fietsbob

popping out 4AA and putting them into the charger is not that big a handicap ..

PaulRivers

You're the only person claiming that it would be. For anyone ordering the light, they'd likely like to know what they are and aren't getting with the light, if they preferred it one way or the other they wouldn't have to pay shipping twice.

fietsbob

I got the previous version, not the premium new one , Which is adequate for my needs , cost less too..

Put the Eyc T on my Brompton hub dynamo upgrade , golf ball size , and sits closer to the ground

works fine in that placement. . It actually gets more use .. think I'll go somewhere now ..

over and out

ItsJustMe

My complaints about AA is not physical inconvenience, but that NiMH chemistry doesn't do well in low temps. I returned a Philips earlier this year because at -5*F the battery life was 20 minutes, not 2 hours. NiMH simply can't cope with very low temps.

fietsbob

That is where a remote battery pack on a wire is a winner ... the battery can be inside your coat and body heat will keep the battery warm.

ItsJustMe

Just using LiIon works well too. Even at -25*F, my LiIon light still has decent runtime. It's down, but only from 3 hours to about 2 hours, not 2 hours down to 1/3 hour as I saw with NiMH.

PaulRivers

Sorry I don't recall which it was and I'm really curious - did you use Sanyo Eneloop AA's in your light, or were you using the stock Phillips batteries that came with the light?

ItsJustMe

I was using the Philips batteries. Chemistry wise it shouldn't matter - in fact Eneloop capacity is less than a normal NiMH, the only advantage AFAIK is that they hold their charge longer. In this case I took the light off charge minutes before putting it on the bike, so that shouldn't matter.

PaulRivers

I ask because the stock Phillips batteries had a reputation for being crappy, regardless of whether it was cold weather or not. There's a number of reviews on amazon and a few elsewhere about it. Here's some links -

Amazon.com: Martt Harding's review of Philips BF48L20BBLX1 SafeRide Black LED Ba...
Bad news: (1) Like a couple other reviewers, at least one of the four batteries was defective. I charged them before trying the light, but it ran only 20-30 minutes. It took a couple days charging and discharging the batteries in an external MAHA charger to prove conclusively that at least one and perhaps two were not up to snuff.

Amazon.com: Christopher J. Olsen's review of Philips BF48L20BBLX1 SafeRide Black LED Ba...
The a few of the AA batteries that came with my light were not real good, and the first time it didn't run very long. But once I had good batteries, I got an hour and a half on high before it switched to low.

Amazon.com: PaulSquatch's review of Philips BF48L20BBLX1 SafeRide Black LED Ba...
1. Stock batteries are junk. After a few charge/discharge cycles it still wouldn't run more than 30 minutes on high. I ran these cells through a test on my charger and two of the cells had only 1300 mAh capacity. If I decide to keep the light these are going in the trash.

Amazon.com: Peter Olson's review of Philips SafeRide Silver LED Battery Driven...
I would agree with the general view of other reviewers that the light has a great beam pattern but poor battery life. I was finding the latter to be particularly true for cold weather riding in northern Wisconsin. I had a set of four Enloop XX batteries in an older bike light (a B&M Ixon) which I used for comparison tests in the SafeRide. This was done on different evenings with similar but not identical temperatures. In each case the batteries were fully charged. The SafeRide light and batteries were indoors at room temperature and then placed on a bike handlebar outside and turned on. The test with the Phillips batteries began at 42°F and ended at 40°. The light switched from high-power to city mode after about 35 minutes and shut off completely at 39 minutes. The Enloop XX test started at 41°F and ended at 37°. The SafeRide ran for 83 minutes in high-power mode and another 15 minutes in city mode.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I said this elsewhere, but the eneloop marketing claims that the newer models are better in the cold than the older models -
https://www.amazon.com/eneloop-cycle-...ywords=eneloop

(Name followed by "Low Temperature Capacity")
Eneloop "1000 Cycle": +14 degrees F
Eneloop "1500 Cycle": -4 degrees F
Eneloop XX: -4 degrees F

So I do not know if/how well eneloops would work at temps like -25 degrees Fahrenheit, but it definitely sounds to me like a combination of just plain craptastic batteries in the Phillips light, and modern eneloops claiming to do better in the cold, means that you'd probably get far better results from Eneloops in the cold or in the warm than you did with the Phillips light and crappy batteries. I don't know if that would be good enough for your conditions or not, though. Also of note is that if I remember right, the Phillips light claimed not more than 2 hours of battery life, whereas the ixon iq claims 4-5 hours.

PaulRivers

Fyi - the Ixon IQ Premium has the ability to plug in an external charger to charge the AA batteries in the light. Downside - it's not a usb connection.

But I just tested it, and the light does stay lit and putting out light while it's hooked up to the charger. As long as it has batteries in it - if I take the batteries out it won't work, but as long as the batteries are in the light it stays lit up.

