rumrunn6

Hmmm ... OK, there is a small circle of condensation on the inside of the lens. That can't be good. Does anyone know if this head comes apart easily? I would love to air it out. If not I'll just bring it in the house for a few days and hope it finds a way to dry out on it's own. Then for the next rain storm maybe I will apply a wrap of electrical tape at the silver to black seam.

daniel58

Another added bonus is the lithium ion batteries being sold by allbattery online store are in fact tenergy lithium ion batteries;

a major "branded name" lithium ion battery manufacturer which is probably better than some of the cheap imported suspect quality lithium ion battery packs being sold out there on ebay/deal extreme.

in any event "65watt-hours" of electrical energy for $24.13 is pretty decent pricing, for a "7.4VDC /8.8aH" lithium ion "branded name" battery pack made by a major lithium ion battery manufacturer; where quality control is probably done on a more scheduled basis.

In my case I use and press the "Twin"]Magicshine Led Lightset setup into "doing double duty" as an illumination tool for "hiking" as well as "cycling", fortunately its plenty bright enough for "both" given lighting applications even in the darkest of murky foglike conditions with "sufficient 13Watt level almost HID-like Intensity illumination" (double Magicshine Lightset on high intensity) and"sufficent battery reserve running time capacity" (double 8.8aH battery pack for each Magicshine Led Lightset).

certainly the enhanced lithium ion battery running times will go a long way to allaying any fears of running out of power "in the field" in the middle of a bike tour like in "cccorlew's case" (sorry "Geoman", you missed the boat customer service wise on this one) or in the middle of an unintensional night hike(from losing ones bearing for those directionally challenged).

Geomangear though to his credit has plenty of Magicshine Led Lightset's(MJ-808) now in stock however; just in time for christmas holidays gift giving to others or even oneself(if one is unlucky enough to not get a Magicshine under the tree- as of this updated posting time he has 1191 Magicshine MJ-808 in stock for potential gift giving; stock for about 7 days or so;12/10)

Happy Holidays to all

rumrunn6

Wow! Outstanding Customer Support! I got a very quick reply and did what I was told and it appears good as new. However the cap is very smooth and one should be very careful handling it and the clear lens so as not to drop them. I didn't but almost. Here is what I was told:

"The bezel unscrews easily. Be careful not to drop the lens! Remove the lens, turn on the light, let it heat up for a few minutes, and reassemble. All is well."

daniel58

Good to hear your problem was resolved "satisfactorily" and that the condensation problem was not going to cause further problems in the future, sounds like the Geoman came thru for you in typically spectacular fashion again, (kudos to the "G" man)

Happy Holidays to all

rumrunn6

... at one point a school bus passed me and threw a tidal wave at me that drenched me and the bike. well, at least we're clean!

daniel58

now that would be the equivalent to the "mother of all waterproof testing protocols" during a drenching rainstorm for both "raingear" and "Led Lightsets", indeed.

anyway, thanks for taking the time to the posting of your feedback and experience(s) both positive and negative; its all good to know for future reference and information(hopefully there are many more out there waiting to post).

P.S. to any new Magicshine Led Lightset users out there feel free to chime in with your first impression reviews technical or otherwise; also feel free to post pictures of Magicshine Led lightbeam patterns(at night of course); so we can see your Magicshine setup and how effectively it works in your particular cycling intended application.

It might be interesting to "compare and contrast" potential Magicshine user's pictures under various lighting road terrain lighting scenarios and match them up against their "first impression reviews".

In any event its all good information to know for future reference, for this forum about trying out the Magicshine 900 Lumen; in its various MS user applications.

Happy Holidays to all

Plutonix

They can be hard to miss. They just have to open at a given temperature, typically by melting. The more fancy the PCB, the more the PTC ends up a last resort item. I'm pretty sure that's what this is:


Most are right under the top cap. It is also possible that some DX batteries dont use them. No pesky lawyers rambling on about product liability and all that nonsense...

It depends on the cell size and brand and more recently vs several years ago.

Consumer sized cells still implement multiple safety elements like both a resettable switch and a last ditch non resettable fuse. Surely this is to avoid headlines like "Energizer Bunny Burns down House". Industrial sized cells like 4/3Af, 4/5A, flat tops etc destined for packs seem to have a only one or the other in favor of pack level, application specific protections and higher capacity. Infinity brand seemed very unforgiving. It is hard to tell if Powerizer has generous tolerances or simply has foregone them altogether.

dougmc

I went looking for the allbattery pack, and didn't find it. Turns out I should have gone to all-battery.com instead. In any event, this seems to be the pack in question --

https://www.all-battery.com/li-ion186...connector.aspx

The price certainly does seem right -- to buy the cells needed to make a similar pack from Deal Extreme, you'd spend $32.72 -- and then you'd need the connector, some wire, shrink wrap and to do the soldering yourself.

