Cheap rechargable batteries
 

Those of us that can't afford the luxury of hub dynamos may be interested
in fairly decent rechargeable batteries at Lidl for the bargain price of
£1.99 (that's less than normal batteries!):

http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/home.nsf/pa...ted_Rechargeab
le_Batteries

Ni-MH batteries (£1.99 a pack):
- 9V battery, 200mAh
- 4 x AAA, 800mAh
- 4 x AA, 2,100mAh
- 2 x C, 3,500mAh
- 2 x D, 4,000mAh

Cheap rechargable batteries
 

Mark Thompson wrote:

Those of us that can't afford the luxury of hub dynamos may be interested
in fairly decent rechargeable batteries at Lidl for the bargain price of
£1.99 (that's less than normal batteries!):

http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/home.nsf/pa...ted_Rechargeab
le_Batteries

Ni-MH batteries (£1.99 a pack):
- 9V battery, 200mAh
- 4 x AAA, 800mAh
- 4 x AA, 2,100mAh
- 2 x C, 3,500mAh
- 2 x D, 4,000mAh

That's not a bad capacity for AA and it's an amazing capacity for D (if
it's true). With 4 "D" cells you could run a 2.4W front lamp for a
whole Dunwich Dynamo.

Cheap rechargable batteries
 

Zog The Undeniable wrote:

That's not a bad capacity for AA and it's an amazing capacity for D (if
it's true). With 4 "D" cells you could run a 2.4W front lamp for a
whole Dunwich Dynamo.

4Ah is what you get from one of those moped batteries they supply with
the Smart sets; (which should do 10h on 2.4W) have been looking to
convert one lamp to 2.4v 2xD operation for night rides, will have to do
a bench test with some alkalines first.

Cheap rechargable batteries
 

"Zog The Undeniable" wrote in message
news:43da914b.0@entanet

That's not a bad capacity for AA and it's an amazing capacity for D
(if it's true). With 4 "D" cells you could run a 2.4W front lamp for
a whole Dunwich Dynamo.

Pfffft, that's pants. Check out

http://www.strikalite.co.uk/prodcat_...Batteries.html

Good ol' Rog at Strikalite assembled me a pack of 5 of these 9Ah beauties
into a 3x2 'pyramid' which I added an automotive 5A fuse to, and enclosed in
a small aluminium enclosure. The whole caboodle sits of the carrier stays on
my Ultra Galaxy, and when charged using a Jamara charger (also at Stikalite,
but pricy) the capacity is calculated at 10.5 Ah. It powers a pair of Cateye
10w fronts admirably, far better than the silly 2.2Ah sticks they came with,
and about the same weight. I'll take a pic and upload it tomorrow.

I have no connection to Strikalite, other than being a satisfied customer
for the last 10 years or so... they fulfill all my battery requirements.

Tim

--
Sent from Birmingham, UK timdunne at blueyonder.co.uk
'God's electrician sparked up the heavens once again, heading northbound
on the 7:10. And the lord said let there be commuters...' - Thea Gilmore
Look, mum, an anorak on a bike! Check out www.nervouscyclist.org

Cheap rechargable batteries
 

Tim Dunne wrote:

"Zog The Undeniable" wrote in message
news:43da914b.0@entanet


That's not a bad capacity for AA and it's an amazing capacity for D
(if it's true). With 4 "D" cells you could run a 2.4W front lamp for
a whole Dunwich Dynamo.


Pfffft, that's pants. Check out

http://www.strikalite.co.uk/prodcat_...Batteries.html

Good ol' Rog at Strikalite assembled me a pack of 5 of these 9Ah beauties
into a 3x2 'pyramid' which I added an automotive 5A fuse to, and enclosed in
a small aluminium enclosure. The whole caboodle sits of the carrier stays on
my Ultra Galaxy, and when charged using a Jamara charger (also at Stikalite,
but pricy) the capacity is calculated at 10.5 Ah. It powers a pair of Cateye
10w fronts admirably, far better than the silly 2.2Ah sticks they came with,
and about the same weight. I'll take a pic and upload it tomorrow.

I have no connection to Strikalite, other than being a satisfied customer
for the last 10 years or so... they fulfill all my battery requirements.

What do they weigh? With six of them (7.2V) you could run a dynamo
headlamp [1] all day and all night...depends on the trade-off between
the lack of dynamo drag (say 5W for a Schmidt) and the extra weight you
have to lug uphill, which could partially be offset by a lighter front
hub than the Schmidt.

