Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Minewt/Trinewt batteries

I have a Minewtx2 Dual and my buddy has a Trinewt (both 2008 models). I connected the battery from his light to mine and everything worked ok. I wouldn't mind having a better battery life, and the size of the battery from the Trinewt doesn't bother me.

So my question is: Does anybody know the specs between these two batteries? Is the power output on the two the same? Would there be any long term damage caused by using the Trinewt's battery on the Minewt? I have searched everywhere and can't seem to find the specs of these two...

Also, are the chargers the same?

The chargers are the same, and I have heard of others using the TriNewt battery with the MiNewt.

Call their Customer service number. Gut feeling, no problem. It would seem that they would use different connectors/ plug interfaces if the units weren't compatible; but that may be a reckless assumption that logic or common sense is involved...

The chargers are the same, and I have heard of others using the TriNewt battery with the MiNewt.

Sweet! Any idea what kind of battery life improvement others were seeing doing that?

Call their Customer service number. Gut feeling, no problem. It would seem that they would use different connectors/ plug interfaces if the units weren't compatible; but that may be a reckless assumption that logic or common sense is involved...

I had the same reckless assumption as soon as I seen his battery, which led me to plugging them in and hoping my light didn't self destruct. I had planned on emailing their CS, but figured I would post here first. I will still email or call them to see what they have to say.

Thanks for the responses!

Sweet! Any idea what kind of battery life improvement others were seeing doing that?

Sorry, I don't know.


I had the same reckless assumption as soon as I seen his battery, which led me to plugging them in and hoping my light didn't self destruct. I had planned on emailing their CS, but figured I would post here first. I will still email or call them to see what they have to say.

Thanks for the responses!

That is a reckless assumption... the Sol/SolMate lights use the same connector, and its NiMH battery and charger are NOT compatible.

My guess would be since the Dual is packaged with the same battery as the single giving pitifully short runtime compared to the competition, either there are not enough larger batteries to supply both the Dual and TriNewt or the batteries are not interchangeable.

My guess would be since the Dual is packaged with the same battery as the single giving pitifully short runtime compared to the competition, either there are not enough larger batteries to supply both the Dual and TriNewt or the batteries are not interchangeable.


the only factor was cost. a dual with big battery vs single
would skew the cost between the two


I haven't tested the voltage from the trinewt battery because it will be hard
to do. it haz a smart circuit and it if doesn't detect the load from a trinewt
triple head lamp the battery circuitry my fry itself. so, on the surface, you
may get light out of a minewt connected to a trinewt battery, but

is the minewt over driven ?
are the trinewt battery electronics protected in this mode ?
will it fry itself ?

thse are good questions and I don't want to sacrifice either a minewt head,
or trinewt battery pack, to find out. I'd stick with the battery designed
for each system.

the only factor was cost. a dual with big battery vs single
would skew the cost between the two.

I am not sure I understand your reasoning here. Dinotte is selling their Dual with two batteries that would have the same high setting runtime as the Minewt Dual's battery for around $100 more and a same capacity/twice capacity two-battery combination for around $120 more. Surely Niterider could have brought their Dual out with one battery that would extend the 1.75 hour high setting runtime significantly for not too many more dollars. My buddy has to nurse his Minewt.X2Dual all the time on our rides. He would rather have paid a few more dollars for a larger battery than spend $100 to $140(Niterider list) or more for another battery the same size. Because he is going to end up spending the extra money anyway. I guess looking on the bright side he does not have to worry about draining the battery to reset the gauge!:eek:

I just got off the phone with NiteRider's tech support, who told me that they are not designed to be compatible. He did not have any specifics as to why to offer me, but I have to assume they are one or both of the main points edzo hit on above. They work initially (as I found out), but I am guessing that extended use would/could burn up either the circuitry in the battery or the lights themselves (which was my concern initially and the reason for posting).

I asked if there were any plans for a better battery to be released for the Minewt, and there was told there wasn't. I asked asked the price of an extra battery: $140 :eek:

-S

^^^

Perhaps NiteRider did as they did in order to keep the listed weight of the light as low as possible. Many people really count the grams on stuff like that as ridiculous as it sounds.