Makes me wonder if I can get just the light itself (no battery, no charger) from Geomangear

daniel58

I made the same mistake, I just entered it into the google search engine to help myself find it(common mistake).

yes that is the right 7.4VDC/8.8aH lithium ion rechargeable battery pack (stock no. is 31009, just enter it into the search field); once one gets to the all-battery online store.

I unintentially and accidentally ran across "this deal" on a all-battery online store search when I was doing a routine price resorting search within the subcategory lithium ion batteries.

Go figure, whatever the result I will take a significant savings in any form I can get my hands on(happy gift giving to all).

Though the holiday sale priced lithium ion rechargeable battery offering is for a limited time only; so take advantage of the offering and savings while it lasts.

Funny thing Geoman used to carry just the Magicshine lighthead($45) and the Magicshine lithium ion battery($38), but now for some unexplained reason now does not again; go figure.

Though in my case the rationale and thinking was, with the purchase of a second Magicshine lightset(MJ-808) from the "G" man; I now have a spare $10 MS-supplied lithium ion charger(keeping one at work/home and just in case it burns up),

an extra 4.4aH lithium ion battery(a lightweight extra lithium-ion battery in case of an unforseen problem-connector/moisture);

that fits into an extra battery case holder, as well as the included set of black latex of o-rings(which helps to close and mitigate the price differential point between $85 and $45(lighthead only) of $40 additional monies,

if one were to buy the Magicshine Lighthead only it is important to note one does not get the battery, cables or charger so one would also need to buy the 1 meter(3ft) extension cable for $8.00 and the Magicshine supplied lithium ion AC charger for $10.00.

makes it a virtual wash-not that much difference either way; when shipping is included for extra spare parts/accesories order is factored in).

Happy Holiday to all

ItsJustMe

The reason is that he wasn't buying the individual stuff from the factory, he was buying kits and breaking them up. I suspect he started getting a huge pile of one part or another and decided to go back to just selling the whole kit.

I bought a couple of lightheads for a friend who is not in the US but rides an ebike - the batteries would have been silly for him to buy since he's already sitting on about 20 amp hours at 48 volts of lithium-iron-phosphate batteries - he just built a step-down regulator and plugged them in.

For me though, if I bought another lighthead, I'd just buy the whole thing and have the spare battery.

daniel58

Well hopefully Geomangear will soon start stocking Magicshine spare parts and accessories as he says he is a "Magicshine dealer".

I know the Magicshine is a relatively new product offering in the arena of P7 Based High Intensity Power Bicycle Led Lightsets; hopefully the "G" man will start carrying them "sooner" rather than "later".

Its a pity on the Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries are not in the "mainstream use" in so far as rechargeable lithium ion battery application use;

they are supposedly much improved over the Lithium Ion Cobalt based rechargeable batteries in so far as much offering much"better total cycle life" and decreased "aging" issues;

also their voltage is completely different at 3.2VDC as opposed to the 3.7VDC for regular Lithium Ion Cobalt based batteries.

Happy holidays to all

dougmc

Is there a reason you bold random words? It's distracting -- at best. It takes away from your thoughts, which so far seem to usually be well thought out, though you do come across as a fanboy sometimes

daniel58

noted

daredevil

That's what I call a pretty classy response to an apparent arsehole!

daniel58

F.Y.I. posting; note the new arrival shipments posted at geoman:

also for those Magicshine holiday shoppers Santa has apparently arrived early;

there have been some new Magicshine "in stock" arrivals indicated below for your reference; in order of availability,

as of this updated posting time geoman has:

Magicshine MJ-808 in stock for potential gift giving; present stock quantity 1158 stock for about 10 days or so;12/13) -->happy holidays santa came early

furthermore, geoman is now carrying the Magicshine racer's special; present stock quantity 89 --> happy holidays santa came early

in addition, geoman is now carrying the 7.4VDC / 4.4 aH lithium ion batteries; present stock quantity 47 --> happy holidays santa came early

moreover, geoman is now carrying the Magicshine lighthead only option; present stock quantity 40 -->happy holidays santa came early--> dougmc

Hope you all get whatever Magicshine lightsets and accessories one has been waiting to get;

Good Luck to all in filling your Xmas shopping lists

Happy holidays to all

dougmc

I'm an apparent arsehole? I even added a complement along with the (mild) admonishment!

daniel58, are you connected to Geomangear in some way? I haven't gone back through all your posts to see if you said you were, but based on the posts I have read, it suggests some connection that goes beyond merely being a satisfied customer, yet you refer to them in the third person.