This is what it says on the charger:
Model: 447L
PRI: 100-240V~60/50Hz 150mA
SEC:9V (some symbol) 600mA 5.4VA
With current regulation

So if someone wanted to, they could order a charger, cut and rewire the cable to an external battery pack, and pretty much run it off the external pack. Would be a fair amount of work though, and like I said it's not usb so it's not as simple as just getting an external usb battery.

ItsJustMe

Well, if Philips can't be bothered to spend an extra dollar to put non-garbage batteries in their light, then any bad impressions of the light that result really are on them.

I really didn't like the design either though. I would rate its waterproofness as "light drizzle only." The USB charger cover was a little rubber flap that actually fell out on its own within 10 minutes of inserting it, even when the light was just sitting there. Directly inside the flap was a bare circuit board with no design for excluding water. I'd have to assume that in a heavy rain the light would get quite a bit of water in it.

Also the battery cover was VERY VERY difficult to close properly - the screw wanted to cross thread really badly, it took me 10 minutes the first time to close it, over 5 minutes the 2nd time. I had to just keep fiddling with the screw until it went in straight.

PaulRivers

Right...but that isn't reflection of how well nimh AA's would work in the cold. I assume they're not as good as lith-ion, but comparing by how much using half-defective cells for one set isn't an accurate test.

jputnam

I ran the Philips for two Seattle winters of daily commuting before switching the commuter over to a Luxos U with dynamo hub. Never had any water intrusion issues. Never had any trouble with the case screw, but only opened it 2 or 3 times.

Maybe you got a bad unit?

jpatkinson

QUICK THREAD RESURRECTION

I attempted to order a B&M IXON Core from Rosebikes, but the order was cancelled (not shipped) because US customs prevents them from importing anything with a battery (I don't know if this is specific to lithium ion, or any type of battery). I am still pondering my lighting purchase (that 50 lux isn't impressing me, nor were the Core reviews on the German Amazon site). I wish there were an IXON IQ with lithium ion built-in. Or, not.

TransitBiker

Importing anything with a battery??? That sounds like something isn't right with them, as things with batteries are regularly imported into the US (cell phones, computers, many other bike lights that i have seen and the one on my own bike etc).

- Andy

jpatkinson

Here is their email to me:

"Thank you for your order. Unfortunately we cannot send two articles to you, because those are dangerous goods, as we are not allowed to send to the USA

[TABLE]
[TR]
[TD]3
[/TD]
[TD]1984170 1
[/TD]
[TD]B + M Dioden-Rücklicht IXXI, inkl. Akku, USB-Kabel, Bef.system
[/TD]
[TD]14.95
[/TD]
[TD]1.0000
[/TD]
[TD]14.950000
[/TD]
[TD]Klärung nach Verarbeitung
[/TD]
[TD]N
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4
[/TD]
[TD]1984198 1
[/TD]
[TD]B + M Scheinwerfer LED Ixon Core 50 Lux, inkl. USB-Kabel, Ladegerät + Akku
[/TD]
[TD]39.90
[/TD]
[TD]1.0000
[/TD]
[TD]39.900000
[/TD]
[TD]Klärung nach Verarbeitung
[/TD]
[TD]N
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Should we cancel the complete order by then? Please response."

TransitBiker

Thats really sketchy, seeing as though I have the same stuff (B&M) on my bike...

Try a different vendor??

- Andy

dscheidt

It's their shipper, not customs. There are restrictions about shipping lithium batteries via air. (too many burst into flames...) It's quite likely they don't have any way of shipping that isn't air.

noglider 

Weird. Try xxcycle.com. I haven't bought anything from them with a battery, but they might be able to ship to you.

TransitBiker

So their shipper doesn't have the proper license to send lithium batteries.

Just find someone else to sell them to you. Perhaps this will inform them to update their shipping contractor....

- Andy

acidfast7

Another reason that dynamos are superior

PaulRivers

The oddity is that the Ixon IQ Premium doesn't take lith-ion batteries, they're old school nimh, which have no restrictions...

TransitBiker

- Andy

zacster

Now that I have one I'd never go back, and I was a complete skeptic about the whole dynamo and light thing. I didn't think it could compete with a battery light. I'm looking forward to the fall when I'll actually use the light on my commute. I'm never out that late in the spring/summer, except on purpose to demo it.

Maybe I'll do a demo at bike to work day. The party goes until 9 down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, (DUMBO)

jpatkinson

Context is everything. I ran a Shimano Alfine dynamo + B&M Lumotec Cyo RT for over two years on my last commuter (40 lux). My Surly DT is off-the-shelf, and buying a hub + rim + spokes + labor + light = $400 for a headlight that is bolted to one bike for a short commute. I can move a portable light to my road bike for early morning work-outs, or to any of the other bikes at home.