Battery lights vs. rechargeable.

[Alex321]

That looked quite tempting, but there's a couple of videos of this in use and the beam seems quite narrow with little lighting to the side which makes it little use on unlit lanes - this one shows it best.

It does look narrow. Looked at another video and that shows it pretty well too.

It really does seem tricky to find a light that will give adequate illumination without dazzling other road users.

 

[gcogger]

The Rigel Max has the same kind of refracted lens as the Rigel Pro, to stop you dazzling oncoming drivers or cyclists, noticeable by way of the ridges on the upper half of the lens. If you mount the light underneath the handlebar, you can flip the lens over, a cool trick.

As with the Pro, it does work to a degree, cutting off the upper light a bit, but there is still plenty heading up into the trees.

It's not as effective as Ravemen's solution on its PR1600, which has two separate lenses, one providing a properly cut-off beam for when you are riding in 'dipped' mode, the other chucking out a much wider spread on 'full beam'.

(my bold)
Just an observation!

Yes, I saw that, but it's confusing as it doesn't seem to correlate with their own beam comparison thing. That shows that the Moon light restricts the light going upwards reasonably well (better than nearly all lights of similar brightness in their comparison images). In use I can see where the light is cut off at the top, rather like you can with a car headlight (but not as well defined as that).
I must admit that, if that review was out when I was shopping for lights, I might have considered that Ravemen one though, as I got a very good deal on the Moon light, it would have cost me almost twice as much.

 

[Alex321]

Yes, I saw that, but it's confusing as it doesn't seem to correlate with their own beam comparison thing. That shows that the Moon light restricts the light going upwards reasonably well (better than nearly all lights of similar brightness in their comparison images). In use I can see where the light is cut off at the top, rather like you can with a car headlight (but not as well defined as that).
I must admit that, if that review was out when I was shopping for lights, I might have considered that Ravemen one though, as I got a very good deal on the Moon light, it would have cost me almost twice as much.

There is a 1200 version as well, which might just be enough with a better beam. And the 1600 is currently available from Tredz for £99.
I like the look of that, with the single button "dip/main" function.

 

[simongt]

Has anyone done a comparison of the cost of dags vs. the cost of recharging over the 'expected' five year life ( see my first post ) of a battery pack type lamp - ?
Bear in mind that the rechargeable unit tends to take longer to charge as it gets older thus has to be factored into the equation.

 

[gcogger]

There is a 1200 version as well, which might just be enough with a better beam. And the 1600 is currently available from Tredz for £99.
I like the look of that, with the single button "dip/main" function.

That does look good. It's odd that, according to the Ravemen site, the PR1200 has a longer battery life at 100/200/400 lumens than the PR1600 does, despite a smaller battery. I just checked and my Moon light cost me under £50 at the time, so it would be a fair bit more for either of those, but maybe worth it.

 

[si_c]

Has anyone done a comparison of the cost of dags vs. the cost of recharging over the 'expected' five year life ( see my first post ) of a battery pack type lamp - ?
Bear in mind that the rechargeable unit tends to take longer to charge as it gets older thus has to be factored into the equation.

I've done a few back of the napkin estimates based on my Fenix lamp (2x18650 batteries) at 3400mAh each, that's 3.7V so 13000Wh each, which at rough UK electricity rates (30p per kWh) is about 1p to charge (assuming 30% inefficiencies which is not unreasonable and makes calculation easy).

Assuming you commute 5 days a week and need to fully recharge the battery each day, thats £3 per year in charging costs more or less.

 

[simongt]

£3 per year in charging costs more or less.

And as reasonable AA or AAA dags which can last a year or so, can be bought for about £2 for four, there's the rub - !

 

[Alex321]

And as reasonable AA or AAA dags which can last a year or so, can be bought for about £2 for four, there's the rub - !

What does "dag" mean here? I know you are talking about batteries, not sure if you mean rechargeables or regular, but I've never seen that term before this thread.

 

[simongt]

It's a very old services term for batteries as apparently, back in t'day, probably pre WW2, the Chloride Group had a contract to suppy batteries to the services and the 'model' that was mostly used was the Dagenite.
Simple eh peeps - ? !

 

[Dogtrousers]

It's a very old services term for batteries as apparently, back in t'day, probably pre WW2, the Chloride Group had a contract to suppy batteries to the services and the 'model' that was mostly used was the Dagenite.
Simple eh peeps - ? !

But what sort of battery? Rechargeable or ordinary?

 

[Twilkes]

And as reasonable AA or AAA dags which can last a year or so, can be bought for about £2 for four, there's the rub - !

Are these standard batteries which are lasting a year or more? One 18650 rechargeable battery would last me maybe 3-5 hours on a commute before needing charged again, and that light would need three AAA batteries to replace that one 18650 battery, they ain't gonna be lasting a week let alone a year!

 

[simongt]

Rechargeable or ordinary

Well, as all vehicle dags are 'rechargeable' as in they are constantly being recharged by the alternator ( or dynamo back in t'day ) whilst the engine is running, it's a relative term.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Are these standard batteries which are lasting a year or more? One 18650 rechargeable battery would last me maybe 3-5 hours on a commute before needing charged again, and that light would need three AAA batteries to replace that one 18650 battery, they ain't gonna be lasting a week let alone a year!

I get ages out of a pair of rechargeable AAAs in a cateye tail light. I'm not sure how long but I'm going to wave my hands and say > 20 hrs.
A set of 4 rechargeable AAs lasts a full night in my Hope Vision 1, mostly on low power occasionally high. Again a bit of hand waving and say 12 hrs. My rechargeables do tend to fizzle out when they get old. I don't use them for commuting but if I did I'd be surprised if they managed a full year of commuting use.

As to non-rechargeable AAs or AAAs lasting a year. Maybe, yeah, if you don't draw any current from them.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Well, as all vehicle dags are 'rechargeable' as in they are constantly being recharged by the alternator ( or dynamo back in t'day ) whilst the engine is running, it's a relative term.

Pretty small vehicle that uses AA or AAA.

 

[Twilkes]

Pretty small vehicle that uses AA or AAA.

There's a massive AA battery north of Glasgow, unclear how long it would power a light for though.

https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/mugdock-aa-battery-feb-2013.78290/