[1] inevitably overvolted by a dynamo, so 5 batteries (6V) on a 3W 0.5A
bulb doesn't give the brightness you'd expect.

Cheap rechargable batteries
 

Zog The Undeniable wrote:
Tim Dunne wrote:

"Zog The Undeniable" wrote in message
news:43da914b.0@entanet


That's not a bad capacity for AA and it's an amazing capacity for D
(if it's true). With 4 "D" cells you could run a 2.4W front lamp for
a whole Dunwich Dynamo.


Pfffft, that's pants. Check out

http://www.strikalite.co.uk/prodcat_...Batteries.html

Good ol' Rog at Strikalite assembled me a pack of 5 of these 9Ah beauties
into a 3x2 'pyramid' which I added an automotive 5A fuse to, and enclosed in
a small aluminium enclosure. The whole caboodle sits of the carrier stays on
my Ultra Galaxy, and when charged using a Jamara charger (also at Stikalite,
but pricy) the capacity is calculated at 10.5 Ah. It powers a pair of Cateye
10w fronts admirably, far better than the silly 2.2Ah sticks they came with,
and about the same weight. I'll take a pic and upload it tomorrow.

I have no connection to Strikalite, other than being a satisfied customer
for the last 10 years or so... they fulfill all my battery requirements.

What do they weigh? With six of them (7.2V) you could run a dynamo
headlamp [1] all day and all night...depends on the trade-off between
the lack of dynamo drag (say 5W for a Schmidt) and the extra weight you
have to lug uphill, which could partially be offset by a lighter front
hub than the Schmidt.

[1] inevitably overvolted by a dynamo, so 5 batteries (6V) on a 3W 0.5A
bulb doesn't give the brightness you'd expect.

What type of batteries? ISTR that my nimh batteries I use for my LED
lamps though rated at 1.2V seem to read more like 1.3V when fully
charged. Maybe it's my meter. The brightness of the lamp will of of
course drop over time, but I think 1.3x6 = 7.8V might well be
stretching it a bit (I could be wrong of course). You'd probably want
regulation to deal with this, but that might well reduce the
effiiciency.

AA nimh batteries I use are 2300mAh. At 500mA (3W bulb or 2.4+0.6 for
front+rear) you're going to get a run time of 4.6 hours at nominal
capacity, if I've done my sums right. At 1A (giving the dual lamp
functionality of a SON) then you're 2.3 hours. Sufficient for
commuting, I'd think. Not going to run all night though!

Simon

Cheap rechargable batteries
 

I see Maplin do a Li-Ion rechargable pack (meant for camcorders but
prolly adaptable) which is 2Ah, seems a good trade off between weight
and capacity.

Cheap rechargable batteries
 

"MartinM" wrote in message
oups.com
I see Maplin do a Li-Ion rechargable pack (meant for camcorders but
prolly adaptable) which is 2Ah, seems a good trade off between weight
and capacity.

Not a good idea - LiIon batteries have a tendency to explode if not handled
and treated in accordance with guidelines - one thing they don't like is
deep current draw and vibration.

Tim


--
Sent from Birmingham, UK timdunne at blueyonder.co.uk
'God's electrician sparked up the heavens once again, heading northbound
on the 7:10. And the lord said let there be commuters...' - Thea Gilmore
Look, mum, an anorak on a bike! Check out www.nervouscyclist.org

Cheap rechargable batteries
 

On Sat, 28 Jan 2006 11:15:23 GMT, "Tim Dunne"
wrote:

"MartinM" wrote in message
roups.com
I see Maplin do a Li-Ion rechargable pack (meant for camcorders but
prolly adaptable) which is 2Ah, seems a good trade off between weight
and capacity.

Not a good idea - LiIon batteries have a tendency to explode if not handled
and treated in accordance with guidelines - one thing they don't like is
deep current draw and vibration.

So the cycle mounts for mobile phones have something to deal with
this, or do they all come with, your phone may explode warnings?

Jim.

Cheap rechargable batteries
 

Tim Dunne wrote:
"MartinM" wrote in message
oups.com
I see Maplin do a Li-Ion rechargable pack (meant for camcorders but
prolly adaptable) which is 2Ah, seems a good trade off between weight
and capacity.

Not a good idea - LiIon batteries have a tendency to explode if not handled
and treated in accordance with guidelines - one thing they don't like is
deep current draw and vibration.

OK thanks. Out of interest does anyone know what the actaul capacity of
the various alkaline D cells on the market is? (the are very secretive
on their packaging).