neilfein

Has anyone had problems with a Dinotte 200L? The battery will no longer plug into the light (or either of the two chargers I have). I can force the contact by pressing the two cords together very tightly, but that's obviously not an optimal solution.

Dinotte replaced this light last year at no charge when I had this problem, but now the same problem is back.

Is it possible that there's grime in the contacts? (I keep it mounted on my helmet, that's an opportunity for all kinds of stuff to get caught in the light when it's unplugged.) I've tried to clean them, but possibly not well enough. I'm hesitant to try dipping the terminals in rubbing alcohol.

This is an amazing light -- when it works!

ks1g

It sounds like the connector and or cable is failing, or possibly a broken wire in the cable from repeated bending (NEVER yank on the cable to disconnect). I assume you have a lithium rechargable pack and not the AA-powered model (expect the 4-cell holders to fail often especially if they get wet). I think the battery not charging reliably on either charger points to a problem with the battery side of the connector. If you have or can borrow another known good battery and light, you could check which combinations of battery and light work, which may allow you to narrow the problem to the light or the battery.

Dinotte has excellent customer service and sells replacement hardware including battery packs. Depending on the age of your light and the nature of the problem, battery replacement may or may not be covered by warranty (batteries do wear out).

king-tony

Are you using the extension plug to carry the battery in your pocket or plugging straight into the light. With this happening to two lights, it could be the extension. I try not to take my lights out unless they are plugged into the battery to prevent crap from entering the connectors. I have a second helmet with the light mounted to one and the other without to avoid this problem.

neilfein

I'm plugging the battery straight into the light; I leave both mounted on my helmet. The extension cord died a while back, and that was a replacement from another extension cord.

neilfein

When I first bought the light, I would have agreed with you. However, they've not returned my email from this past Wednesday. Their outgoing voicemail has the name of an individual, not the company. They did used to have excellent customer service. I hope they're still in business!

VT_Speed_TR

It appears likely you bent/damaged the connector on the battery. That is the common point across all the devices you listed (head unit & 2 chargers). I would look carefully at the connector on the battery to insure its shape is correct. Not sure what type of connector they use, but you could always cut off the damaged connector and splice on a new connector on the battery end of the wire.

neilfein

The connector is proprietary, and I think I'd need to get another from Dinotte. I'll take a look later and see if it's visibly damaged. I've also been searching for my spare battery.

neilfein

I've not been able to find my extra battery, and there's no visible damage on the terminals.

I spoke to them today, and the customer service guy has been out of the office for a bit. He suggested that since it's still barely possible to make contact, I should try some Dielectric grease on the battery terminal. If that doesn't work, I should send it in for repair.