Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Planet Bike Alias 15W battery problems

Hopefully, someone has experienced this. I have had the above light for 2 years. It has been working fabously for the past, then all of a sudden after I rode the bike in the rain, I had a hard time getting the battery and the light to register. I would have to twist and turn the plug into the battery to get it to connect. At times, it would short out and turn off and then back on.

Well, I called Planet Bike and they said that this problem show us sometimes, and it would get progressively worse. So, they would get me a new battery for $50, but now the problem has all but disappeared. So, my question, would it be a waste of time to send it in, that it may be just a fluke, or has anyone else experienced this?

Here's my 2 cents.
DON'T BUY A NEW BATTERY or for that matter another PB Alias, it's old world and there are many better choices. Better batteries, faster chargers, even AA or lightweight units.
The light worked fine and PB is great for service. There are a few online on Ebay
for sale, Some new others used.
I sold my unit in June on Ebay and picked up a Dinnotte 200L and just got a MS light from geoman for $90.00. So far both work great and the batteries weigh nothing compared to the PB, plus charging is half the time.

Good luck

So, the Denotte 200L works pretty good?

I saw that they were $119. Do you know if the batteries they sell are good, or it is better to buy an aftermarket battery. If so, what do you recommend for aftermarket.

The Alias was a great light in its day. I had an Insight which was its predecessor and when it died, they offered to upgrade it to an Insight for about the cost of a battery. I too decided on Dinotte.

You can get battery packs for less than $50 which will work, but shipping still makes it a better idea to look at other options. Unless you can find someone to make a battery pack locally for about $35, it is probably better to move to something else.

The $119 Dinotte model you are looking at actually comes with NO BATTERIES. You buy whatever AA cells you like and use them with whatever AA charger you have. WITH batteries and a charger, it is $149. I'd buy the batteries elsewhere as the POWERIZER brand is OK, but you might do better with something else like Eneloops. The runtime will be about the same as your Alias (~2h), but with more light! For longer times, it is easy to carry extra batteries. They also sell a rechargeable lithium model (same light output, MUCH longer runtimes) starting at $229.

And yes, the Dinotte works well, they ship very fast and have been very reasonable with upgrades, repairs etc.

Also, you wont have to poke around here too much to read about the MagicShine. I am sure 80 or 90 people will chime in shortly. For $90, you get around 3 times the light of a Dinotte and 3+ hrs of runtime (lithium rechargeable).

With those kinds of prices and options you can see why few will think a new Alias battery makes much $en$e.

HTH

So, the Denotte 200L works pretty good?

I saw that they were $119. Do you know if the batteries they sell are good, or it is better to buy an aftermarket battery. If so, what do you recommend for aftermarket.

The Dinotte's usually have a sale in late November for a few weeks.
As stated there are better options. The unit now for $ 119 takes 4 AA Rechargable batteries, if you have them and a decent charger you are all set.
They do have a version that is a lithium battery that is complete lasts longer and is now at $229, goes on sale usually for about $150.00.

Good Luck

I called denotte and they said that the 400L with the lituum battery would be a better fit. But, ouch $$, it is spendy. He said I could get an upgrade from a 2 cell to 4 cell so for $269, I could get a 4 cell. But I may need to check into the Magic shine lights before I buy the denotte. I don't have any recharable batteries, so, I would need to get that as well.

I just finished reading most of the posts on the magic shine and I think I will go with that rather than the Denotee 400l. The MS sounds like a great light for those budget bikers.

I called denotte and they said that the 400L with the lituum battery would be a better fit.

That would be a lot more light than you are used to, but it is a nice deal. Since you dont have any rechargeables, it would seem to be a better fit. But the best bang for your buck, at least in the short run, is probably a MS (MagicShine).