopek77

I bought it from this guy. Very fast 7 days shipping from China and excellent service. $38.88 with Free shipping...you can't go wrong with it! Good luck
https://www.ebay.com/itm/CREE-XML-T6-...item27bdfcab27

dougmc

The Magicshines and clones don't have this problem.

You can alleviate this problem to a large degree with your flashlight by using some paper to make a sleeve for the battery so it can't rattle around in the light. And if that's not sufficient, buy some of the small magnets and stick one on the end of the battery -- this makes the spring connecting tighter and less likely to break contact for a moment causing a change in mode.

Lokek77's $39 is indeed the cheapest I've seen, though it seems that it's battery pack is only two 18650 cells. The proper Magicshine has a 4 cell pack (2s2p), and this light is the cheapest version of it that I'm aware of. I have one of these and it seems just like the Magicshine (which I also have) and it's "old" battery (not the improved new battery.)

lopek77

The light and battery from my ebay link have switched plugs. You can't use original magicshine battery with ebay battery or other way. Battery plugs are male, and light plug is a female type. Not a big deal if you stick to Ebay version, but I just wanted to let you know...
Also, the one from previous post on DealExtreme website have P7 LED, and the one from my ebay link have xml t6 led, which is considered the best light output and being the most energy efficient. Maybe that's the reason why xml t6 is okay with only 2 cell batteries...

Not my video, but you can see the difference between p7 and xml t6 here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bRPviZWvk8
I found this picture online lol

Ferrino

Thanks for the great info! I will try securing the batteries in my flashlight better, but I'm leaning towards one of these Magicshine-alikes now!

How long can you get out of your 2x18650 ebay xml-t6 light on High, lopek?

Also - how easy is the charging system to use? I mean, do you have to be very careful not to overcharge or can you just plug it in overnight and not worry about it?

lopek77

Go for it! I'm getting from 1.30hrs when really cold (freezing) to over 2 hrs (2.30hrs was the longest) during warm months on HIGH. Low setting is enough light for slower rides, so you can get probably 2.5hrs-4hrs. All the run times are to the time when red led on the light head starts blinking. My tip - Ask Ebay seller to include extra battery pack. I paid only $7 for it.

-Charging system is extremely easy to use,
-charging time is around 4-5 hrs,
-they never got hot during charge or discharge like older batteries used to be,
-I'm trying to disconnect them from the charger when charging light changes from red (not charged) to green (fully charged)... Peace of mind

As far as I know, you should NEVER discharge completely batteries of this kind.

Another tip just for you my friend...Read previous posts before asking...All the answers may be there already ;-)

lopek77

I just made a video just to show how CREE XML T6 LED light performs at night. Including all the details and closeups...
Go here to watch it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZgVahLzYpE

I hope this will help to decide.

pityr

I bought one from this guy too.



I ride a few miles through a dark forested park and it gives me a nice light tunnel. Definitely going to be looking into the wide angle lens. Pretty awesome for the price. The mount that it comes with sucks. I might get another and wire them up together

lopek77

Looks like you got it with completely different mount that I got mine... Original mount from Ebay was pretty good, but to bulky for me and much harder to remove quick if needed...that's why I installed original MagicShine mount and it works great.
Wide lens is awesome, but you will loose some brightness. It's even hard for me to decide which lens to use every time I'm going for a ride ;-)

pityr

That's not the original mount, I made it myself. The part that the lamp is screwed to is a piece of the original mount and is only used to hold it to the handlebar extension. The original was way to bulky for me too and it wasn't very secure. I don't want to be able to remove this light so its not easily removable.

I'm going to have to look into the MagicShine mount but so far this has held up pretty well. I may ditch the original part altogether and mount the lamp directly to the handlebar extension.