Cateye SLA batteries

"Peter B" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I've just purchased a set of these lights which received good reviews in

the

Quoted message said:

press. However, they've come in for some criticsism from every day users, the

main

Quoted message said:

complaint being battery life, both run-time and cycle life, and Cateye themselves state that the
battery must not be left on charge for >10

hours.

Quoted message said:

One buyer stated that he bought another charger and has no problems.

Thanks for that...you've just reminded me to switch my own charger off. I usually set my watch alarm
to tell me to turn it off these days but mistakenly set it for am instead of pm (idiot). I've
overcharged my battery (Sigma Sport 6V SLA not Cateye) several times since getting the lights a year
ago. Run times don't seem to have suffered greatly if at all as a result. It also held charge
through about 3 months of non use this summer. So all in all I'm quite happy with it.

Peter B said:

I've just purchased a set of these lights which received good reviews in the press. However,
they've come in for some criticsism from every day users, the main complaint being battery life,
both run-time and cycle life, and Cateye themselves state that the battery must not be left on
charge for >10 hours. One buyer stated that he bought another charger and has no problems.

After checking Maplins, RS and Farnell they each offer a couple of types of charger with Maplins
being best VFM when VAT is considered.

So, my question is which type should I buy from Maplins? A basic constant voltage charger that
according to the blurb reduces current output when the battery is fully charged or a "3 step
charger" which according to the blurb initially charges at a higher voltage that is then reduced
when the battery is 98% charged? According to Maplins catalogue the former is better for standby
and low cyclic usage and the latter better for high cyclic use with deep discharging, typical bike
lamp by the sound of it. Some of the chargers are claimed to be able to recover deeply discharged
batteries. So bearing in mind the basic constant voltage type costs £10 and the more sophisticated
ones >£22 what should I go for? And can these chargers be left on for >10 hours (I'm assuming for
standby batteries this would be the norm)?

TIA, Pete

Just make sure you get a *smart* charger that is built for SLA batteries. A lot of chargers are
built for NiMh and Li-Ion batteries and they will not work with your setup. What kind of smart
charger you get for a SLA setup probably doesn't matter as long as it doesn't cook your battery and
it will give you a trickle charge once it has detected a full battery. If you fry your SLA battery
out by forgetting the timer or something doesn't really matter so much as it is a cheap battery. It
will maybe last for 100 cycles instead of 500. Big deal. What you are interested in is that it
lasts until you get home and can put it in the charger again. I had a constant voltage charger that
was set at
6.75 V no more no less. It would not cook my battery and it would not quickcharge them. I had enough
juice in my Sigma Mirage setup to get to work next morning and back home. I could also leave it in
the charger all summer if I happened to forget it.

Recently upgraded to NiMH cells and an expensive charger ( $82 ) since I have started riding a lot
more offroad and need like three hours of strong light. NiMh cells are a lot more sensitive to
overcharging than SLA is. I overvolted the Sigma Mirage setup to 7.2V which gives a very strong
light. My NiMh pack is 8 Ah and will last me maybe three times as long as the original SLA setup.

--
Perre

You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Peter B
I've just purchased a set of these lights which received good reviews in the press. However, they've
come in for some criticsism from every day users, the main complaint being battery life, both
run-time and cycle life, and Cateye themselves state that the battery must not be left on charge for

Quoted message said:

10 hours. One buyer stated that he bought another charger and has no problems.

After checking Maplins, RS and Farnell they each offer a couple of types of charger with Maplins
being best VFM when VAT is considered.

So, my question is which type should I buy from Maplins? A basic constant voltage charger that
according to the blurb reduces current output when the battery is fully charged or a "3 step
charger" which according to the blurb initially charges at a higher voltage that is then reduced
when the battery is 98% charged? According to Maplins catalogue the former is better for standby and
low cyclic usage and the latter better for high cyclic use with deep discharging, typical bike lamp
by the sound of it. Some of the chargers are claimed to be able to recover deeply discharged
batteries. So bearing in mind the basic constant voltage type costs £10 and the more sophisticated
ones >£22 what should I go for? And can these chargers be left on for >10 hours (I'm assuming for
standby batteries this would be the norm)?

TIA, Pete

If I am not too late try mx2.com for batteries and chargers excellent value also do cheap printer ink

On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 16:42:18 +0000 (UTC) someone who may be "Peter B" <[email hidden]>
wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

So, my question is which type should I buy from Maplins?

One designed for SLA batteries. That may sound obvious and patronising, but they do behave
differently to other sorts of battery.

Quoted message said:

According to Maplins catalogue the former is better for standby and low cyclic usage and the latter
better for high cyclic use with deep discharging, typical bike lamp by the sound of it.

Correct, if the running time gets near the maximum. If your typical journey does not get near the
maximum running time, or you do not use the light(s) all the time then the former may be enough.

Quoted message said:

And can these chargers be left on for >10 hours

Assuming they trickle charge as the battery is near capacity then it is best to leave the battery
charging unless it is in use.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E I will always explain revoked
keys, unless the UK government prevents me using the RIP Act 2000.