magicshine rocks !

[BentMikey]

They look very good! Over powered though? I don't think so.

 

[BenM]

Got a clone Magicshine from Hong Kong just before Christmas for the section of my commute that is an unlit shared path and therefore contains unlit pedestrians and their unlit dogs (though surprisingly many dogs sport reflective collars and in some cases flashing lights!).

I love it. It really makes cycling in the dark a pleasure - for me at least. Lasts over a week on one charge (though it did run out last night - yes I have another light just in case, and a set of spare batteries for that just in case in case , but modified my route to be road only)

Comments received from other (oncoming) cyclists:

"It's a bit f* bright mate"
"You will blind someone with that"

Comment from a colleague who was driving

"I saw a bright light and thought it was a scooter, so didn't pull out because I didn't know how fast it was going, then I saw it was going quite slowly - was it you?" Yep it was me and I was going slowly up hill on the 'bent.

Will I swap it for any other light? No. I have got used to travelling on unlit paths and being able to actually see 30m ahead. Also there is much less excuse for anyone to SMIDSY at junctions.

B.

 

[fossyant]

For anyone interested, this is my modified pack I use for my rear magicshines.

Takes 6 x AA's, fits inside the original pack casing, and costs about £3 to make (excluding batteries).

Could be a handy 'spares pack'. The foam is used to retain the middle battery with a couple of elastic bands.

Edited to include the pack loaded up !

 

[BSRU]

Lasts over a week on one charge (though it did run out last night

You should be very careful letting it run down so much.
One of the reasons GeoMan has stopped selling the Magicshine with the standard battery is that the protective circuitry used to prevent the battery discharging to low and causing battery damage is no good. This will result in shorter battery life, shorter discharge time and in theory could lead to the battery catching fire during a charge cycle, do not know if this actually happened.

 

[DrSquirrel]

Any rechargeable is at risk when in a series (or series parallel) circuit. So long as they are of the same age, capacity, brand you should be confident they will discharge a the same rate.

The risk comes in when charging the magicshine as you are charging 2x2 lithium cells in series and have no way to balance each cell - this won't happen with the above as I assume Fossyant is charging the cells in a "proper" charger.


And for the record, not all 4 battery chargers have 4 channels (to cut off charging on each battery as it is full) most are 2ch and hopes that 2 batteries charge at the same rate (same problem as the magicshine technically).

A overcharged etc nimh is less risky than a lithium cell.

The magicshine has some cut out protection, so it wont discharge batteries to empty (I cant quote off hand what voltages it stops at).

/edit: I realise you wasn't quoting Fossy now.

Fossyant - why are you using AA nimh for a battery pack, don't you have the lithium packs with yours?

 

[BenM]

You should be very careful letting it run down so much.

I am aware of that... it is the first (and hopefully only) time it will get that bad... on the plus side it didn't burn the house down when I was charging it

B.

 

[fossyant]

Yes, my AA's go in smart chargers, which charge each cell separately.

I've been looking for 2x2 2s2p 18650 holders but they seem to be like hens teeth - there was a guy in the UK making them but has stopped, although you can import a 4 cell flat pack (4x1) via ebay or US for the 2s2p configuration, but the shape isn't good for bike packs 2x2 rather than 4x1 would be better.

Of the original packs, I found mine were fine, and the chargers both were just slightly warm on charging. Lithium cells are a bit like lead acid for deep discharge - it does them no good. Didn't fancy the fire risk (have to leave them charging in office/at home unattended), so I've popped them to one side for now, might use them with an 'occasional' use head unit for the MTB, but daily use on the commuter - not so sure.

The problem with the MS battery is it will fail at some point (e.g. duff cell), much earlier than you'd expect, BUT it's not expensive to replace. Most 'custom' packs only last 2-3 years anyway and are expensive.

I can see a balanced cell and charger coming out very soon though.

 

[fossyant]

Fossyant - why are you using AA nimh for a battery pack, don't you have the lithium packs with yours?

For £3 and a challenge, thought I'd give it a go.

I still have my 2 lithium packs to one side - thinking of getting the mickey mouse head unit for the MTB.

The issue I have, is I often have to leave the batteries charging without supervision (i.e. in office) and there is no where really that safe for them to charge. My AA charger has full independent cell charging and shut off etc, so it's safe to forget about them.

Lithium is recommended for supervised charging - I'd be better off using these from home !

