B&M Ixon Iq Speed (premium) & Lithium Ion

[annirak]

The Speed Premium is a really nice light, for beam shape, but the battery leaves a bit to be desired. I bought mine 5 years ago, and it hasn't quite been the workhorse I was hoping for. The cable from the light to the battery pack, and the cable on the battery pack itself has been a constant source of problems.

I've been through 3 of these units on warranty. The first one failed when the cable connecting the battery to the light failed. The second one failed when the socket on the battery pack itself failed (the cable broke at the socket strain relief. I guess it didn't relieve enough strain!). The third one had a bad battery from day 1 and could barely hold a charge for a day, rather than the all-week life I was getting from it before.

So I decided to fix the problem.

I got a Trustfire 4x18650 waterproof battery case, and 4x Ultrafire 18650 5000mAh batteries. Then, I set about building a cable with built-in power converter so that I could apply use the 8.4V battery pack with the 6V light. That's where my surprise came: I think the Ixon IQ Speed was designed for a Li-Ion battery pack. Here's why.

I carefully checked the charge curves for NiCd batteries, and I checked how many batteries are in the Ixon IQ Speed battery pack: There are 5, and while a NiCd battery has a nominal voltage of 1.2V, giving a 6V battery pack, the peak voltage is closer to 1.5V for 7.5V. The B&M charger is rated for up to 7.4V output. So, I set my power converter to 7.0V to leave some headroom, then attached it. To my surprise, the green LED on the light was flashing green. The manual says:

Flashing green*: HighPower light, when lighting capacity is starting to weaken, the system automatically switches over to the LowPower mode.

* The shorter the LED flashes the lower the remaining capacity.

I've come across several posts about the Ixon Iq Speed and Speed premium that say they either rarely or never get the solid green light.

I started gradually turning up the power converter. I measured when the light was solid green. When the light was cold, I got solid green at 7.4V. Once it warmed up, that moved as high as 8V. The power converter hardly seems necessary for my 8.4V (maximum) battery pack. And, in fact, I've come across one other person who's gotten one working with a 2S Li-Ion battery pack and a straight cable.

Putting all of that together, It looks to me like the Ixon Iq Speed was designed for a 7.4V Li-Ion battery pack, but then shipped with a 6V NiCd one.

 

[raleighnut]

The Speed Premium is a really nice light, for beam shape, but the battery leaves a bit to be desired. I bought mine 5 years ago, and it hasn't quite been the workhorse I was hoping for. The cable from the light to the battery pack, and the cable on the battery pack itself has been a constant source of problems.

I've been through 3 of these units on warranty. The first one failed when the cable connecting the battery to the light failed. The second one failed when the socket on the battery pack itself failed (the cable broke at the socket strain relief. I guess it didn't relieve enough strain!). The third one had a bad battery from day 1 and could barely hold a charge for a day, rather than the all-week life I was getting from it before.

So I decided to fix the problem.

I got a Trustfire 4x18650 waterproof battery case, and 4x Ultrafire 18650 5000mAh batteries. Then, I set about building a cable with built-in power converter so that I could apply use the 8.4V battery pack with the 6V light. That's where my surprise came: I think the Ixon IQ Speed was designed for a Li-Ion battery pack. Here's why.

I carefully checked the charge curves for NiCd batteries, and I checked how many batteries are in the Ixon IQ Speed battery pack: There are 5, and while a NiCd battery has a nominal voltage of 1.2V, giving a 6V battery pack, the peak voltage is closer to 1.5V for 7.5V. The B&M charger is rated for up to 7.4V output. So, I set my power converter to 7.0V to leave some headroom, then attached it. To my surprise, the green LED on the light was flashing green. The manual says:



I've come across several posts about the Ixon Iq Speed and Speed premium that say they either rarely or never get the solid green light.

I started gradually turning up the power converter. I measured when the light was solid green. When the light was cold, I got solid green at 7.4V. Once it warmed up, that moved as high as 8V. The power converter hardly seems necessary for my 8.4V (maximum) battery pack. And, in fact, I've come across one other person who's gotten one working with a 2S Li-Ion battery pack and a straight cable.

Putting all of that together, It looks to me like the Ixon Iq Speed was designed for a 7.4V Li-Ion battery pack, but then shipped with a 6V NiCd one.

I though they were designed for a dynohub then a battery pack was added so people without a generator could also use them

 

[annirak]

I though they were designed for a dynohub then a battery pack was added so people without a generator could also use them

Hard to say. When I first got it, I looked for equivalent dyno lights or adaptors to attach the speed premium to a dynohub. I couldn't find any of the latter, and the beam pattern and housing was different from any of the former. I think there's a dyno-light with an equivalent beam pattern now.

Maybe the electronics match that internally; I haven't cracked mine open to check!

Okay, to be fair, the e-werk might count as an "adaptor" but that's not exactly a straight cable.

 

[annirak]

4x Ultrafire 18650 5000mAh batteries

Haha, funny story. Li-Ion batteries have the most misleading capacities I have ever seen. Those came out at 1150mAh each, according to my Xtar Dragon VP4 Plus

Looking into it more, I have seen batteries that say "model number: 4000mAh, actual capacity: 1000mAh." I assume this is some variant of the same thing.

 

[Andrew Br]

A little late to the party but my (non Premium) IQ Speed has run off an 8.4V Li-Ion battery pack for several years without issue. I also ran the other one (I have 2) off a 6x1.2V Li-Ion AA battery pack. Both lights would run on "Hi" for the length of a FNRttC (including riding to the start) if I wanted/needed them to.
I ditched the original battery packs when they were a couple of years old and would only run the lights on "Lo".