Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Techy help Planet Bike 15W Alias, different Battery

Hi folks

I have a Planet Bike Alias 15W light sitting around and I think I wanted to
start using the thing again and here is my issue.

I get about under 2 hours of use and it needs 8 hours to recharge. I do not always have 8 hours. If I ride it to work in the early morning, i have nothing for the ride home. Each way is about 1 hour 40 minutes.

I have the frame mounted battery and it works fine but would rather figure a way to use a better battery set-up.

I have plenty of AA nimh batteries, Any ideas how to rig this?
The Planet Bike web says the "Brick "Battery" a 4.5 AH NiMH battery.

Thanks

Rob

How much is a spare charger? Can you do that at your workplace?

The problem is two fold.
Most of the older style batteries used need 8 hours or so to recharge.
The second one is that the cost is a bit high for what it is. In that case I might as well spend $100 and get a new light by Night rider, dinotte etc.

An option is to get a new switch by Planet bike that will allow me 4 modes of light rather than the one and extend the battery time.

Thanks

Rob

If you are handy with basic electronics, I would cut the Alias battery pack lead and install a set of Anderson Powerpole connectors; you can now use it with the original pack (after installing powerpoles on the other side of the break) or with any other 6V pack (like 4xAA) pack once you've added a set of connectors. You could use other connectors, I just happen to like Powerpoles and have been converting all my ham gear to use them. I am thinking of doing that myself as my new current light set up is an older (10W?) PB Alias with it's 4.5AH pack and Dinotte head and taillights that use AAs. One limitation is the AA pack is half the capacity of the PB Alias pack, so your runtime is going to be significantly shorter on AAs.

hmmm, Okay I can bike better than I can do electronic hook-ups. BUTT, I have a friend who loves these things and this would be the info he needs to help me. I like the idea of still using the original battery and the AA as a switch over for back-up.
Questions;
a) Do you think the run time of the 4 x AA would be 50% of the brick?
b) Is there a DIY way to adjust the light output to a lower power output or even a flash mode.

Thanks

Rob

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120330028783&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab%3DWatching

Thanks, but same as I have but with a 10W bulb, not a 15W as I have.
Plus electronics are old style as I have, plus its a short cord for the helmet.

I still want to be able to find a better battery system that can work with AA' which I have plenty of so they are always charged. Additionally, I would love to find a way to make it a blinky similar to the new electronics on the PB web sight and newer models. This newer model is discontinued,

Robert