questions about nitecore tm26 PLEASE READ

ok so i bought the 2015 version 4000lm tm26 from amazon for 279.99 with free prime shipping. I also bought a handlebar camera mount so i can mount it to my bike as im an avid cyclist at night.

que the questions... is there a way to buy a spare battery section for the tm26, the part the batteries actually go in? reason i ask.... the battery pack i made for my last bike light uses 8x3.7v @ 12600mah lipo cells and cost me a good bit.

IF IF IF i rewire the pack from a 14.8v @ 26,200mah battery (2P4S) to a 3.7v @ 372,960mah!!! pack (8P1S) i would have 7.5 times the run time of 4x3400mah 18650 cells

3.7v X 3400mah = 12.58WH
12.58WH X 4 = 50.32WH total for 4x3400mah 18650 cells

3.7v X 12600mah = 46.62WH
46.62WH X 8 = 372.96WH total for my battery.

372.96/50.32 = 7.411.... times more runtime. so i can go on my long rides at night.

my plan for the spare battery part is to drill a hole, and wire in a connector, seal it... so when im on my bike i can use the pack, and when i take it off i can use the regular battery pack.

the hole would be drilled in either the center of the bottom or on the side facing down when screwed on all the way. i would be using a small rubber grommet and silicon on the inside to seal it up from rain water.

Any Thoughts?

Have you contacted Nitecore and asked?? Or maybe a Nitecore vendor? I can't imagine it would be too hard to get a spare. Never know

Other thoughts were what mode you were planning on running it in? Turbo? Its gonna step down after a little while. I don't know what the step down time is. I would wonder out temperatures. Moving air helps though. Extended run times with no cooling can become a issue. Just a note.

i would be in turbo most of the time unless i plan to do a 24hr ride, im not worried about temps as i will have good air flow the entire time... im on a bike. i did contact nitecore, but havent got a response yet... i plan to call going gear tomorrow during the busniess week to see if they have them or can get them.

Andrew Storlie said:

i would be in turbo most of the time unless i plan to do a 24hr ride, im not worried about temps as i will have good air flow the entire time... im on a bike.

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Wow! 4000 lumens on a bike? How fast do you ride?!?

Watch that you don't blind oncoming traffic. I find even 500 lumens can annoy drivers. Normally, I find about 200 lumens sufficient, but I'm not a speed rider for sure.

i ride on a trail most of the time... on my 24hr rides i only avg about 18mph, my daily rides i can avg about 30mph and not break a sweat. my 24hr rides is a loop around Chicago down from Milwaukee about 400 miles. my daily rides are only about 40 miles and i usually do them before i go to work to help me wake up and be ready for work hence the riding at night.

these are the lights i have/had on my bike http://24x7diy.com/product_info.php/products_id/256 cheap china no brand, but work good

here are some pics of my OLD OLD lights and my battery pack. i plan to keep the same rear red led light. no need to go brighter. pics are of my old mountain bike.

Well why not just swap over to a single bulb HID at that point??? Lol.... That's crazy bright, espc for a bike! Very nice work

i have looked into hid, but im just not a fan of hid over led, before i got those led pods, i was looking into some bi-xenon hid retrofit bulbs and i was gonna mount them so id have high and low beam and all the stuff but to mount all the ballasts and converters would have been a pain, and making sure it all can get wet as mud is fun to ride in.

also im a very DIY kinda guy, i like to think and figure out the hard way of doing stuff. just like my back light now has to be chanced as it runs off of 12-24v and now ill have only 4.2v max. so im looking at getting 10 red superflux leds and running them in 5 sets of 2 for about 140lm of rear red led light. then some plastidip (can not spray) to waterproof them.

Andrew Storlie said:

i have looked into hid, but im just not a fan of hid over led, before i got those led pods, i was looking into some bi-xenon hid retrofit bulbs and i was gonna mount them so id have high and low beam and all the stuff but to mount all the ballasts and converters would have been a pain, and making sure it all can get wet as mud is fun to ride in.

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I dig it. Was a partly sarcastic statement anyway, lol.
That is an impressive setup tho.... Idk about the mega lumens out the back tho, even in red, could cause vision issues with drivers behind you.
As far as your forward lighting, do you have high/low aiming as well as power? I'd think, like automotive lights, that the direction of light as much if not more important than output. That way you can keep it near ground with traffic but then kick it up to see farther when roads are clear.

