gabby
Trail Wise!
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Post by gabby on Oct 10, 2018 16:05:31 GMT -8
We had (have? Might still be in the glove compartment of the car) one of those. Not enough light, and the special battery proved a PITA. Exactly. These are the lessons I'm supposed to learn post-purchase, and vow never to buy sight unseen ever, ever, ever again. I guess I'm just forgetful. Anyway, when I handed the package over to the guy who saw it and wanted it to light his runs on Town Lake downtown early in the morning, I said much the same thing about the issues you noted. I think I remember saying, "Yes, it's small. But it doesn't put out as much light as my teensy tiny 'wear it around my neck' light, and the battery falls into the class of 'unobtaniums' (battery-wise) that make you scratch your head and wonder what in the blue blazes were the engineers who designed this thing thinking?" Okay, and: I still have 3 or 4, MIP ("mint in package") :D
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2018 13:18:39 GMT -8
A few weeks ago, my wife's Black Diamond headlamp quit working.
Not long after she gave it to me, I figured out the issue and repaired the head lamp. Today, I changed the head lamp over to using USB rechargeable Li batteries. I also did some research into the chip set. Their is a standardized LED chip set used in the manufacture of LED Headlamps. The chip set family has 6 members, with the difference between them being enabled and accessible features of the chip set.
The chip set in my wife's Black Diamond headlamp, in single purchase quantity, costs $ 0.99 on Amazon and is in the Prime family. The chip set, also runs blue and green LEDS and can drive, up to a, 5W LED. It's the full featured all the bells and whistles headlamp module.
Point is, on the inside, in regards to the LED headlamps, they are all the same.
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daveg
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Michigan
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Post by daveg on Oct 22, 2018 19:19:44 GMT -8
Ohm -- can you post a link to the chip set on Amazon? I have an older BD Spot that only works intermittently. That might be the fix it needs.
And can you describe how you converted your headlamp to use Li batteries?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2018 3:15:48 GMT -8
Ohm -- can you post a link to the chip set on Amazon? I have an older BD Spot that only works intermittently. That might be the fix it needs. And can you describe how you converted your headlamp to use Li batteries? I, carefully opened the unit, to discover that the unit was held in place with two solder joints holding the battery connections. Once the solder connections were released, the unit just slid out from the case. I attached the unit to a battery holder, with a hot glue gun, and soldered the wires from the holder to the battery inputs to the unit. I tested the unit by installing two USB rechargeable Li batteries into the holder. Unit worked. I then took the light cover, reshaped it to fit the units mounting, and hot glued the cover, forehead plate, and straps to the battery case. The headlamp operated intermittently. I found the problem to be with the actual battery connections of the unit. Right at this moment the unit is hot glued to the battery case, I just looked up the unit number on the back of the circuit board to find the part number.
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Post by k9education on Oct 24, 2018 22:40:41 GMT -8
A few weeks ago, my wife's Black Diamond headlamp quit working. Not long after she gave it to me, I figured out the issue and repaired the head lamp. Today, I changed the head lamp over to using USB rechargeable Li batteries. I also did some research into the chip set. Their is a standardized LED chip set used in the manufacture of LED Headlamps. The chip set family has 6 members, with the difference between them being enabled and accessible features of the chip set. The chip set in my wife's Black Diamond headlamp, in single purchase quantity, costs $ 0.99 on Amazon and is in the Prime family. The chip set, also runs blue and green LEDS and can drive, up to a, 5W LED. It's the full featured all the bells and whistles headlamp module. Point is, on the inside, in regards to the LED headlamps, they are all the same.
This is the case with a lot of automotive light bars also. Many of the cheap Chinese bars use the same LEDs as the higher end stuff costing 5x as much. The differences are in the optics, reflectors, housing, etc. And of course, you're also paying up front for the warranty.
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toejam
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Hiking to raise awareness
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Post by toejam on Oct 25, 2018 6:24:44 GMT -8
In you favorite calendar program, put an entry, for once a week, to energize the head lamp containing the Li battery for 30 seconds per week. Every 10 charge cycles let the headlamp run completely down before recharging. That's way more effort than I'm willing to exert to maintain anything - even a cool piece of gear. And really unnecessary when you can just replace 3 AAA batteries once/year. BTW - I just bought smoke detectors with batteries that last 10 years - the same lifespan as the detector element. Maybe soon there will be 10 year led headlamps.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2018 6:48:03 GMT -8
And really unnecessary when you can just replace 3 AAA batteries once/year. As a note, you can, also, replace the AAA batteries with AAA Li-Pro USB rechargeable batteries.
