marshmella
Guru
- Location
- Telford, Shropshire
Hi folks, does anyone know exactly how long it takes to charge one of these from flat? Am i looking for the red light to extinguish and the green to light when fully charged or what? Thanks
charging a magicshine clone
- Thread starter marshmella
- Start date
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fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Red light goes to amber then green when charged (or does on the MS ones)
Try not to totally flat them - charge regular.
Try not to totally flat them - charge regular.
OP
OP
marshmella
Guru
- Location
- Telford, Shropshire
Cheers fossy. When i first got the light it must have been fully charged as it lasted ages, perhaps a month or so, then i charged it recently and it hasn't lasted long at all. I'll give a lot longer this time and wait for the green light.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
They take a few hours when run down. Charge more regular. I charge when its been blue for a while.
OP
OP
marshmella
Guru
- Location
- Telford, Shropshire
Thanks again fossy....I'm gonna charge more regularly in future.
goo_mason
Champion barbed-wire hurdler
- Location
- Leith, Edinburgh
Sorry to resurrect this thread, but the battery on my Magicshine clone is now only managing to power my light for about 20mins after a couple of months use. I thought that those who originally were involved in this thread might me able to help!
Has anyone else who bought one had a similar issue, and if so - where did you get a replacement battery from?
(I've seen reference to an eBay shop (possibly run by Torchy The Battery Boy?) in a Google search, but when I looked I can't see any sign of the right type of battery.)
Has anyone else who bought one had a similar issue, and if so - where did you get a replacement battery from?
(I've seen reference to an eBay shop (possibly run by Torchy The Battery Boy?) in a Google search, but when I looked I can't see any sign of the right type of battery.)
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
The clone sometimes takes a slightly smaller/larger connector - the 'pin' is 2.5mm on one and 2.3 on another - you can get adapters to switch from Maplin.
If you ebay Magicshine batteries, you'll get a number of hits. Remember this pin size difference though.
I've had an MS one die, but I wasn't using the batteries at the time. I've since bought an 808E that has a newer battery. This has been OK over the year, and I assume mine usually die over summer as I only use the light on the MTB.
You could 'homebrew' some new batteries !
You would need 4 x 18650 batteries and a charger from torchy (a good source). Then get 2 battery box holders for 18650 (ebay) - you'd need 2 series units so you would have 2 x 7.4 volts. Glue holders back to back. Connect these in parallel (red together, black together) so you have a 2series 2parallel pack that you can charge by removing the batteries into the charger. Use your old battery connector, snip off and solder the ends and cover with shrink wrap electrical cable stuff.
1 new reliable battery.
The reason they fail is water/moisture on the protection circuit shorting out cells or the cells become unbalanced so they all don't get a full charge, and eventually fail. There isn't a separate charging circuit for each cell, so they charge only as much as the most charged cell.
I've ordered a cheap 3xT6 unit for messing with on the MTB, abd I recon the pack will die fast, so looking at this homebrew option.
If you ebay Magicshine batteries, you'll get a number of hits. Remember this pin size difference though.
I've had an MS one die, but I wasn't using the batteries at the time. I've since bought an 808E that has a newer battery. This has been OK over the year, and I assume mine usually die over summer as I only use the light on the MTB.
You could 'homebrew' some new batteries !
You would need 4 x 18650 batteries and a charger from torchy (a good source). Then get 2 battery box holders for 18650 (ebay) - you'd need 2 series units so you would have 2 x 7.4 volts. Glue holders back to back. Connect these in parallel (red together, black together) so you have a 2series 2parallel pack that you can charge by removing the batteries into the charger. Use your old battery connector, snip off and solder the ends and cover with shrink wrap electrical cable stuff.
1 new reliable battery.
The reason they fail is water/moisture on the protection circuit shorting out cells or the cells become unbalanced so they all don't get a full charge, and eventually fail. There isn't a separate charging circuit for each cell, so they charge only as much as the most charged cell.
I've ordered a cheap 3xT6 unit for messing with on the MTB, abd I recon the pack will die fast, so looking at this homebrew option.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
This is the sort of holder, stick two back to back.
Miquel In De Rain
No Longer Posting
Yeah,already done that but nice one fossy.My rear magishine has been working well for ages.
gbb
Squire
- Location
- Peterborough
Not conversant with this particular setup, but funnily enough ive just been charging my homebrew 4x16850 setup after this mornings commute.
Since its last charge, its run for several hours (2xcree light) but i sensed it wasnt quite so bright this morning,
Its been on charge for circa 8 hours and the indicator hadnt turned green when i came home.
TBF, they were single cells recovered from a laptop battery, but they've performed well, and still appear to be ok.
Since its last charge, its run for several hours (2xcree light) but i sensed it wasnt quite so bright this morning,
Its been on charge for circa 8 hours and the indicator hadnt turned green when i came home.
TBF, they were single cells recovered from a laptop battery, but they've performed well, and still appear to be ok.
tincaman
Guru
- Location
- Chudleigh, South Devon
You may find that one of the cells in the pack has a much lower voltage than the rest making the pack unbalanced. It's is possible to disassemble the pack and charge the offending cell separately, but you will need to be able to solder and have a test meter and a 18650 charger. Reseal it all back up with insulating tape.
Further on from this you can make your own packs, the protection circuit boards are available on EBay for about £3, the batteries can be harvested from old laptop packs and the Magicshine cable can be had for about £4
OP
OP
marshmella
Guru
- Location
- Telford, Shropshire
Funny seeing my old thread resurrected, but i think i will have to do what Fossy suggests too as my clone isn't holding a charge either. I've never been happy with the sloppy connection between the pin and plug.
Miquel In De Rain
No Longer Posting
I dont use the original Magicshine headlamp as im not happy with the battery reliability so I tend to use two different cree torches on the front which seems to do a perfect job,both work with single cell 18650 batteries and are sufficient for the bit of offroad at Wanstead Flats.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
My rear magicshines are running off 6xAA's each. Get a maplin 6 x AA holder - about the same size as 4 18650's. Get less run time, 2500mah, but fine for the rears - didn't fancy leaving 18650's charging in the office unattended so switched them to AA - use the spare batteries for my front light.
goo_mason
Champion barbed-wire hurdler
- Location
- Leith, Edinburgh
An update:
In the end I got a couple of battery holders & stuck them back to back (as suggested by fossy), and invested in some decent 18650 batteries & a charger from Torchy via his eBay shop. Dismantled the old pack too and recharged the batteries - as he thought, they were unbalanced - two were charged up, two were empty; am now using them as a spare set. Just used the old battery pack cable and attached it to the parallel-wired pack.
Homebrew pack saw me all the way to and from work today - result! The battery pack that the light came with didn't even last that long even when new.
In the end I got a couple of battery holders & stuck them back to back (as suggested by fossy), and invested in some decent 18650 batteries & a charger from Torchy via his eBay shop. Dismantled the old pack too and recharged the batteries - as he thought, they were unbalanced - two were charged up, two were empty; am now using them as a spare set. Just used the old battery pack cable and attached it to the parallel-wired pack.
Homebrew pack saw me all the way to and from work today - result! The battery pack that the light came with didn't even last that long even when new.
