I emailed Dinotte once and they really got cranky about me suggesting that I hook a 7.2v lithium pack to the 4AA taillight. They claimed that the two lightheads were different and that the 4AA one couldn't take the extra voltage.

I had a very similar experience with someone from Dinotte a coupla years ago. I emailed and described how I'd taken a small 6V motorcycle battery and wired it to my 200AA. I got a reply stating that the increased amperage capacity of the motorcycle battery would probably kill the light and I should immediately stop doing that. I think their SOP is to discourage any deviation from the supplied bits. I'm not sure I wouldn't do the same if it was my company.

Unlike ItsJustMe, I don't know much about electrons. What's a buck converter? I kinda think Dinotte could learn from some of the homebrew hacks made by their smarter customers, instead of just saying NO to everyone.

Our Dinotte 200AA questions/issues became less important in my mind a couple of days ago. Based on the glowing reviews at STR (Southern California Trail Riders) and elsewhere, I ordered the MagicShine GMG 900 PLUS Racer's Special.

Now, it's important to note that the reviews are often qualified with comments about "for the price". As in, "we weren't crazy about the UI, but for the price"...

This light is preposterously bright compared to the Dinotte, the cables are similar to TrailTech cables instead of the cheesy 9V battery connectors, recharging the battery pack is a one-step affair.

If nothing fails prematurely, this is one heck of a commuter lamp, which is what we'd be using it for. We're certainly not going to go racing with our Cannondale tandem.

Maybe I'll wrap some red plastic film over the Dinotte and use it for a tail light

hammond9705, is the Trailtech connector that you spliced to your Dinotte noticeably thicker than the standard Dinotte wire emerging from the lighthead? I opened up my Dinotte a few days ago just to see what was going on inside. It would be relatively easy to desolder the two wires and replace them with something else if you could get the new cable out thru the hole. I imagine it could still be done with a slightly fatter cable but you'd need a good source for different sized grommets. A determined individual could even drill out the hole in the Dinotte's backplate and find the next sized up grommet diameter, but that's further than I want to go...