BigCatDaddy

Wondering if some of you would give an opinion.

Just picked up a new Sigma Evo Pro 15 watt halogen twin bulb set set. Listed as battery time of 8 hours. I left home this morning fully charged....temp was 36 degrees. Within 40 minutes, both lights were showing need for recharging and noticably fading in output.

Is this a temp effect on battery? My buddy says batteries store charge better in cold but have less reserve capacity. Am I all mixed up with my terminology?

Do any of you see this in the cold?

Thanks

Cyclist0383

I have the same light and the battery life is a bit over 2 hours with the Ni-Pac battery usign both lights on high.

Nowhere on the box, in the documentation, or on the website, does it list an 8 hour battery life. Where did you get that from, the retailer?

I've used the light in temps down to -32c and have been able to complete a 2 hour commute.

The battery will need to be charged a few times to achieve it's full runtime. Also, the battery indicators on the lamp heads are very conservative, you should have more battery life than they tell you.

All in all I think it's a great light for the money.

dekindy

Do you have to do anything special to preserve the battery run time like keeping the battery warm with additional insulation if it is frame mounted or putting it in your jersey to keep it warm in cold weather? A lot of riders do these things to preserve the battery capacity in winter. Good thing to know when stating cold weather run times. If I remember correctly some people wrap hand warmer packets around their batteries to keep them warm.

BigCatDaddy

my source for battery run times....yes the retailer. Yes, that was the batteries first charge. Tonight the second trip home with it.....I guess I'll compare after a few chargings.

cold run time vs. warm run time.....yes, thats the type of info I'm interested in. Is there such a thing?....a "battery warmer"? Or is this all just hocus pocus?

Cyclist0383

Sounds like the retailer made a rather big mistake. Was it an online retailer or an LBS?

No, it's not hocus pocus, batteries do lose capacity rather quickly in the cold. I keep mine in my jacket pocket.

edzo

cold affects different batteries different ways.

NiCd, cold kills them dead

Lead acid, not so much

NiMH, near impervious to cold, [but when they are old, they are affected]

Li, very cold proof. they used them on the moon at minus 200 deg because they keep working

cyccommute 

Sorry but you are incorrect. Operational temperature of NiCd is -40C to 60 C, NiMH, Li-ion and lead operate from -20C to 60C, Li-ion polymer operate from 0 to 60C.

edzo

whatever, Einstein


I posted my real world results using batteries of these formulations, from -5 F to 110 F

cyccommute 

You don't have to be unpleasant. I've used NiCd for years in the cold without issue. There was probably something wrong with the battery that was unrelated to the cold.

edzo

I don't mean to be a dick, but sometimes I am. maybe my batteries were suspect. I ride all winter long and know what runs the longest for me, before they croak. I ride below zero F on 4 hour missions with big lights.