I just found this on AliExpress:
￡21.64 | H02 Dual LED Headlamp 5-Mode Battery indicator Powerful Headlight Rechargeable 18650 Head Torch for Camping Hunting
https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ewjtixe
https://www.nubattery.co.uk/samsung-25r-18650-battery
Used this cheapo helmet light combo last night. Very impressed. Unbranded version of this: https://www.chilli-tech.com/bike-lights/helmet-lights
That's the battery though. The battery was from a reputable brand and source
I'd be intrigued to know how it works, brightness and burn time etc. I've got an Exposure joystick so I dont need one but the idea of a battery you can replace on the go sounds useful so you don't need to worry about battery life.
That's the battery though. The battery was from a reputable brand and source
Out of curiosity, what is the impact of a cheap/questionable source charger on a decent battery, flat/button/tab tops ???
That looks like a direct copy of the Chilli Tech pre cree head light. A decent light, but not at £80. I got one for £50 iirc with a 4000mAh battery.
I'd be intrigued to know how it works, brightness and burn time etc. I've got an Exposure joystick so I dont need one but the idea of a battery you can replace on the go sounds useful so you don't need to worry about battery life.
I've a joystick too - just like the look of this as it can be mounted on the front of the helmet not the top which can be a pita in trees near us.
45 mins on full last night before I turned it off.
Floodier Ryan the joystick and not as bright but be easily rideable alone or with a bat mounted light. For £20 it's a nice option
well the house is in tact, the woods didn't burn down, and my van isn't ashes. I've also got a dedicated 18650 charger so no danger but this for the concernThat's the battery though. The battery was from a reputable brand and source
Out of curiosity, what is the impact of a cheap/questionable source charger on a decent battery, flat/button/tab tops ???
That looks like a direct copy of the Chilli Tech pre cree head light. A decent light, but not at £80. I got one for £50 iirc with a 4000mAh battery.
Seeing the similarity I'm not sure it's a copy as opposed to an unbadged version
I did also put that in my op
That looks like a direct copy of the Chilli Tech pre cree head light. A decent light, but not at £80. I got one for £50 iirc with a 4000mAh battery.
Had my chilli capsule for a couple of winters now and very happy with it as a helmet light but I dont get why, even after all this time, they dont have the MKII on their main website. This is the MKII one i have:
CREE Capsule Pro Helmet Light – 1100 Lumens - Chilli Technology
Ive got one coming from Aliexpress got it for £7 or so. I ordered the battery the OP linked to so about £14 alll in.
I'm testing this on my helmet tonight Sofirn SC28 Led Torch 2800 Lumens. its super bright but probably a bit too bloody for a helmet light just need to sort out a mount
I got one a few weeks ago but haven't really used it much for riding yet, more as an actual head torch, I have a few decent 18650 batteries already. The major benefit is of course the ability to have a space cell or two.
It's certainly powerful enough for solo night rides.
Showing as £8.96 now, couldn't resist it for that price!
Well here I am, charged the battery last night, through the head unit of the torch, no excessive heat. No fire 🔥
How much does it weigh?
Inc battery 89.4g
Also ordered one at that price, plus a load of other tat i don't need !!
Blimey, might have to get on AE to get one....
Well here I am, charged the battery last night, through the head unit of the torch, no excessive heat. No fire
Yet! I'm hoping there aren't a rush this weekend of reports of northern MTB riders going through the woods with their heads on fire.
How did you attached it to your helmet?
Actually OP I'm interested in buying some new 18650s So the link to the Nu Battery site was useful, browsing it Was there a reason you opted for the 2500 mAh Samsung over others apart from it being a known 'brand' ?
Personally I'm eyeing up the higher capacity cells (3000mAh+) but I'm wondering if you thought the 20A max discharge rate is needed?
Those two LEDs can't be pulling 20A can they? Should be like 3A each/6A combined Maximum? a 10 or 15A rated cell should be sufficient right? or am I missing something...
I chose the battery on brand only and that it was recommended that anything over 3ah was shite but someone on here
How did you attached it to your helmet?
Mine came with a head torch clip thing, that I detached from it's elasticated strap and ziptied to my lid (Velcro straps/VHB foam tape would work too).
The light pops in and out of that clip pretty securely and it has a little nubbin thing that picks up on the ridges around the body so you get some indexed angle adjustment. The clip would be nice and easy to model and print a copy/edited version of...
Thanks for posting the recommendation. I can't resist a good light, especially at this time of year.
Please humour a simpleton; what kind of connection type do I need on the battery? Flat top, button top or tabs?