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RumiDude
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Marmota olympus
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Post by RumiDude on Oct 28, 2018 9:04:39 GMT -8
My big issue is that I don't see well at night so I need a reliable bright light. I have considered a Zebra light. They are expensive but have got good reviews. They also seem to be relatively easy to use. A downside is that they use a 18650 rechargeable battery w/charger that needs to be purchased separately. They are also relatively heavy compared to other headlamps. Finally there seems to be dozens of models and sorting out the differences is challenging for me. Any thoughts or suggestions? Rumi This is the one I have looked at.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2018 10:02:29 GMT -8
Any thoughts or suggestions? The 18650 battery is a very good choice, if you gotta go that route, for a battery. My recent experiences with 186650 is to not waste your money on the wild claims of high mHa >3000maH batteries; they suck. TENERGY, EBL, and PONKY sells a very durable 188650. Whiles Samsung, Panasonic, and the like make very good 186550's they are in the expensive range. I have been using the TENERGY batteries, 2600mHa, very hard these last few weeks. Placing a high demand on their ability to charge, recharge, and supply power. Using 2 TENERGY 186650's running them in series, supplying power to a GPS, sensors, and a screen, they have ran for over 30 hours straight. I then charged them up and repeated the cycle 3 times, giving the batters zero down time between cycles. After that, I use the TENERGY batteries on a daily basis. Yes, I am trying to wear them out. I want to know how far they can go and how much I can depend on them. If you get a light that uses a 186650 battery, do not use the light case, as a battery holder, for long term storage, unless you plan on operating the batteries, once a week for at least 30 seconds per use. Every 10 or so charge use cycles, let the batteries drain down to self turn off. In cold temperatures energize the light for 30 seconds, de-energize, and and re-energize for use. This will heat the batteries internal parts for better efficiency and help retain charge cycles. The turn off after 30 seconds resets the internal battery electronics to operate with a warmed up battery.
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Post by trinity on Oct 28, 2018 13:08:58 GMT -8
RumiDude , I have a Zebralight H52, which has been replaced with the H53 line. It uses a single AA battery, I use rechargeable eneloops. This is a fantastic flashlight, and I highly recommend it. I got the FW, which is a flood light with a warm color. I got the flood for a specific purpose, but for backpacking I think a spot is better, so if you're considering non-rechargeable lights, definitely look at the H53w (unless you prefer a cooler color, which would be the H53c). Incredibly bright, lots of settings, easy to use once you get used to the interface. Zebralights makes fantastic headlamps.
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Post by dayhiker on Oct 28, 2018 13:47:06 GMT -8
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RumiDude
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Marmota olympus
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Post by RumiDude on Oct 29, 2018 9:56:26 GMT -8
Just as an aside, I have found that headlamps that use a remote battery pack are a PITA. The wire which runs from the battery pack to the headlamp tends to hang up on all kinds of things. Not only is this annoying, but it can cause failure by pulling out the wire from the connection. YMMV
Usually the remote battery pack is located at the back of the head strap, though some can run a long way to reach into a breast pocket. I have actually have had a few of these but finally gave up on them because of that.
Rumi
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Oct 29, 2018 21:36:28 GMT -8
I have found that headlamps that use a remote battery pack are a PITA. The wire which runs from the battery pack to the headlamp tends to hang up on all kinds of things I've never had that problem, though I can see how that might be a problem for heavy bushwhackers and other such. Why wouldn't it be possible to thread the entire wire lead section through a length of that hollow, flat braided nylon rope (I know I've seen somewhere in the climbing section at REI)? You know, in order to prevent snags on the wire lead? I know I have some of that stuff somewhere around the house. A casual search shows that you might even be able to get it in a reflective material but... I understand what you're saying - more trouble. I actually prefer the balance of having the battery pack somewhere other than co-located with the lamp - I have even used my ancient BD Moonlights as a reading light at night (both on the trail and at home) by simply moving the battery pack to the side. But, hey, YMMV.
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Nov 28, 2018 11:58:14 GMT -8
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Nov 28, 2018 12:24:17 GMT -8
I have the old Spot and the new Spot 325. I think the Spot 160 offers a lot of performance for the weight and a lot of light compared to what was available 10 years ago for that weight. However, it's not as battery-efficient per lumen as the 325.
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