Preferred battery brand?

[rider of rohan]

I just ordered a pack of batteries from Ibike, but I was just wondering which over the counter battery brand you all prefer, and where you get them? I bought a couple at Radio Shack and they were really bad. I'm riding in warm weather, on 5 second recording interval and still only got a couple of hours out of the first one. It says lithium on it and it cost 4.99, which made the ibike site price look really good. Was the type (lithium) the problem??

[iodaniell]

The ones sold by Velocomp are lithium CR 2032 coin cells, too. I believe they are made by Panasonic.

When I needed new ones, I'd get Energizers from the drugstore, but since then I purchased some in bulk (qty=200?) from eBay (Panasonic), so I'm well stocked.

[mlennox]

I've had good success with Energizer brand sold by the eBay retailer Watch Batteries Now. http://stores.ebay.com/WATCH-BATTERIES-NOW

[dnessner]

While I'm not going to answer your question, I would like to share some information. I'm sending my wireless ibike pro in for an upgade to the iaero. I have logged 1560 miles, 88.56 hours on my ibike pro and my original battery is still at 2.8 volts (all miles 1 sec. recording). I hope this is normal and my new iero performs this well. That means a pack of 200 would take me 312,000 miles.

[rruff]

Has anyone had success with hooking up a larger Li-ion cell externally? Don't like the idea of messing with batteries all the time... especially in the winter when they don't last long at all.

[klaus]

I have ordered a whole mix of batteries : Sony, Duracell, Panasonic, Varta.
The order was when I still had the wired mount. Now with the wireless mount battery life is less of a problem the seem to last for ever.
My winter batter did survive around 400 km of hills with -3C to +5C, the new battery has been in there for over 600 km (most at 1s excepts for very long rides) and it is still good to go for some time.

Batteries used to be a major issue but wireless has made it much better (at least now we can change more batteries (mount, and the 3 sensons)

[racerfern]

Has anyone had success with hooking up a larger Li-ion cell externally? Don't like the idea of messing with batteries all the time... especially in the winter when they don't last long at all.

Search for a post about someone who wired in a "123" size battery used for cameras. He put it in the end of the handlebar and wired it up. That was on a wired unit which he opened up. I believe the setup kept his 2032 at 3.0v for the entire winter.

[rruff]

Drats, search doesn't seem to work with the old Topica stuff. So he hooked up a 123 in parallel with the 2032?

I was thinking of putting 2 AAA alkalines in series also...

Edit... after looking at the discharge curves that is probably not a good idea. But one of these should work well: http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?P ... rodID=3787
Plus $20 for the charger. I'd ditch the 2032 battery and just solder some wires to the connectors inside the compartment. Does anyone know how sensitive the iBike is to higher voltage? This battery is just a hair higher than the 2032 is... 3.2-3.3V.

[racerfern]

Yes, in parallel. Stuck it in the end of the handlebar and ran a tiny wire up to the head. But like I said that was on a wired unit. I don't remember how he disassembled the head unit itself. If you have an old wired one I guess you could practice on it. Take copious notes and highly detailed pictures please.

[racerfern]

I found the discussion. It didn't have much info but maybe one of those people can chime in.

http://lists.topica.com/lists/iBikeProP ... start=2726

I'm just not sure how it connected to the contact points. The constant on and off would destroy paper thin brass strips. Unless you made the tiniest of grooves for very thin wire from the edge to the two contact points. Or, a small groove to the battery compartment itself. You wouldn't even need a 2032 inside, just solder to the two battery contact points. I'm sure someone in a cold climate will come up with something.

[rruff]

Thanks for finding that!

I'm confused about what the following means:

"In future a special socket on the mount for a supplementary cr123
battery would solve all battery woes for good regardless of ambient
conditions."

Michael Toporowski wrote:
"Not sure how the new mount will be receptive to
a external battery , but can attest to the i-battery mount."

What is the i-battery mount? Is the new mount receptive to an external battery?

[racerfern]

I assume that Michael was referring to a spot on the side of the mount where an external power source would be plugged in. The second statement I think refers to the wireless head as opposed to the wired speed head at the time while having a little fun with names.

It sure would be great to have a dead wireless head to work on. There's got to be enough room near the to run two tiny wire leads. Anybody got a donor?

[alback]

I use ones from a local dollar store (popular in Canada), they sell Sunbeam Lithium - 3 batteries per pack for $1.

I have used them in my 2 Blackburn HR since January and they still perform well. I placed one into my ibike when the original read 2.68, the new one read 2.93 and now reads 2.86, it has only been used in a 2 hours in a colder 9 degree ride (celsius).

Not sure how long they will last in the ibike, from what I have read here I should know soon. I like the feature that ibike provides voltage for these batteries.

[Steve_Davidson]

Thanks for finding that!

I'm confused about what the following means:

"In future a special socket on the mount for a supplementary cr123
battery would solve all battery woes for good regardless of ambient
conditions."

Michael Toporowski wrote:
"Not sure how the new mount will be receptive to
a external battery , but can attest to the i-battery mount."

What is the i-battery mount? Is the new mount receptive to an external battery?

Ron,

The imount was a mount kit sold in parts that you assemble yourself so that you can solder in the power leads from your supplemental battery. The kit was how I managed to make my stem mount. Not sure if you can still purchase it as everything gone wireless now. The CR 123 cell lasted me a good 8 months.

Steve

Steve

[Velocomp]

the iMount still exists but is for wired mounts only...only now you can make it in a stem mount version too.

[rruff]

Thanks! Any more info on that? How it works and where to buy, etc. I like the idea of an external battery... and a stem mount also since I might need a VRK. I'm waiting on delivery of a wired unit.

[gregh3285]

I bought a bunch of batteries from Digikey (P/N P189-ND). With those, I no longer am worried about battery life. The batteries they source are Panasonics. I've had no issues with them. I've got 20 to 30 hours on the first set without issues.