Lights Camera Action!

TimC wrote:
lemmiwinkswrote

The SLA battery it comes with will probably be heavy rubbish, but
replacement NiMh 12V cordless drill batteries and chargers are so
cheap I'm not really worried.

Er, cheap cordless drill rechargers are rubbish. I bought mine
(complete with drill, naturally, which I still use by plugging into a
12V supply) for $20, knowing it would be crap, but I didn't even get
to see how crap the battery was, because the charger had destroyed it
within 3 months, as one day I missed the vital "disconnect after 3
hours. No, you can't have a light to say it is already charged" step
as I was busy at the time.

insert standard rant about wishing there was a step somewhere between
$20 plastic rubbish and $600 good tools.

Unfortunately there really isn't. I've got an older 12V Hilti and a new 15V
one. The older one was left to me by my son when he went interstate 13 years
ago. The batteries died at 10 years and I got a quote for a new pair from
Hilti, and another quote from my battery wholesaler to rebuild with the best
batteries available in that form.

Hilti wanted $180, my wholesaler $95 to rebuild the two battery packs.

The Sub-$300 drills all have dead batteries in a year, two at the most.

The 15V Hilti I bought last year, comes with two batteries and a Smart
charger for around $800 plus GST. It just feels right when you pick it up,
and it's a joy to use. I expect to have it for a very long time. And no,
they're not in Bunnings.

Cheers
Theo

lemmiwinks wrote:
... If you were really clever, you could buy one of thesehttp://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/bq2002d.htmland make your
own, but one of thesehttp://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/bq2002.html
would be even better.

Poor Amanda! You're going to talk her ear off at the Unaugural again
this year, aren't you?


BTH

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:53:14 +1000
Terryc wrote:
Zebee Johnstone wrote:


Dunno about the Shimano, but the SON will light up quite well at
walking pace.

Standard SON light?
Is it a LED?

The SON is the hub dynamo, I don't think they make lights. The light
is an LED Lumotec Senso. from memory the halogen lumotec wasn't quite
as good.

I haven't used an E6 - always had Lumotecs - so can't say how that
would perform but I doubt there'd be much of a difference.

Zebee

On Apr 10, 11:08 am, TimC -
astro.swin.edu.au wrote:
On 2008-04-09, (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:

The SLA battery it comes with will probably be heavy rubbish, but
replacement NiMh 12V cordless drill batteries and chargers are so
cheap I'm not really worried.

Er, cheap cordless drill rechargers are rubbish. I bought mine
(complete with drill, naturally, which I still use by plugging into a
12V supply) for $20, knowing it would be crap, but I didn't even get
to see how crap the battery was, because the charger had destroyed it
within 3 months, as one day I missed the vital "disconnect after 3
hours. No, you can't have a light to say it is already charged" step
as I was busy at the time.


Use a 4 hour count down timer. HPM makes one for $10. Also good for
other things that should not be left on.

Damien

"Bill the Cat" wrote:

Well, the days are getting shorter and I have a minimum 1hr 20min commute
home each day.

I have the obligatory crappy flashy be seen light, but I am looking for
something a whole lot brighter.

Torpedo 7 have a special on a 24w dual system with lead battery (Nightpro
Expert) for $99.
http://www.torpedo7.com.au/products/NPLIHNNEX

Does anyone have experience with lights of this kind?

Save yourself all the grief over all this battery stuff - recharging,
burning out batteries, smart chargers, yada, yada.....

I just fitted this setup on the commuter, very similar to what I've used on
the tourer for several years:

http://www.velo-orange.com/bumus6ge.html - you could get the 6 instead of
S6 (cheaper)
http://www.dotbike.com/ProductsP3037.aspx?A=1&TRACK=DPL - 1W led, very
bright
http://www.velo-orange.com/zinkensbracket.html - solid bracket, and that
shows how the whole setup mounts

It has come out to $311 delivered to my door, not real cheap, but the dyno
is *always there*, and the 1W led has a service life of 100,000 hours. At my
usage rate, I think I'll be passing it on to my son as a bequest!!

--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

On Apr 10, 4:50 am, "Bill the Cat" wrote:
Well, the days are getting shorter and I have a minimum 1hr 20min commute
home each day.

I have the obligatory crappy flashy be seen light, but I am looking for
something a whole lot brighter.

Torpedo 7 have a special on a 24w dual system with lead battery (Nightpro
Expert) for $99.http://www.torpedo7.com.au/products/NPLIHNNEX

Does anyone have experience with lights of this kind?

I see there are several types around but I do not really understand the
difference between the various set ups around.