What's likely to happen with these cells, is you'll notice you get about an hour on charge.... then it's time to bin them, but they are cheap to replace.

 

[fossyant]

Any rechargeable is at risk when in a series (or series parallel) circuit. So long as they are of the same age, capacity, brand you should be confident they will discharge a the same rate.

Good point !

This is exactly what my smart charger picks up with any AA batteries I use. I keep 'sets' together, but sometimes you will get the odd cell deeper discharged than others, and it may take a slightly longer time to charge - only talking 10 minutes or so. EG when using 4 cells to power a Hope 1, or 6 for my magicshines.

If you are really 'into' keeping sets together, you can get really Super Smart chargers that test everything, but I think one that charges individual cells is enough, and has a display to indicate status. Anyway, if they start to become duff, buy a new set ?

BUT you don't know this with a 'pack' of batteries. So 3 might be OK, one might be deep discharged. On goes charger and charges 3 fully, and one partly. Then the cycle continues, and this is where a problem can occur with Lithium. More likely, you'll notice the pack has poor charge holding - time to bin.

 

[DrSquirrel]

I don't tend to throw "dodgy" ones out, I put them in the odds pile and use them for stuff that just needs 1 cell, or something that I don't want to put my "nice expensive" batteries in or need a high capacity. (ie what is the point in spending £8 on 4xAA to put them in a device that could be powered off primary AAs for a year for £1 )

The issue I have, is I often have to leave the batteries charging without supervision (i.e. in office) and there is no where really that safe for them to charge. My AA charger has full independent cell charging and shut off etc, so it's safe to forget about them.

Lithium is recommended for supervised charging - I'd be better off using these from home !

What's likely to happen with these cells, is you'll notice you get about an hour on charge.... then it's time to bin them, but they are cheap to replace.

When they do set on "fire", they mostly vent gas than flames... although you do get some its not a massive fireball. If its sitting in the middle of a desk without any paper around all it will really do is leave a black mark on the desk. If you're that worried hang the battery pack by its own cable so the battery is "floating".

Also - its not your home, its work - who cares if it burns down

When mine go, im going to use the circuit in them (as basic as it is) and build a 8 cell pack with it instead using slightly higher capacity cells

 

[addictfreak]

Had my first commute today with the magicshine. I found it to be excellent, used the flashing mode on the lit sections on road.
On the unlit sections i tried the full beam, wow certainly more than enough light, so I dropped down to 'half' beam and even that gave more than I needed to navigate the numerous potholes with totally safety.

Cant wait to try it on the MTB in totally darkness on my cliff top route.

 

[cyberknight]

Had my first commute today with the magicshine. I found it to be excellent, used the flashing mode on the lit sections on road.
On the unlit sections i tried the full beam, wow certainly more than enough light, so I dropped down to 'half' beam and even that gave more than I needed to navigate the numerous potholes with totally safety.

Cant wait to try it on the MTB in totally darkness on my cliff top route.

As long as you do not try to cycle on the light beam over the cliff

...
The joke goes ...

2 madmen were trying to escape from the asylum across the rooftops when they come to the edge of the building and can see the wall that goes around the asylum in the distance but its to far to jump across..

Nutter 1 says "i know i will shine the torch at the wall and you can walk across the gap on the ray of light"

Nutter 2 says "Do you think i am mad? you might switch off the torch when i am half way across "

 

[cyberknight]

For those who a MS already i have a question..

Do you leave the battery connected to the light all the time so you can see the power indicator light and if so does it draw much power?

Seems a bit of a faff unclipping the light from the battery 2 times a day and i was worried about wear on the connection head.

 

[DrSquirrel]

The LED is something like 50mA iirc

The battery pack is 4000mAh min (I would hope), cells are rated to make 4400mAh (2S2P 2200mAh)

So around 80 hours - which is a lot, but also shows that you cannot really just leave it in constantly.


You don't have to be anal about unplugging it, I leave mine in at work - but take it out at home (also I don't leave the battery pack out in the cold).


As long as you pull the connectors by the connector and not the wire, it should last fine (longer than the cells), replacing the cables on each end is easy if you have basic soldering skills (you'd be soldering the PCB in the batteries, not the batteries themselves) by using a cheap extension lead to give you both connectors.

If you're worried, build a hard switch into the wire.

 

[gaz]

i unplug mine when i'm not using it.