What to do with two cygolite night rovers

[MrCjolsen]

Got them on CL real cheap. One has a water bottle battery, the other is in a frame mount bag.

http://www.cygolite.com/2-Products/9-RoverWB.htm
http://www.cygolite.com/2-Products/10-Rover.htm

Anyway, the batteries, bulbs, chargers are all interchangeable. The way the lights are set up is that each light has two 6v, 6w halogens. One is a spot and the other a flood. The spot is angled upward a bit.

The problem is that with just one light, the flood is basically useless on the my dark, flat, straight commute. And if I run both bulbs, it drains the battery before I get home. I had good performance with both batteries and swaping them out half way home. But that was a pain.

They also work well if I mount both lights and run the spot from each one. But then bar space becomes an issue, especially on my bike with moustache bars.

I've thought about putting both spot bulbs in one light. But then I'd need to swap batteries. Or I could even get a 10w spot.

I've also considered upgrading the battery from one of them by using the wiring and getting something with more amp hours. Then I started wondering if I couldn't even upgrade one of them to 12v.

Any other ideas on how to tweak these lights?

[tarwheel]

They might need a new battery. That's why I replaced my Cygolite NiteRover with a Fenix. The NiMH replacement batteries for Cygolites cost as more than my Fenix flashlight, which runs on inexpensive rechargeable AA batteries. Plus the Fenix is brighter, with a longer runtime. The NiteRover was a good light for its its time, but technology has passed it.

[Portis]

I have owned three night rovers, two 16 watt and one 12 watt like you have. The model you have is pretty weak even with both lamps. However i really love the 16 watt version. In fact i prefer it to my Light and Motion Solo.

The dual beam pitch is very nice and kicks the crap out of a single lamp. I don't know what to tell you to do. If you are happy with the lights you can go to batteryspace.com and buy a 7.2 or 6 volt battery pack for around 25-30 bucks.

[MrCjolsen]

A guy from Cygolite said I can put a 10w bulb in it. There's a place by where I live that sells batteries cheaper than batterspace too. I think 7ah 6v battery is around $20.

Can I overvolt the lights with a 7.2v battery?

[MrCjolsen]

Also, last night I swapped the bulbs so one of the lights has two 6v spot halogens. It actually works a lot better.

[Portis]

These lights also have a dual beam pitch. I think it is a result of the molding that the lamps sit into. This is actually one of the nicest things about these lights if you ask me, because you can see near AND far. A lot of people over volt lights i have never done it but certainly wouldn't be afraid to over over volt form 6 to 7.2.

Supposedly it cuts down bulb life but who cares? I would put one of the 10 watt bulbs in and see how it works. I think you will like it.

[Sir Bikesalot]

The very least thing I would do is to get a new battery. With used lights especially, the battery usually no longer has very good life. And as long as you're getting a new battery, you should definitely get a 7.2V; over-volting 6V lamps at 7.2V is very common and will give you good light gain with not much decrease in bulb life.

If you're really bold, I would suggest upgrading to a 12V system. In this case, you'll have to get 12V MR11 lamps (of which there is much more selection than 6V), and a 14.4-14.8V battery (Li-ion is the most popular, but you can DIY your own from NiMH AAs or 2xRC car batteries). Try batteryspace.com.