Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - F'ing TriNewt

I've had my TriNewt field serviced twice for poor battery performance (less than 30 minutes). The electronics were supposedly updated. Failed again around same time. I sent the unit into NiteRider. They found no problem. Claimed just over 3 hrs on high. Get it back and now the TriNewt will only toggle between high and low. I can't turn if off or get it to flash mode.

Has anyone else had such issues? I'm really losing faith in this company and wish I went with Dinotte.

I found Niterider customer service to be a little trying. They came through for me but I had to push and push to get it done. Having worked with many high end gear manufacturers, I found them wanting in comparison.

I had a MiniNewtX2 for about a month and it quit charging (light stayed blue no matter what charge state). I called NR and they made it sound as if it was a common and easy to fix issue, but it would take about a month to turn around the fix -- this did not inspire confidence in the product for me.

I bought it at Performance so I decided to take it back for this one....

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=26297&subcategory_ID=4320

More lumens (350 vs. 150), good price (not much more than the Mininewt ~$10) and no issues so far.

Much broader and more even beam pattern as well.

Ran two tests on the returned serviced battery. 4hrs on low 2:15 on high. Could not turn the until off or get into flash mode. I hope when I talk with them tomorrow they will consider this a lemon battery.

Niterider has and always will consider themselves the be all end all best bike light vendor on the market.. That attitude makes there customer service just plain horrible.. They will assume you do not know what you are doing and you will end up sending it back and forth a few more times.. Then once your warranty expires by 1 day they will tell you, pay up for a new battery and all will be well..

I have more than a handful of bad experiences with NR, that is why I now use a L&M Arc light..

One factor I found on my trinewt is that if the battery is cold (left in the cold garage), the run time diminishes drastically.

I cut a water bottle in half and put the battery in it. That way it fits in a water bottle cage, and is easily removed to bring inside to keep it warm.

Good luck with your light.

Okay, feeling better now. I just got off the phone with NiteRider support and they were very helpful. Because the battery sat so long without use they suggested cycling the battery several times to regain full burn times. They are also sending a new switch cover that may help with the off/flash issue. If I still have problems they are happy to take another look at they TriNewt.