Hi I bought a used vistalite system and some parts where missing because the guy screwed me on the deal .
Anyways the manual was missing and I can find any indication on their website or the rest of teh box as to what teh charging time is for it.
I have read conflicting info on it so was hoping someone here has the unit and can pop out the instructions and tell me what they say so that i dont ruin the battry.
the guy i bought it off is being an idiot and wont tell me.
the charger is not a smart charger and is the 600mA one so if anyone knnows please tell me. I have searched the internet ioncluding this site and seen talks but i see contradicting info on it
a 600mA charger on the vistalite 2200mAh battery should take approximately 5 hours to charge fully.
If you really want to be sure you can charge the battery for 8 hours but don't leave it on for much longer.
Thanks
And is that for the [font=Arial]NiHM[/font] battery?
Dont think I would ever put in for 8 hours.
I look at a thread on this forum and it said like 3-4 hours.
This is why I am paranoid without the manual that never came with it and omg the vistalite company sucks. no support contact info except for a regular mail address. Thank god I never bought this item new.
In a perfect situation, charge time in hours is battery capacity (in Amp hours) divided by charge current (in Amps). But because charging a battery is not a 100% efficient process, the rule of thumb is to allow 1.4 times this. So, for a 2.2A battery being charged at .6A, the recommended time is close enough to 5 hours. You wouldn't want to leave it on much longer, as this amount of charge current is already exceeding specs, but they do it so it takes less time. Ideally for NiCd and NiMh batteries, the charge should be 1/10 the battery capacity for 14hours. Fast charging is only acceptable if an intelligent charger is used that senses the sudden dip in battery voltage which occurs just before the battery is fully charged, AND, the cells in the battery pack are designed for it. Given the huge mark up on bike lights they should be sold with proper chargers, not just crude transformer and rectifier type devices that rely on the transformer characteristics to limit the current.
I was going to look into a smart charger but I think ill just take this as a loss since the battery doesnt even last an hour on the 10 watt. I aslo found out that the person that sold it bought it themselves used so there is no hope in hell of getting the missing parts. I could be a jerk and sell it off and try and make my money back but im not like that so have to take it as a loss so looking probbaly next year until i see a new light system and thats if im lucky. I think my bottom bracket is going on me so that will have to come first.
Learned my lesson though. Never buy used bike parts unless standing in front of you lol.
I've gpt 8 battery packs and just got a smart charger for them (good investment)
If I were you i'd look into building your own battery packs, you can save about 50% of the cost of the branded packs by making them yourself or getting someone to make them for you. All it takes is a little bit of electrical knowledge and some soldering skills.
Assuming you're using nightsticks, the Vista Lite manual says 7-8 hours (and no more then 36 hours) of charge for the NiCad batteries and 4-5 hours (and no more then 24 hours) for NiMH batteries.... just about the same conclusion that the mAh math comes up with.
