Rechargeable or battery lights - ?

[simongt]

I bought a rechargeable front lamp from Maplin about five years ago and the life of the battery pack is now diminished to the point that even on a full charge mostly flashing, it only lasts four days with a run time of about an hour a day. New, the leaflet claimed a run time on low of 28 hours, although I have it on flash mode for most of my journey. Also, the leaflet states that a full charge from 'dead' will take up to four hours. Now even when the pack isn't 'dead', it can take up to twice that long to fully charge.
This is the issue with rechargeable lamps, front or rear, is that the pack will have a finite life, then you probably have to buy a completely new lamp. Some state that they can be recharged 'up to a thousand times', but honestly, who can actually keep track of how often they recharge said lamp - ?
But, my 20 + year old Cateye rear lamp is still going strong - !
So does one buy a battery lamp that can last for many years, or rechargeables that will probably have to be binned after a few years - ?

 

[KnittyNorah]

How about a battery lamp, and a set of batteries of a suitable size which are themselves rechargeable - then you have the best of both worlds and only need to bin the batteries at the end of their lives, not the light plus installed batteries.

Alternatively a bit of prodding about may well reveal that you can, in fact, replace the 'built in' battery with another one, fairly simply.

 

[classic33]

Much prefer the ones were the batteries are not sealed in. Even bought rechargeable batteries to fit into them, already had the charger's required.

And, with a pack of four cheap batteries for a £1 it's easy enough keep them running.

 

[simongt]

Alternatively a bit of prodding about may well reveal that you can, in fact, replace the 'built in' battery with another one, fairly simply.

On the basis that five or so years later, are said battery packs still avaiable - ? I'm going to check the Maplin website though.

 

[classic33]

On the basis that five or so years later, are said battery packs still avaiable - ? I'm going to check the Maplin website though.

Maplin went under in 2018, the new company isn't the same one.

 

[Sharky]

When I was commuting, a rechargeable front light was ideal. Just recharged it every day. Now only occasionally ride in the dark and sometimes haven't charged it beforehand. So a battery light would be best for me now. However the rechargeable one gives a really good light, so now I carry one of each.

 

[numbnuts]

A torch and rechargeable battery's are OK, but you are losing voltage as a 1.5V battery size is only 1.1V in a rechargeable so it will not be so bright

 

[presta]

I think batteries are rapidly becoming another scam like printer ink. Now that everything has a custom battery instead of an industry standard, manufacturers can charge what they like, and make products obsolete whenever they like by discontinuing the battery. The good old days of AAAs and PP3s etc are numbered.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

I like my lights to be battery powered (AA or AAA) on the basis that if I end up a good way from home and the power fades, I can always dive into any convenience shop / garage etc and replace them. The rechargeable ones don't appeal as much given that they could fail halfway through a journey and you can't really charge on the go unless you have a power bank. Plus they'll no doubt come with yet another charger to add to the the 217 others in my kitchen cupboards. So for now at least, I'm still on Cateye and similar. Actually Wilko do some good battery lights that are very very similar to Cateye.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

On a bike, lighting should be considered a consumable item, and eventually they need replacement. If I was getting diminished battery life from a rechargeable on a commuter bike I would simply take the charger with me and recharge it at work! If it got so bad it wouldn't even last one journey, then I would bin it but not before.

 

[Juan Kog]

On a bike, lighting should be considered a consumable item, and eventually they need replacement. If I was getting diminished battery life from a rechargeable on a commuter bike I would simply take the charger with me and recharge it at work! If it got so bad it wouldn't even last one journey, then I would bin it but not before.

Have I entered a parallel universe ? . Skippy binning something .

 

[simongt]

then I would bin it but not before.

And this enters into another debate - ! We are being encouraged to bin the entire rechargeable lamp when the power unit dies and buy another, although how many batteries have we gone thru in that five years or so - ? But at least we can bung the dead batteries at our local Aldi or wherever for apparent recycling - !

 

[roley poley]

shhh no-one mentions dynamos ok

 

[classic33]

On a bike, lighting should be considered a consumable item, and eventually they need replacement. If I was getting diminished battery life from a rechargeable on a commuter bike I would simply take the charger with me and recharge it at work! If it got so bad it wouldn't even last one journey, then I would bin it but not before.

Why should they?
Batteries maybe, but the whole light, No.

We do that and we're adding to waste, possibly toxic, that can't be recycled.

 

[bonzobanana]

Might be worth carefully opening the lights to see what rechargeable cells are in there. You may find the spec on the side and have space to fit some replacement cells. Yes if its nicad or nimh probably not viable but a good chance its li-ion and you can match it somehow. There are so many different lights available now that at their heart are just using 18650 cells and they can be replaced either clipped out or maybe need a bit of soldering.