Cool about the lighthead being available seperately now. Will order one.

daniel58

no connection, third person writing point of view had not noticed;

I used to own a Princeton Tec Switchback One Led Bicycle Lighting System until I eventually found out about and became aware of Magicshine through reading and researching Magicshine through internet forum community postings.

My only regret, was not purchasing Magicshine sooner(due to ignorance, not doing my homework and trusting bicycle lighting manufacturers) and not purchasing Magicshine in place of Princeton Tec Switchback One Led Bicycle Lighting System, which at the time I thought was a pretty decent bicycle lighting system.

Magicshine is only one of a very few suitable; very high lumen P7 based Led Lightset generic product offerings that I have found that is consumer friendly enough and cost effective enough to take non proprietary upgrades to the rechargeable battery sub-system as I have discovered through reading and researching other people's Magicshine internet forum community postings.

daredevil

noted.......sorry

rumrunn6

a little more news about my unit post-torrential rain storm event. the light worked fine going home in full darkness and I used the high power setting. I was apprehensive not to be using my strobe but the light seemed to do the same thing for me - in terms of being seen. no one objected to it's brightness with it aimed as I had it. on only a very few occasions did I wish it was aimed higher. when i got home (about an hour) the switch wouldn't turn the unit off even though the switch had been working all day for demonstrations to my friends at work. I took the lens cap off and let it dry overnight leaving the light burning for 20 minutes last night and again this morning. the switch is working again. however I notice the switch requires complete depression; meaning it is possible to make the switch "click" without actually actuating the switch. or at least I think so. I'll be keeping my eye on that switch and more cautious in the rain.

daniel58

don't know if this will help you in any way but it certainly cannot hurt to try as you are still having intermittent moisture releated electronic problems with your Magicshine lightset.

there might be some residual moisture still within the Magicshine enclosure, , parts, switch, boards, etc;

it might be worth it to try to put the Magicshine disassembled inside ones car directly over the heated vent underneath the windshield with the vent fan speed setting on its highest speed and highest heat setting available;

this of course is to help accelerate the venting out and baking out of any potential residual moisture leftover that still might be in the Magicshine enclosure, parts, switch, boards, etc.

It just might work or not ,but it is likely to make the moisture induced problem better rather than worse.

If it works and resolves the problem that would of course be the ideal scenario and if not;

all one might have to try doing it just for a longer length of time a couple times to ensure every last bit of residual moisture is driven out in stages,

with the automotive heat vent setting on the highest intensity setting as well as the highest speed automotive vent fan setting.

This same technique worked for me personally, when I was drying out the inside of my cell phone that somehow inadvertently got some moisture inside and I had a hard time getting residual moisture out of the cell phone; in that case it worked but it took a couple times of venting and baking out the cell phone.

Good Luck, nontheless in your endeavor

dougmc

Well, if there's no connection, 3rd person makes perfect sense.
I haven't bought any really expensive lights -- the most expensive one I've got is a Cygolite 135 lumen. (Which is a good light, and it has a better beam pattern than the Magicshine or DE P7 lights -- but of course it costs the same as the Magicshine, has no lower brightness modes and puts out less overall light.)

Do the others really make it impossible to replace the batteries with something else? They Cygolite has a 4.8v NiMH pack that I could easily replace with something else (NiMH is easy -- LiPo would require a voltage regulator or DC-DC converter, but it's still pretty easy.) It seems to me that any light with a seperate light and battery would make it pretty easy to replace the battery with something of your own design unless any driver circuitry was actually in the battery pack (which seems like it should be rare.)

daniel58

Cygolite is a major Led Bicycle lighting systems manufacturer that makes various intensity and assorted Led Bicycle lighting systems

from the popular Rover II series,

to the Cygolite Mighty Cross 300 series,

to the Cygolite TridentX 600 series,

to the Cygolite Trion 600 series,

basically ranging in price from about $150 to about $350 price spectrum wise.

Now, in the past I have been over at mtbr looking at the various 2008 and 2009 Led Bicycle light shootout roundup, comparing various different sample Led bicycle lighting system manufacturers product offerings,

which have included a representation of Bicycle Led Lighting Systems from Cygolite and other bicycle lighting system manufacturers as well.

I have attempted to correlate lumens claims by the various bicycle lighting system manufacturers with their associated Led Bicycle light beam pattern profile shots,

some are better and some are worse at making and reporting claims of high lumen output from their particular Led Bicycle Lightset Lighting systems.

