Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Dinotte Tail light Battery Life In The Cold

Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.




Ziemas
09-14-07, 12:21 AM
What kind of battery life (in hours of use please) are Dinotte AA tail light users getting during wintertime when the temperature is in the -10c to -25c range? Thanks.


Bushman
09-14-07, 02:14 AM
hi Ziemas, i dont actually know i have'nt had winter here yet! but a little trick we used to use when riding the logging roads in the winter in sub zero weather is to put the battery pack from your lights in a seatbag, with a chemical 2 hour handwarmer pack. The difference is incredible in runtimes, particularly with SLA batts.

cheers

Ziemas
09-16-07, 11:18 PM
With so many posts tauting the DiNotte taillight as being the end all of lights I'm completely surprised that no one has any info on how it preforms in the cold.


Come on folks, give up the info! :)


derath
09-17-07, 09:57 AM
With so many posts tauting the DiNotte taillight as being the end all of lights I'm completely surprised that no one has any info on how it preforms in the cold.


Come on folks, give up the info! :)

Well the problem I have had is that the taillight on blink mode has such an extremely long runtime I have never had it die. So even if the battery life is cut in half the batteries would still outlast my ride.

-D

Ziemas
09-17-07, 11:03 AM
Well the problem I have had is that the taillight on blink mode has such an extremely long runtime I have never had it die. So even if the battery life is cut in half the batteries would still outlast my ride.

-D

How long is your ride, and do you use the taillight in below freezing conditions?

edzo
09-17-07, 11:11 AM
if they are lithium they are fine. lithium works way below zero...

Ziemas
09-17-07, 11:14 AM
if they are lithium they are fine. lithium works way below zero...

I use Ni-MH rechargeables. I have a ton of them.

dekindy
09-17-07, 12:08 PM
I use Ni-MH rechargeables. I have a ton of them.

Take some extras along anyway and keep them warm in your pocket.

edzo
09-17-07, 01:23 PM
Ni-Mh are almost as good as lithium in regards to cold. I'd say if they are freshly charged they would
last 92% as long as they would at 70 degrees F. Lithium would be 99.9% (depending on the formula)

so ...no worries

NiCD are the ones which are junk in the cold

paulrad9
09-17-07, 04:31 PM
NiCD are the ones which are junk in the cold

I believe it's the other way around, with NiCads providing better service in the cold than NiMHs

derath
09-18-07, 08:07 AM
How long is your ride, and do you use the taillight in below freezing conditions?

I've ridden upwards of 4 hours with the light on. No freezing yet (Just bought it last spring).

-D

Ziemas
09-18-07, 10:52 AM
I've ridden upwards of 4 hours with the light on. No freezing yet (Just bought it last spring).

-D

Thanks. Was the light on blinking or solid?

derath
09-18-07, 01:15 PM
Thanks. Was the light on blinking or solid?

Blinking.

But if you really want to know email Rob @ dinotte. He has been nothing but straight with me. And so far their published runtimes have been spot on.

-D

Ziemas
09-18-07, 01:48 PM
Blinking.

But if you really want to know email Rob @ dinotte. He has been nothing but straight with me. And so far their published runtimes have been spot on.

-D
Thanks for the info.

I'd like some independent conformation as to run times as I once wrote to Rob asking if they had a 5w spot to replace my 10w halogen spot (I was very clear I wanted a spot) and he tried to talk me into buying his 5w flood, saying it would be just as good as a spot. It rather put me off.