Kid's bike light & power source

prof student

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Messages
373
So I am looking for a bike light for my young nieces & nephew. I am looking towards going away from the lights that have a 8.4 Volt, DC, 18650 battery pack. They don't know much about taking care of batteries, charging them, etc. & the parents aren't going to take care of that either.

So, I am looking at the lights that have their power cords as USB ends, so you can simply plug them into your standard cell phone power bank.
Those are typically 5Volt, 2.1 Amp.

1) are there any that you would recommend that run off of USB power banks?

2a) I came across a Night Eyes, with power pack for $25 on Amazon. I know you can buy a cable that connects to the DC end, with a USB end on the other. What are you thoughts on that set up?

2b) I came across a Night Eyes-generic-copy-cat light that has the power cord end as a USB end.

Question about 2a & 2b..... if its the same light, i
s there much of an output difference whether it runs on a 12volt DC current, or a 5volt, USB power bank?

3) does anyone know of a typical cell phone power bank that is higher than 5volts?
 
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lightfooted

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
1,017
So I am looking for a bike light for my young nieces & nephew. I am looking towards going away from the lights that have a 12 Volt, DC, 18650 battery pack. They don't know much about taking care of batteries, charging them, etc. & the parents aren't going to take care of that either.

So, I am looking at the lights that have their power cords as USB ends, so you can simply plug them into your standard cell phone power bank.
Those are typically 5Volt, 2.1 Amp.

1) are there any that you would recommend that run off of USB power banks?

2a) I came across a Night Eyes, with power pack for $25 on Amazon. I know you can buy a cable that connects to the DC end, with a USB end on the other. What are you thoughts on that set up?

2b) I came across a Night Eyes-generic-copy-cat light that has the power cord end as a USB end.

Question about 2a & 2b..... if its the same light, i
s there much of an output difference whether it runs on a 12volt DC current, or a 5volt, USB power bank?

3) does anyone know of a typical cell phone power bank that is higher than 5volts?

You understand that those cell phone power banks are just multiples (sometimes) of 18650 cells stuffed into a box with electronics for charging and (in good ones) load management, right? It's not impossible to find a power bank that supplies more than 5 volts but if it does it likely will cost more as it's probably designed for a different task than just keeping your phone or other USB powered device topped off. The 5 volt ones are specifically designed around the whole micro-usb generic charger platform that can be found everywhere.

Really I think it would be better to buy something more like the JetBeam BR10-GT that integrates the battery and charging into the light.
 

prof student

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Messages
373
You understand that those cell phone power banks are just multiples (sometimes) of 18650 cells stuffed into a box with electronics for charging and (in good ones) load management, right?


I already know that. But AGAIN, its about the little kids. They know how to handle power banks. Good quality ones have been bought. Just a plug-&-play style basically. I am not going to worry about a 12V battery pack exploding or being over charged, causing issues, etc..... The EASIEST & the safest option is to go with a name brand power bank.



It's not impossible to find a power bank that supplies more than 5 volts but if it does it likely will cost more as it's probably designed for a different task than just keeping your phone or other USB powered device topped off. The 5 volt ones are specifically designed around the whole micro-usb generic charger platform that can be found everywhere.


I did a google search and couldn't find any USB power banks that run more than 5 Volts.




Really I think it would be better to buy something more like the JetBeam BR10-GT that integrates the battery and charging into the light.

I thought about the Lumintop B01. The concept seems really cool. Basically a headlight design reflector but for a bike light. But again, it has an internal (assuming cheap Chinese) battery. Don't want to worry about cheap Chinese batteries. Yes, I can buy a reputable battery, but then I'm spending $50+ for the light with only 1 battery.

They already have the USB phone power banks to run their tablets. So only additional $$ I'd be spending is the light itself, unless I find a USB power bank that runs higher than 5 Volts.
 

prof student

Enlightened
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Messages
373
Can anyone chime in on the output difference when using that 8.4 Volt DC battery packs vs the 5 Volt USB power banks?
 
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