Think I might order a 3500mA Samsung battery while I'm at it, see what it does to performance...
I chose the battery on brand only and that it was recommended that anything over 3ah was shite but someone on here
Hmmm, IIRC 18650s top out at 3500mAh(?).
Obviously mislabelling and fakery is rife, but the general statement that 3000mAh is "shite" is not strictly speaking true, it's probably a good rule to apply if buying from eBay or AliExpress, but if you're looking at a reputable UK based supplier (with all the liabilities that should carry) and if you feel you trust them to sell you a genuine 'Samsung' sleeved cell, why wouldn't you trust them to sell a Genuine 3000mAh+ capacity 18650?
It's not like the sort of people typically buying these products don't have battery testers, and won't complain if encounter a cowboy outfit selling mislabelled products...
3600mah is the max for an 18650 due to size and chemical limitations afaik.
I chose a reputable name and a decent capacity for my needs based on the above and the comment about anything above 3ah being usually unrealistic and not really achievable. Sorry ,🤣🤣🤣
Those two LEDs can't be pulling 20A can they?
The AE website claims 5000 lumens. That may be optimistic, but at 100 lumen/watt it's 50W, and 50W at 3.5V is 14.3A
Edit: PS, Black Friday, now £4.51
Not sure how the Lumens ->Watts -> Amps calculation works, I was just going off the drive Current Values from the datasheets e.g:
I get that different LEDs can pull more/less but I'm assuming most controllers in modern torches/bike lights are about in line with the XM-L2 or similar.
Those cheapo P7s some of us a little giddy about ( 😊 ) a few years ago apparently topped out at 2.8A (for 900Lm and a bit more heat IIRC):
All These of things have all been driven with various combinations of 3.7V ~2000mAh(+) 18650 cells for donkey's years, so it's not like much has really changed just the LEDs have been refined bit by bit over the last 20 odd years. I can't imagine anyone manufacturer would be very proud of a new LED that sucked significantly more current than a ~18 year old design, much less a pair that needed a higher discharge capacity cell...
Edit: PS, Black Friday, now £4.51
Grrr! I didn’t think to wait and paid double that a couple of days ago! 😭
I don't think the price is relevant, AliExpress gives different people different prices for the same thing.
Can't see an answer to the battery type question here - does it need flat/tab/button battery?
THanks
Button
I chose the battery on brand only and that it was recommended that anything over 3ah was shite but someone on here
Depends on what you're putting them in to some extent.
Years ago when everyone was running those solarstorm lamps and the battery boxes, people used to recommend a specific Panasonic cell, but that actually had a much higher discharge current than was necessary, Samsung did a 2950mAh battery that could still deliver the required amps 10x over (18650-30B, max current 15A). The 18650-35E now does 3500mAh with a max current of 8 amps.
Out of curiosity, what is the impact of acheap/questionable sourcecharger on a decent battery, flat/button/tab tops ???
I've got a decent charger, so it's moot, but always buy the protected cells, they've got what looks like a black coin cell sized puck shrink wrapped to the flat/-ve end and a strip of wire running from it to the +ve terminal. It should protect the cell from over discharge or over charging.
I bought one of these after seeing this thread, it arrived yesterday.
Initial thoughts are that it seems well made, and pretty bright. I'm mainly planning to use it as a normal head torch around the house/garden/camping/etc. I think it would work well on the bike, although as it only comes with a headband, I'm not sure how I'd mount it at the moment - as it's a Chilli-tech copy, are there any suitable mounts available for those?
I already had a 3100mah battery, so I'm using it with that - it's currently charging using the light's inbuilt charger on my desk.
Some usability notes.
- Click to power on/off
- Long click to change brightness (Brightest -> 2nd brightest -> etc)
- Double-click to switch to flashing mode
- It remembers which mode it was in when you switch it off/on.
It's not a very accurate comparison, but this shows it (Left) compared to my Joystick (Right) (I think it's an mk11, and not on it's most powerful mode), it's definitely more floody compared to the Joystick.
When I said the Joystick isn't on it's brightest mode, I should clarify that I have it configured to use the mode that toggles between 3hrs and 8hrs of use, and was on the brighter one of those. It also has a 1.5hr config, but I never use that and couldn't be bothered to change to it for the photos. In effect, I wanted to compare it with what I have on my usual rides.
Mine also arrived yesterday. As I like to live dangerously I bought one with a battery, which I won't be leaving unattended while charging...
I used it at work today and it performed as expected but it does get quite warm in use. For 9 quid I'm happy enough with it.
Mine doesn't get warm