I bought a NiteRider around 1993 (give or take). This was back when they might've only had one or two models. Mine was what is now called the "Niterider Classic Pro". It's got the two bulbs that you can run separately or together and the waterbottle battery... big and heavy with a coiled connector wire. I paid just over $200. It seemed like a fortune back then.

Are you ready for the amazing part? It's still running! The original battery is holding a decent charge. I had the housing on the head unit replaced by NiteRider (free if memory serves) a few years back just so I could start using the new bar mounting clamp. Making that change dictated that they change out the switch too.

Anyway I know one of these days I'll be forced to look for a replacement battery. But for now I'm glad it's still running.

I've been using a small lead-acid battery as the power source for my DIY 20-watt halogen system. I installed in about 4 years ago and it also holds as good a charge as it did when new.

Battery 101

I have a bunch of cordless Makita Drills from my days as a Cell phone installer/repair dating back to the late 80's that still work.
Rechargable (not lead acid) Batteries are best rated in charge cycles. Everytime you charge a battery you use up a charge cycle. The best way to maximize the life of a battery is to run it fully dead before charging.
Ni Cads actually have one of the best charge cycle ratings of any modern battery. Thats what the 20 year old Mikita batteries are.
NiMh came about as a battery less susceptible to "Memory".

Memory is a result of repetitive charging practices. The worst of these practices is putting a battery on charge every day when you get home from work regardless if it needs it. You will train that battery to need a charge every 24 hours.

The MiMh was a lot better then the NiCad at resisting memory but you could still train them. To get that better resistance came at a oveal loss of charge cycles over a NiCad. A Nicad may have a rating of 5000 charge cycles where a NiMh might have a 3800. THe difference was perception. On Cellphones where I learned this people are very bad about being worried they will not have enough battery to make the day so they would charge nightly or even worse in the car every time they get in. The perseption of the NiMh was better because it resisted the memory training much better so as a result even though it had less over all charge cycles available they would feel it was a better battery becasue it resisted their bad practices better.

Memory can be reversed in a NiCad. They actually sell fancy chargers that "Condition" a battery. it does this by running the battery through a few deep charge and full discharge cycles to get the chemicals in the battery warmed up. The point the average person was thinking their NiCad was bad they were tossing them 95% of the time that battery could be recovered. The NiMh on the other hand the recovery rate was more like 65%. Most of this becaseu they used up the majority of the charge cycles the battery had in it. The perception being that NiMh was better but the reality was a properly treated NiCad actually has a longer lifespan.

Most rechargeable devices are now favoring LiIon for weight savings. LiIon does not have a memory BUT it has far less charge cycles then a NiCad.

Best way to treat any common rechargeable (except lead acid) is a full discharge before charging. The first few charges on any of the above batteries is the most important. You want to give it a good full charge and a full discharge to optimize the battery. Resist short charging batteries if you can. My last cell phone was 7 years old and on its second battery. That second battery would still go 3-4 days where new it would go 7. This iPhone I just got pisses me off with only going 2 days if I limit the data use. It promotes bad charge practices.

Lead Acid (what cars have for starting batteries) are best kept charged. Topping them off daily is actually good as long as you dont bake them out.

I had an early nightrider too (10W) that I used up until last year. The original lead-acid battery died, but I replaced it with another for $20. The 10W bulb was too dim, so I ran it with a 15W which, in hindsight, probably wasn't a good idea. One evening before a ride, I turned on the light and nothing happened. I figured the bulb was dead, but actually what happened was the excess current to power the 15W bulb had eventually melted the insulation around the wires and it shorted. Caused a small fire inside the light which quickly melted all the wiring. The light itself is quite simple and I'm sure I could fix it if I bought new wires, but in the end, I decided to buy a nice LED light instead (a Dinotte 800L). I'm very happy with the Dinotte and don't miss the nightrider at all.

-1. No. do you know how batteries work? you don't "train" batteries. you use them, to a finite number of charge cycles. it's particle transfer, basic chemistry. I really wonder about the sanity of the internet some (most) days.

I had a NiCad Cygolite for a number of years but didn't use it that much. It was a decent light but didn't have close to the output of modern LED lights. Run time was about 3 hours on med high. I sold it last winter after I got a Fenix LED flashlight that was much brighter and weighed about 1/5 as much.

And I'll bet that my single $28 Terralux 2 x AA LED flashlight mounted on my helmet with a rubber band throws out more light than your 1993 Niterider setup. Plus, it has no wires. Plus, you can run one on the bars, and the helmet. And, it drops into your pocket instantly when you're done riding.

Light technology has improved a LOT in the past few years. Current-gen LEDs are amazing for output, price, and efficiency. If you really want to use lights nowadays, check out that Terralux light, or the Magicshine for uber-lumens for <$100.

KISS Keep It Simple Stupid

Most people do not understand it at that level. They understand it at the level I explained and it deters them from the bad practices when explained the way I have. I'm not calling people dumb I am just dumbing down the explanation to terms that somebody without electronics background would be familiar with to get them to understand the importance of proper charging.

The fact is charging more frequently then required overcharges causing a capacitance issue with the cells where it drops voltage prematurely. The effect in electronics is it triggers the low charge indicator early. In a phone that will cause the phone to shut down or continuously give low battery indication. This mostly applies to NiCad as I stated and less so on a NiMh. My explanation was fine. It gets the desired point accross.

But if you only half discharge a Li battery, and then recharge it, this only counts as half a charge cycle. If you do this twice, it counts as a full charge cycle.

z

Doesn't really work that way. A "cycle" is a change from a discharging state to a charging state. Li batteries are good for around 500cycles before they start loosing capacity from the chemicals in them degrading. Now that's not saying it bad at 500 cycles and it will need replacement, thats saying that it starts becoming obvious it has lost capacity over what it had when new. If the battery is only 1/4 discharged and you charge it it is still a cycle. Wait till it is more discharged to give it a charge and you will increase its overall useful life.

A Li Ion needs a peridic deep discharge in items like phones more to reset the calibration between it and the device it powers. Other then that hold off charging till you discharge it more then 50% just so you can get more use out of it. Example: you charge it every day when it can go 2 you theoretically will use it up twice as fast and need to replace it in 2 years verses 3.5-4 if you charge it every other day.

Watch out for "trickle" chargers on NiCad, NiMh and Li bateries. They indiscriminately charge. They are the ones that will cook a battery if you leave them on it for extended periods of time. Most newer phones this is not an issue as there is a charging circuit built into it that will stop charging when it is full. A head light may not have an inteligent charge circuit and will continuously put power to the battery even if it has reached full capacity. The exception again being a Lead acid. They like to sit on charge and it helps prevent the plates from sulfating.

-100

Fully discharging a NiCad or NiMH battery pack (anything that's more than one cell) is one of the worst possible things you can do to it. Memory is mostly a myth. And quick charging seems to work better than slow for NiMH as long it is kept cool. (partly because it's easier to detect the -∆v to trigger end of cycle)

Further reading:

https://www.ka7oei.com/nicds.html

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...d.php?t=217683