Now, what is interesting in the 2010 the Led Bicycle lighting system roundup included the Magicshine Led Bicycle Lightset product offering for the first time,

and if one looks at the Magicshine Led Bicycle light beam pattern profile shots and then compares it with the other bicycle lighting system manufacturers Led Bicycle light beam pattern profile shots,

the Magicshine compares favorably and at least above average in most cases, well at least that is what my eyes tell me anyway.

So, after looking at the below links and accompanying Led Bicycle light beam pattern profile shots one can discern what true value the Magicshine Led Bicycle Lightset is offering,

at least when compared to the other field of other Bicycle Lighting System manufacturers Led Bicycle Lightset product offerings to see what that represents for oneself.

https://www.mtbr.com/beamcomparisoncrx.aspx (check out the rollover comparison feature)

https://fonarevka.lux-rc.com/

There one can find an assortment of P7 based lightset engines for further comparison and evaluation with ones own "naked" eyes.

Yes, also please reference the website article on mtbr.com titled also as:

Bike Lights Shootout Light Meter Measurements

and one may also be interested in the related article on mtbr.com titled;

2010 Mtbr Bike Lights Shootout

and one may also be interested in the related article on mtbr.com titled;

2009 Mtbr Bike Lights Shootout

and one may also be interested in the related article on mtbr.com titled;

2008 Mtbr Bike Lights Shootout

and one may also be interested in the related article on mtbr.com titled;

LED Bike Lights Shootout3

Happy Holidays to all

sierrabob

Hi there Magicshine fans,

Just picked up the new MJ-812single 18650 cell flashlight and the MJ-808 four cell. The new light has a P7-D bin and runs at 2800 mA. Subjective impression: brighter, not as floody as MJ-808, seems to have really good watertight integrity. Main perk: easy mounting and no wireless interference with Sigma Rox 9.0.

I'll attach some photos as time permits.

This could be the cat's meow so watch out Cateye.

P.S. This is not real "fanboy" type stuff. I'm just gushing a little about Geoman's latest offering.

daniel58

the other problem is when one goes to a particular Bicycle Led Lighting System manufacturers website, like Princeton Tec for example one has to determine the particular model and then the particular associated battery that goes with the Bicycle Led Lightset System.

from there one has to determine if the manufacturers website reveals that partiuclar specification for the batteries voltage, chemistry and amp hour ratings,

In addition, Princeton Tec has what's looks like some kind of plastic waterproof fitting that screws on and cinches down to the connector fittings to probably make that waterproof seal.

For the Cygolite Mighty Cross 350 for example in the spare parts ordering they reveal only extremely limited information on the replacement battery lithium ion based battery,

namely its a 3.8VDC lithium ion battery but they do not reveal its amp-hour capacity while at the same time however revealing its $70 cost and,

the accompanying strict warning that the MityCross is only compatible with the Li-Ion battery it came with and,

that the Led light is not compatible with any other lithium ion batteries.

Not very consumercentric friendly is my take on it, even under the best circumstances of interpretation and if one decides to put in a lithium ion battery in on their own,

one basically probably does not have a Cygolite product warranty anymore as it would probably be automatically voided.

In asnswer to your question, yes one could probably figure it out with some electronics background knowledge, test equipment, electronics tools and electronics experience but,

for the ordinary "Joe Six Pack" consumer, basically it would be probably to difficult to bother trying to figure out how to do it properly and would definitely void the product warranty;

not exactly consumercentric friendly for the general "Joe Six Pack" consumer.

Happy Holidays to all

Plutonix

The major hurdle in replacing light packs is usually matching the oddball connector which most makers make difficult in order to increase sales via replacement packs . Even then it is not hard to move the old connector from the old pack to the new. It can be harder when you are trying to get an extra pack. One trick is to make the connector itself disconnect from the pack: Put something like a Tamiya on the pack leads, which connects to Tamiya (or whatever) on the original/old battery connector.

In effect, you make the old plug into a Tamiya-Whatever adapter and can move/share the proprietary connector across N packs. You can position it so the extra connection is close to the battery in the bag and if needed, fashion a 'weather boot' to slide over the connection if you ride in wet weather. Can be nice when you dont want to change out or splice your light cord with new connectors. These cheap Deans clones dont lock but work well for that.

Replacing an NiMH pack with a Lithium one is not hard as voltage regulated systems are not hard to find. The first one can be costly if you have to buy a charger as well. There usually isnt any odd circuitry, just the issue of finding a connector compatible with the light head and charger.

Of course if the light is under warranty and you send it in with the cable cut and spliced with a new plug you are probably left at their tender mercy whether they will void it or not.