FRITZHID said:

I dig it. Was a partly sarcastic statement anyway, lol.
That is an impressive setup tho.... Idk about the mega lumens out the back tho, even in red, could cause vision issues with drivers behind you.
As far as your forward lighting, do you have high/low aiming as well as power? I'd think, like automotive lights, that the direction of light as much if not more important than output. That way you can keep it near ground with traffic but then kick it up to see farther when roads are clear.

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the mount i got has a swivel so if i am on a road i can manually aim the light down if i see a car. but on my night rides i rarely ever see a car. from where i live in Milwaukee all the way down to Chicago is a bike trail with dense trees on each side... i know i dont need even close to 4000lm, or even a 1000lm, but i like being able to see very clearly whats going on in front of me. and i do plan to use it as a flashlight for camping and other stuff, so when i take it off the mount i can still use the good LM output of it.

Andrew Storlie said:

the mount i got has a swivel so if i am on a road i can manually aim the light down if i see a car. but on my night rides i rarely ever see a car. from where i live in Milwaukee all the way down to Chicago is a bike trail with dense trees on each side... i know i dont need even close to 4000lm, or even a 1000lm, but i like being able to see very clearly whats going on in front of me. and i do plan to use it as a flashlight for camping and other stuff, so when i take it off the mount i can still use the good LM output of it.

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Very nice!
If you're speaking of the bike path I think you are, I'm familiar with it. It's a nice path. (I grew up in Waukesha)
I miss biking there (wi), weather was always tolerable, paths were clear and people usually respectful.

FRITZHID said:

Very nice!
If you're speaking of the bike path I think you are, I'm familiar with it. It's a nice path. (I grew up in Waukesha)
I miss biking there (wi), weather was always tolerable, paths were clear and people usually respectful.

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its the WE energy bike trail goes down thru racine, kenosha and all the way down, i bike to the O'Hare airport then loop around the bike trail on the south end, back up the lake front and back on the trail once im near the 6 flags/gurnee area. then back north. i plan to do this ride as soon as i have all my lights done.. and next summer, i actually want to see if i can take a month off and bike to PA, from WI... its where i used to live and the 1700 mile round trip i honestly think would be fun, i already have a solar powered batter/usb so my phone NEVER dies (in sunlight) for gps and music. and i can charge my lights when i stop for food or for a few hours as i nap at a motel or something.

ill see if i can get a time lapse with my go pro and put the ride up on YouTube.

Andrew Storlie said:

its the WE energy bike trail goes down thru racine, kenosha and all the way down, i bike to the O'Hare airport then loop around the bike trail on the south end, back up the lake front and back on the trail once im near the 6 flags/gurnee area. then back north. i plan to do this ride as soon as i have all my lights done.. and next summer, i actually want to see if i can take a month off and bike to PA, from WI... its where i used to live and the 1700 mile round trip i honestly think would be fun, i already have a solar powered batter/usb so my phone NEVER dies (in sunlight) for gps and music. and i can charge my lights when i stop for food or for a few hours as i nap at a motel or something.

ill see if i can get a time lapse with my go pro and put the ride up on YouTube.

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That trip would be sweet!
Sounds like you've covered the bases as far as energy concerns..... Just out of curiosity, why are you not using a wheel-gen to supplement power?

no wheel gen for a few reasons... first, using one adds resistance to the tire, thus more energy to pedal over time. 2nd is most of those wheel gens dont provide enough amperage to really power a led light, a bright one at least. and 3rd/final reason which personal i think is the main reason is that once you stop moving, like for a road, animal, anything... your light goes off, so the only way to fix that is by having a battery to store said power as a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply, for those who dont know) and if your gonna have a battery, then might as well make it good enough to run the light by itself.

Funny story. when i was in grade school, like 5th grade or something, i actually used to have one of those wheel generators on my bike cause i rode my bike to school everyday. and i remember riding up and down the school yard to "show off" my light that turned on when i ride... those where days... lol

Ah, well.... I ment the more modern version, not the old clip over tire grinders.
There are units out and diy versions that use mags on the wheel and coils on the frame and then a rectifier/cap combo to harness functional power for any number of devices.... Including charging.
That's what I was thinking, using it to keep things "topped off".

i honestly didnt know they had stuff like that... possible link for where id look in to getting something like that?