Weight does not matter much to me, and these bottle batteries won't be a
problem when I manage to get another bottle cage on.

I think cheap is good, but I worry when things like this are too cheap. Any
horror stories or recommendations?

I've had a set of halogens (10W + 5W) from Torpedo7 for a couple of
years now, and they're still going fine. They were a similar price to
the current Torpedo7 offer, in fact I've been thinking about buying
these new ones.

Torpedo7 regularly runs really great specials, it isn't always just
cheap and nasty stuff, this is a high volume retailer who works on low
margins. I've on the whole been very pleased with my past Torpedo7
purchases, and the one time I took advantage of their returns policy
that all worked out fine for me as well, though they didn't at the
time mention that the store credit they give on returned items has a
finite lifetime.

If you want halogens for your bike, I'd say this is a pretty good
deal. In a year or two if the battery goes you'll be able to replace
it with a high powered LED system, which should be cheaper by then.
(And that is the identical logic to what I used a couple of years ago
when I got mine. LED systems have gotten a lot cheaper since then,
but since my lights still work fine I'm able to keep watching prices
continue to fall.

Travis

"Terryc" wrote
:
People have to watch hub abd other dynamos. Fine if you do 15km/h plus,
but not so good ifyou are a slower rider.

B&M Dymotec S6 will light the road really well at walking speed! It has a
'plateuu' ouput curve. And if you're worried about blowing bulbs at speed,
it has voltage protection built into the dynamo. I have found this dynamo
and their 1W led light to be excellent for visibilty (seeing the road) even
on black country roads.

--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

DaveB Wrote:
Lots of discussion here on Fenix headlights. I'll be giving one a go for
this winter.

http://forums.transitions.org.au/ind...27676&hl=fenix

DaveBI have been using a Fenix L2D-CE with 'this handlebar/helmet mount'
(http://tinyurl.com/4a9hqu) for around a year now and would highly
recommend this combination. $US63 (including free delivery to AUS) from
Fenix-store.com

There is a full review of this light 'here'
(http://www.flashlightreviews.com/rev...dce-l2dce.htm).


--
roshea

On Apr 10, 5:51*am, "Rob." . wrote:
Bill the Cat wrote:
Well, the days are getting shorter and I have a minimum 1hr 20min commute
home each day.

I have the obligatory crappy flashy be seen light, but I am looking for
something a whole lot brighter.

Torpedo 7 have a special on a 24w dual system with lead battery (Nightpro
Expert) for $99.
http://www.torpedo7.com.au/products/NPLIHNNEX

Does anyone have experience with lights of this kind?

I see there are several types around but I do not really understand the
difference between the various set ups around.

Weight does not matter much to me, and these bottle batteries won't be a
problem when I manage to get another bottle cage on.

I think cheap is good, but I worry when things like this are too cheap. *Any
horror stories or recommendations?

Thanks

BtC

The price should tell you something - like there finished and no one
wants them.

I would consider the battery replacement, charge time, etc. before
rushing out and buying one. Your going to charge that up once a day at
1.3hrs each day commute time.

Look for a good LED lamp with small rechargeable, easy replaceable,
safe, keep in the pocket, batteries. They are available.

LED lamps are still cheaper than the $99, what's more just as efficient.

http://www.torpedo7.com.au/division/...itle/Lighting- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

we are manufacturer of kinds of led lights,please visist our website
http://www.fcled.com.



Jason

Hi

I found that using NiMH AA cells in C cell holders that any reasonable (I used
a cats eye) light works well. I got 5 days of commuting (only needed light at
night on way home) out of 800 mA/hour batteries, so I'd suggest that the
modern AA's being 2400 will do fine!

Then its choose your system, but I prefer to be able to easilly remove it as I
worked at a place where people would fleece anything left un bolted down.

:-)

In article , "Bill the Cat"
wrote:
Well, the days are getting shorter and I have a minimum 1hr 20min commute
home each day.

I have the obligatory crappy flashy be seen light, but I am looking for
something a whole lot brighter.

Torpedo 7 have a special on a 24w dual system with lead battery (Nightpro
Expert) for $99.
http://www.torpedo7.com.au/products/NPLIHNNEX

Does anyone have experience with lights of this kind?

I see there are several types around but I do not really understand the
difference between the various set ups around.

Weight does not matter much to me, and these bottle batteries won't be a
problem when I manage to get another bottle cage on.

I think cheap is good, but I worry when things like this are too cheap. Any
horror stories or recommendations?

Thanks

BtC



See Ya
(when bandwidth gets better ;-)

Chris Eastwood
Photographer, Programmer Motorcyclist and dingbat
blog: http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/

please remove undies for reply