Happy Friday! 🙂

I bought a Lumenator light about 18 months ago, and was so so impressed with it. However, I’ve gone and lost the battery pack and charger, leaving the thing sat in my cupboard useless.

I’ve been quoted a price for a battery and charger for around the £60 mark, which I was totally happy to pay…but I cant help but remember the fact that you can buy entire light sets (the C & B Seen ones as an example, or even the cheaper Chinese jobbies) for much less.

So my question to the Elders of STW is three-fold;

– Is the Lumenator superior to these other cheap lights and therefore warrant a higher cost for a battery replacement?
– If yes to the above, are there any other battery replacements that would run it that might be cheaper?
– If no, should I just buy an entire new light set for less?

Any advice appreciated 🙂

Isn’t Lumenator Smudge’s brand? If so, he’s the person everybody recommends for replacements when their cheapo batteries go belly up.

Yep, and he’s the one that’s quoted me the replacement battery cost – which I’m happy to pay if I can justify it. I’m just trying to establish whether the Lumenator is worth the extra ££ over something like the C & B Seen type thing.

Yes you can buy cheaper batteries, however I have not used either of these. The batteries I have had from Smudge have always been good.

Torchy Battery
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fluxient-waterproof-4400mAh-7-4v-battery-compatible-with-Magicshine-Xeccon-etc-/301064909087?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item4618ddf11f

Charger
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fluxient-Charger-for-Magicshine-SolarStorm-Torchy-Fluxient-etc-bike-lights-/291052408466?pt=UK_SportGoods_CyclAcces_RL&hash=item43c4134e92

You can get cheaper light sets however the battery and charger usually seem to be the weak point of set.

My choice would be keep the head unit you have and get a replacement battery and charger from torch or smudge.

There a lot to recommend about Smudge, real person running his own company for a number of years now, with lots of ppl helped on here, including myself. He built me a battery about 4/5 years ago and it’s still going strong – I’ve never had any other battery last this long. Though if it’s a single XML light I’d be looking to spend my money on something with better output/beam (I’d suggest the same about C&B lights personally).

Is it the dual XML Luminator? (the name has been re-used) I’ve not used one but being dual XML I’d suggest it still comparable to newer units like the SolarStorm X2 or yinding. I believe Mark tested/examined a number of different units before deciding on that one & was willing to sell it as a reliable unit with warranty you can rely on.

Replacement batteries, depends on the connector & output required, assuming it a standard MagicShine connector/output, you can use the Fluxient or Olly/Marmadukes & a charger from the link above or what Torchy (that seller above) used to recommend was these ppl (slightly cheaper)

Personally I’d be searching your house for your original charger & battery… it’s got to be some-where & this is definitely the cheapest option

Isn’t Lumenator Smudge’s brand? If so, he’s the person everybody recommends for replacements when their cheapo batteries go belly up.

Smudge supplies excellent quality batteries at a very good price, cheap doesn’t really come into it. There are still a few of us who put quality above price.

If it were me, I’d take it on the chin for losing some of my kit and just have Smudge send me what I need. Your £60 quid will be getting you an excellent, reliable, battery and charger.

Just my opinion.

When my battery started cutting out on the lumenator, I sent it back to mark. He emailed me back asking if I had dropped it, as there was quite bad impact damage on the corner of the battery unit, which was causing the issue. I didn’t recall dropping it, but it’s in and out my camelbak which gets chucked about, so the chance are that I probably did.

Anyway, I told him that, but he still built and sent me a new battery free of charge. That’s why I’ll be sticking with him, service like that is fantastic, and I recommend his kit whenever I can.

As luminous says, quality over price.

Cheers for all the replies 🙂

Personally I’d be searching your house for your original charger & battery… it’s got to be some-where & this is definitely the cheapest option

I lost it moving house, and have searched absolutely everywhere sadly, so god knows where it went.

The customer service I had when buying the light was second to none, and he does have ridiculously good recommendations from everyone I seem to speak to (as do his products).

Is it the dual XML Luminator?

Yep, its the dual one – so it’s a great unit, and love the beam spread.

I think just judging by the few replies above, the better option is to get the battery replacement from Smudge..

Just had an issue with my Luminator battery level indicator. Sent it back to Mark but it seems it got lost in the Xmas post.

He replaced it with no quibbles, no proof of postage etc the day after I raised the issue.

The man’s a gent.