I'm looking at another battery light for my helmet, and having had success with a Revo I'd like another Exposure light. I notice they offer a Support Cell battery, which looks ideal for longer term usage, but on looking at the Support Cell it looks like a USB battery attached to a charging cable.

Is it really that simple, i.e. could I use any USB battery with the charging cable instead, or does it contain circuitry that allows the light to be used with just those batteries?

Note that I'm intending to buy another light, not plug a battery into my Revo.

AlasdairMc wrote:I'm looking at another battery light for my helmet, and having had success with a Revo I'd like another Exposure light. I notice they offer a Support Cell battery, which looks ideal for longer term usage, but on looking at the Support Cell it looks like a USB battery attached to a charging cable.

Is it really that simple, i.e. could I use any USB battery with the charging cable instead, or does it contain circuitry that allows the light to be used with just those batteries?

Note that I'm intending to buy another light, not plug a battery into my Revo.

You can run or recharge an exposure helmet light of USB batteries. How they work seems to vary.

Mtb batteries will make you a support cell for a very reasonable price if you wanted something specifically for the light. I've got one. Works well

I've tried recharging with the USB cable from a normal battery pack. Is extremely slow.

That said, I don't own a support cell, so I can't say that would be any better. I also don't know if the light will run directly off the USB cable... as I've never tried.

(I'm not very helpful. lol)

double post

Not tried it. I actually have all the gubbins right in front of me (Joystick, USB charging cable, and 2 battery packs), but it's fully charged for my detour commute home tonight so can't prove it works

Some battery packs output a high current for charging tablets etc, I'm guessing you'll need one of those? Might also need an extension cable if you don't want your USB battery pack on your lid

Now that I have a Joystick as well as a Diablo, I guess I could take my Joystick instead of a support cell and use that instead of recharging the Diablo. The weight penalty is only 23g (88g for joystick, 65g for support cell - 3,100mAh capacity for both)

I've got a 3.1mAh support cell that I use with my Diablo. I've also used it to charge things like my phone & Garmin using the USB adapter.

The cap has previously fell off the opposite end to the cable, but all that was visible was the bottom of the battery. Unless someone can confirm otherwise, at a guess i'd say it was just a battery in there? Maybe worth a call to Exposure as they're usually helpful?

Away from home atm & not got it with me, but if no one else can confirm & Exposure can't help, I could poss have a look at the cable end when i'm back Al..

It'll be a 3.7V li-ion 18650 cell battery (or similar) with built in circuitry/overcharge protection.

benp1 wrote: (88g for joystick, 65g for support cell - 3,100mAh capacity for both)

When I replaced the battery on my joystick, it was more like 2600mAh IIRC

EDIT: 2350mAh. See: http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... =13&t=5739

Thanks for your help everyone - if it seems to almost certainly be a basic battery I won't bother getting one and just go for a light alone.

Took the end off with the cable running through it before Alasdair. The wires disappear under some heat-shrink & the whole battery won't slide out easily, so unfortunately i can't confirm if anything else is in there..
I've taken a pic but my Flickr account doesn't work anymore so can't post it up.

I'm tempted to buy one just to compare. :)

benp1 wrote:Some battery packs output a high current for charging tablets etc, I'm guessing you'll need one of those?

This reminds me that the blurb my USB battery pack (an Anker) claims that the battery knows how to recognise devices that can be charged faster at a higher power (e.g. an iPad, vs a phone), and boosts the wattage accordingly.

Perhaps that would explain why charging an Exposure light from USB batteries is slow – perhaps the batteries are limiting their output to 0.5A?

There's some (possibly) relevant chat about charging standards on here: https://www.extremetech.com/computing/1 ... smartphone (search for "blow up").

gma wrote:

benp1 wrote: Perhaps that would explain why charging an Exposure light from USB batteries is slow – perhaps the batteries are limiting their output to 0.5A?

To make life more confusing, there are different types of 18650, even at the same capacity. There are some that can output a lot of current, others that can't!

Zippy wrote:

benp1 wrote: (88g for joystick, 65g for support cell - 3,100mAh capacity for both)

When I replaced the battery on my joystick, it was more like 2600mAh IIRC

EDIT: 2350mAh. See: http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... =13&t=5739

They improve battery capacity each time they bring out a new light (i.e. each mark)

For example, my Mk7 Diablo has a 3,100mAh battery. The joystick (Mk 10) at the time had a 2,900mAh battery.

The Mk8 Diablo now has a 3,400mAh battery, the joystick that came out at the time (Mk 11, what I also have) has a 3,100mAh battery

The Equinox was always their big gun in the helmet light offering but that hasn't changed from 3,400mAh

[caveat emptor on all the figures!]