Bike
Light Batteries
From
our experience we have come to learn that replacement batteries
for bike lights can be very expensive, sometimes so much
so that it’s more cost effective to buy a complete
new light kit when really its only the battery that needs
replacing. Many people have decided to build their own bike
light systems from scratch reducing the overall cost and
getting a custom solution which will suit their needs better
than a standard product could.
There
are many different types of lighting systems available for
use on bikes however they can be split down into two main
categories; lights to make you able to be seen, and lights
to able you to see. The difference between the two is the
type of bulb used in the light; we are no experts in bulb
technology but we have gathered together the information
needed to relate the specifications of bike light bulbs
to the specifications of batteries in order to be able to
design the best battery solution for your lighting system.
At the present time, the best solution we can offer is NiMh
(Nickel Metal Hydride) systems; they offer the best performance
characteristics at the most suitable budget.
When
it comes to a lighting system, ideally, a bike light would
have the brightest bulb which can run forever; realistically
this cannot be the case. When it comes to finding the right
battery solution, the interesting specification is how long
will the battery power the light before failing. The main
details which affect this parameter are the voltage (Volts)
and power (Watts) rating of the bulbs used.
A
NiMh bike light battery will be made up of a number of cells
strung together in series. Each cell has a voltage of 1.2V,
therefore a 6V battery will have 5 cells, a 12V battery
will have 10 cells. The voltage rating of the battery must
match that of the rated voltage of the bulb, a lower voltage
will not run the bulb effectively, if at all. If the battery
voltage is higher, this can damage the bulb and ultimately
reduce the life time of the light.
The
power rating of the bulb is important; the higher the power
rating, the more current the bulb needs to power is and
hence a higher capacity battery will be needed to cope with
the current drain. With batteries, as you increase the capacity,
this size of the battery increases and with it the cost.
The important thing to remember is the higher the voltage
and power rating of your bulb, the larger and more expensive
your battery will be.
The
weight and size of the battery pack is a very important
factor; the size of the battery pack will relate to the
electronic specifications outlined above, however the shape
of a battery pack can be worked with and there are may different
ways a battery can be configured. Packs can be built to
fit into a bike drinks bottle, to strap onto the frame of
the bike, or fit into a carry bag, there are many alternatives
available.
At
this point I think it is worth mentioning the termination
of the battery. There are thousands of different connectors
out their and it is very difficult to match the right ones
without either seeing pictures or actually physically having
the right connector in your hand. Even then it can be difficult
with connectors like jack plugs/sockets, polarity is important
and as we only see one end of the application it can be
very difficult to get the connector right. The easiest thing
is for us to supply the battery with plain flying leads
and for you to fit the required connector to these leads.
If however you would like a connector fitted then the more
information you can get to us the better.
A
final point is chargers; the charging of rechargeable batteries
is often overlooked and not deemed to have great importance,
this is however a false belief. Charging has a huge bearing
on the performance of you battery pack, and charging your
battery right is very important. Cell Pack Solutions provide
a range of battery pack chargers manufactured by Ansmann.
These chargers are some of the best around, they are all
intelligent chargers which automatically detect the current
state of charge of the battery. They automatically detect
when the batteries are fully charged and switch to trickle
charge so there is no worry about overcharging the battery.
We would strongly recommend the use of one of these chargers
with your battery pack to gain the best possible performance
and life from your bike light battery.
To
make it easier we have put together a page of standard products
which you can order from this site directly saving both
time and money; see the link below for our standard product
range.
Link
to Bike Lights Standard Products Page
We
are always interested in designing new products, if you
can’t find a standard product to suit please contact
us via e-mail quoting ‘Bike Light Battery’ or
speak to one of our team on 0191 427 4577 and we will be
happy to help.
