Lights going out

[tincaman]

The Meteor has a power indicator which flashes red when near the cutoff mark, keep an eye out for this

 

[Gravity Aided]

I carry a handful of these just in case

Our transit system gives us those, along with the public radio station.

 

[RichardB]

The Meteor has a power indicator which flashes red when near the cutoff mark, keep an eye out for this

Hmm. The power indicator flashes red (indicating, I think, under 20% power remaining) after approximately 10-15 minutes of running. It will then run on high power for another hour. It's just not a reliable indicator, but thanks for the suggestion.

 

[potsy]

At this time of year, I am in full dark both ways for the full commute. I have a regime of charging every day I use them, both ends, so running out of juice shouldn't be a problem. I think the ultimate solution will be a light with a 3-hour burn time, but that is unlikely to be as small and cute as the Moon. Swings and roundabouts.

I've just looked at the runtimes on the box from my Moon light. All values are "up to"
Constant beam:
Low: 6 lumen - 9 hrs
Standard: 12 lumen - 4 hrs 30
High: 25 lumen - 2 hrs 15
Overdrive: 50 lumen - 1 hr
10% flashing: 5 lumen - 20 hrs 40
50% flashing: 25 lumen - 4 hrs 25
100% flashing: 50 lumen - 2 hrs 10
Strobe: 10 lumen - 10 hrs 40

At constant beam on high you would get a couple of hours, that should do you?

Completely unlit roads on 25 lumens of light?

 

[RichardB]

I've had my front light go out once on me (cable fault) but to be honest it's no great shakes as long as you have a back up. Unless you are bowling along at 40+ you can stop the bike in a few seconds. Either carry a spare light (or in my case a spare battery), or buy a light with a longer burn time.

That's true on a decent road. Most of my commute is back lanes with no white lines, variable verges, ditches, puddles, gravel, potholes etc. I keep to 15 mph even downhill and at that speed it's all fine as long as I can see A couple of seconds without a light and I could be upside down.

Don't your LED lights have a less powerful setting? In that mode they actually strobe extremely fast so power use is reduced considerably.

They do. The second from highest setting lasts a good couple of hours and is OK if there is some ambient light such as moonlight. But I do prefer the full 200/250 lumens.

I've just looked at the runtimes on the box from my Moon light. All values are "up to"
Constant beam:
Low: 6 lumen - 9 hrs
Standard: 12 lumen - 4 hrs 30
High: 25 lumen - 2 hrs 15
Overdrive: 50 lumen - 1 hr
10% flashing: 5 lumen - 20 hrs 40
50% flashing: 25 lumen - 4 hrs 25
100% flashing: 50 lumen - 2 hrs 10
Strobe: 10 lumen - 10 hrs 40

At constant beam on high you would get a couple of hours, that should do you?

As above, yes it would. I think ultimately I need to have a light with a bigger battery. The Moon is beautifully small and convenient, but for longer rides at night I think I am pushing its capabilities a bit.

It's the 'protection' circuit on the L-ion batteries that causes it, if the battery fully discharges it wrecks em.
Try getting a light that runs on 4 AA batteries and run that on NiCad or NiMh rechargables (or even Duracells)

EDIT - Try something like this, 80hrs runtime on Alkaline so should give 50-60 on rechargeables

That looks like the business, thank you.

One of the things I quite like about my fenix is that as the power drops, it steps down a light level to maximise run-time.

That is an excellent idea.

Thanks for the suggestions all. Think I will be investing in a bigger, better light for next winter and keeping the Moons as daylight markers and reserves. Cheers, and a Happy New Year to you.

 

[rovers1875]

Have at look on Ebay T6 LED (I use these and regularly ride over two hours on full power) never had any problems.
Also got several of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-LED-Por...e-Bicycle-Tail-Rear-Safety-Warning-Light-Lamp.
which I use as flashers again these work for well over two hours and are cheap enough.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

I use a 600 lumin Cateye as my main source of light (I also commute on dark back roads) but, the same as yours, it goes out in an instant.

So I also have an additional front light mounted on the bike that takes disposable batteries. i use this on flash mode in the lit areas at each end of my commute and turn the Cateye off to conserve it's rechargeable battery. I find i can get 3 days (5 hours) between charges this way.

Graham