Bleedin' lights :-( Cateye HL-RC230

Any RC230 owners out there who can give me some advice?

I recently got my lights out of storage but the first two night rides were
blighted when the lights failed much earlier than usual (in the woods and it
was dark mummy!). Tonight I got changed, got the bike out, fitted the lights
(battery having been recharged for exactly the recommended time) only to
realise as soon as I turned them on that I wouldn't be going out. The lights
were weak and became too dim to use after 10 minutes.

Bugger, I only agreed to a steaming great pile of fish and chips tonight
because I knew I could ride the calories off later!

I bought the lights last winter and I know they're at the budget end of the
market with an SLA battery but they worked well enough for quite a few
rides. The lights have 2 x 10W lamps and if I don't use one of the pair for
half the ride (about 12 miles / 1 hour) they usually easily last for the
whole ride. Part of my night route is on roads with street-lights so one
lamp is fine for those sections.

During the summer I discharged the lights a couple of times (not completely)
and recharged the battery per the instructions (the charger is not a "smart"
charger) so I think I've treated the kit well.

So, I don't really want to spend loads of cash on new lights - are there any
replacement batteries / chargers out there worth looking at? Will the
battery "recover" after a few recharging cycles?

Later

Fred

Sitting at the pooter in his lycra when he'd rather be riding :-(

"Fred Fragger" wrote in message
...
Any RC230 owners out there who can give me some advice?

I recently got my lights out of storage but the first two night rides were
blighted when the lights failed much earlier than usual (in the woods and
it was dark mummy!). Tonight I got changed, got the bike out, fitted the
lights (battery having been recharged for exactly the recommended time)
only to realise as soon as I turned them on that I wouldn't be going out.
The lights were weak and became too dim to use after 10 minutes.

Bugger, I only agreed to a steaming great pile of fish and chips tonight
because I knew I could ride the calories off later!

I bought the lights last winter and I know they're at the budget end of
the market with an SLA battery but they worked well enough for quite a few
rides. The lights have 2 x 10W lamps and if I don't use one of the pair
for half the ride (about 12 miles / 1 hour) they usually easily last for
the whole ride. Part of my night route is on roads with street-lights so
one lamp is fine for those sections.

During the summer I discharged the lights a couple of times (not
completely) and recharged the battery per the instructions (the charger is
not a "smart" charger) so I think I've treated the kit well.

So, I don't really want to spend loads of cash on new lights - are there
any replacement batteries / chargers out there worth looking at? Will the
battery "recover" after a few recharging cycles?

Later

Fred

Sitting at the pooter in his lycra when he'd rather be riding :-(




I had a similar problem - the battery went dead after it's first year and
had to be replaced.
I don't know if it's because I didn't follow the instructions correctly or
not (I thought I had).
There seems to be some very strict guidelines to recharging of those
batteries.
You can actually unscrew the screws on the battery case and buy a non-cateye
lead actetate battery to replace it - that worked out cheaper for me.

I've now ditched the lights for the Cateye EL400 as I don't need all that
power or weight or hassle to recharge - I just cycle about town.

Fred Fragger wrote:
Any RC230 owners out there who can give me some advice?

I recently got my lights out of storage but the first two night rides
were blighted when the lights failed much earlier than usual (in the
woods and it was dark mummy!). Tonight I got changed, got the bike
out, fitted the lights (battery having been recharged for exactly the
recommended time) only to realise as soon as I turned them on that I
wouldn't be going out. The lights were weak and became too dim to use
after 10 minutes.

Bugger, I only agreed to a steaming great pile of fish and chips
tonight because I knew I could ride the calories off later!

I bought the lights last winter and I know they're at the budget end
of the market with an SLA battery but they worked well enough for
quite a few rides. The lights have 2 x 10W lamps and if I don't use
one of the pair for half the ride (about 12 miles / 1 hour) they
usually easily last for the whole ride. Part of my night route is on
roads with street-lights so one lamp is fine for those sections.

During the summer I discharged the lights a couple of times (not
completely) and recharged the battery per the instructions (the
charger is not a "smart" charger) so I think I've treated the kit
well.

So, I don't really want to spend loads of cash on new lights - are
there any replacement batteries / chargers out there worth looking
at? Will the battery "recover" after a few recharging cycles?

AFAIK, SLAs are like car batteries. Once they're dead, they're dead. Plates
sulphate and things.

If I were you, I'd unscrew the battery casing, get down to your local RC
model shop / electronics supplier, and make up a NiMH battery that'll fit in
the old casing. Get a suitable charger whilst you're at it, and you'll have
batteries that last longer, and can be recharged *very* quickly. And be
lighter too.

"Chris Phillipo" wrote in message
.. .
In article ,
says...
Subject: Bleedin' lights :-( Cateye HL-RC230
From: "Fred Fragger"
Newsgroups: alt.mountain-bike

Any RC230 owners out there who can give me some advice?

I recently got my lights out of storage but the first two night rides
were
blighted when the lights failed much earlier than usual (in the woods and
it
was dark mummy!). Tonight I got changed, got the bike out, fitted the
lights
(battery having been recharged for exactly the recommended time) only to
realise as soon as I turned them on that I wouldn't be going out. The
lights
were weak and became too dim to use after 10 minutes.

Bugger, I only agreed to a steaming great pile of fish and chips tonight
because I knew I could ride the calories off later!

I bought the lights last winter and I know they're at the budget end of
the
market with an SLA battery but they worked well enough for quite a few
rides. The lights have 2 x 10W lamps and if I don't use one of the pair
for
half the ride (about 12 miles / 1 hour) they usually easily last for the
whole ride. Part of my night route is on roads with street-lights so one
lamp is fine for those sections.

During the summer I discharged the lights a couple of times (not
completely)
and recharged the battery per the instructions (the charger is not a
"smart"
charger) so I think I've treated the kit well.

So, I don't really want to spend loads of cash on new lights - are there
any
replacement batteries / chargers out there worth looking at? Will the
battery "recover" after a few recharging cycles?

Later

Fred

Sitting at the pooter in his lycra when he'd rather be riding :-(




When you store lights you should charge the battery fully and again
every 6 months if you don't use them. So if you put it away half dead
it probably will never be the same. You can rebuild your battery with
new cell(s) relatively cheaply. While your at it you might even be able
to get cells with more capacity that are the same physical size.
--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
http://www.ramsays-online.com


Thanks for the replies chaps

I've been considering buying this battery as an alternative, looks like I'd
get about 2.5 hrs with 2 x 10W which would be nice but it's a bit on the
expensive side - especially as I'd have to buy a charger as well.

http://www.therush.uk.com/catalog/pr...d13cd097dd6302

There is a model shop in town so perhaps I'll go and see them first.

Later

Fred

Fred Fragger wrote:

Thanks for the replies chaps

I've been considering buying this battery as an alternative, looks
like I'd get about 2.5 hrs with 2 x 10W which would be nice but it's
a bit on the expensive side - especially as I'd have to buy a charger
as well.


http://www.therush.uk.com/catalog/pr...d13cd097dd6302

That looks like a decent price to me - at a first glance, 6x1.2 9ah cells
would cost me £50 or so, and i'd still have to mangle the battery pack.

There is a model shop in town so perhaps I'll go and see them first.