nite rider blowtorch light system

[saturnsc2]

i bought a nite rider blow torch light system in 2002. the original micro brute charger died & nite rider replaced it & warrantied it now. the fast charger they gave me now is an upgrade for the troublesome micro brute charger. the new charger has a charge indicator light that's supposed to turn amber when it's charging & turn green when the battery is fully charged. the problem is that the light never turns colors. it stay's green no matter what, so i don't know the battery's real state of charge. i tried the light system after it charged for a few hours & it worked, but for how long i don't know, as i don't know if the battery is getting fully charged. does anybody here who has this system have this problem? i don't get any response from nite rider from their website, & when i call, i get a recorder to leave message & never get a call back. don't these peoiple know what the hell "customer service" is?

 

[kevinfoley3]

I know your pain. Several years ago I bought a system that sounds like yours with the different charge indicator lights. It started to go south within a year. When I first saw the problem arising I called niterider. They gave me tips. It helped. It got bad again. Don't ask specifics, it was just bad. Then useless. I called again. They took it back and let me buy another model (a Storm HID) using the value of the first one. Hmmmm! I thought I was smarter than that, really. I let that one sit around for ~1 yr. as I stopped night-commuting. Now, I need it. I plug the charger in and the battery began to look like a bloated brick after an hour, smelling bad and feeling pretty hot, apparently something was wrong and gas was building up. Now, I've sent it back. All these times I've been able to talk to someone there---no problem there, just the product is crappy, it sure seems to me. No more niterider stuff for me. give me LED.

i bought a nite rider blow torch light system in 2002. the original micro brute charger died & nite rider replaced it & warrantied it now. the fast charger they gave me now is an upgrade for the troublesome micro brute charger. the new charger has a charge indicator light that's supposed to turn amber when it's charging & turn green when the battery is fully charged. the problem is that the light never turns colors. it stay's green no matter what, so i don't know the battery's real state of charge. i tried the light system after it charged for a few hours & it worked, but for how long i don't know, as i don't know if the battery is getting fully charged. does anybody here who has this system have this problem? i don't get any response from nite rider from their website, & when i call, i get a recorder to leave message & never get a call back. don't these peoiple know what the hell "customer service" is?

 

[saturnsc2]

I know your pain. Several years ago I bought a system that sounds like yours with the different charge indicator lights. It started to go south within a year. When I first saw the problem arising I called niterider. They gave me tips. It helped. It got bad again. Don't ask specifics, it was just bad. Then useless. I called again. They took it back and let me buy another model (a Storm HID) using the value of the first one. Hmmmm! I thought I was smarter than that, really. I let that one sit around for ~1 yr. as I stopped night-commuting. Now, I need it. I plug the charger in and the battery began to look like a bloated brick after an hour, smelling bad and feeling pretty hot, apparently something was wrong and gas was building up. Now, I've sent it back. All these times I've been able to talk to someone there---no problem there, just the product is crappy, it sure seems to me. No more niterider stuff for me. give me LED.

i finally got in touch with those idiots on the phone. i'll say this: they never answer their e-mail on their website. they will send me a new charger at no cost. i still can't believe that a system that i paid almost $400.00 for is already giving me trouble. the light is the brightest there is with the most burn time i've seen, but it does not mean a thing if i can't charge the dam battery. this will by my 3rd charger with a system that i just bought a year & a half ago. i have 2 union halogen generator sets on my old 10-speed for almost 20 years & i would'nt trade them in for anything. they work like new & never gave me trouble. i would like to sell the hid light & go with a dyno hub. i always was a fan of generator sets. i had them since i was a child on all my bikes & they always worked when i really needed them....

 

[kevinfoley3]

Yah,
I'm in the same predicament. My older system is great when it works but that is not often. I'm looking for a rechargeable LED system now. The whole gist(sp.?) of the problem seems to lie in the fact that we as bicyclists are quite reliant (nonetheless, our lives) on being seen at nighttime. The technology behind rechargeable HID systems that is available commercially is just not good enough for us bicyclists.
I would love to know how bright those dynamo systems are....and what are the downsides, if any.

i finally got in touch with those idiots on the phone. i'll say this: they never answer their e-mail on their website. they will send me a new charger at no cost. i still can't believe that a system that i paid almost $400.00 for is already giving me trouble. the light is the brightest there is with the most burn time i've seen, but it does not mean a thing if i can't charge the dam battery. this will by my 3rd charger with a system that i just bought a year & a half ago. i have 2 union halogen generator sets on my old 10-speed for almost 20 years & i would'nt trade them in for anything. they work like new & never gave me trouble. i would like to sell the hid light & go with a dyno hub. i always was a fan of generator sets. i had them since i was a child on all my bikes & they always worked when i really needed them....

 

[saturnsc2]

Yah,
I'm in the same predicament. My older system is great when it works but that is not often. I'm looking for a rechargeable LED system now. The whole gist(sp.?) of the problem seems to lie in the fact that we as bicyclists are quite reliant (nonetheless, our lives) on being seen at nighttime. The technology behind rechargeable HID systems that is available commercially is just not good enough for us bicyclists.
I would love to know how bright those dynamo systems are....and what are the downsides, if any.

well i finally got in touch with niterider & they are sending me a new charger. i'm thinking about selling this set-up in favor of a dynohub. the system works great & is very bright & the only problem is the charger. hopefully the new charger will end my problems as niterider even said they had problems with the microbrute older chargers & the new ones are a better design. i don't think led systems really light up the road very well. maybe sometime in the near future, led technology will improve & it will rival traditional bulb brightness, but as far as i'm concerned, it does not cut it as of yet. i have 2 union halogen dynamo sets on my old 10-speed for almost 20 years & the only thing i did to them was replace the bulbs & it was recently at that. as far as brightness goes, they are pretty bright & have plenty of light for my riding. i go everywhere even in the dark country where there's no street lights. i have one system pointed down for city use, & the other one pointed up like a high beam & i get a wide beam pattern on the road for very dark conditions. i just rode 60 miles this weekend--30 miles in pitch black conditions & i seen the road fine. 4 1/2 hours without worring about depleted batteries. i love generators. i had them on many bikes dating back to my childhood & i never had any trouble with any of them. i love to be able to generate my own power. i know the battery light fans here will argue about their brighter lights, but nothing is for free--they have to stop & get a re-charge. i have some low drag, but i can't really feel it even with both generators engaged. i'm surprised that nobody else installed 2 generator light systems on their bike. i don't recall reading any such posts. i like to ride all night & that equals generator use. i have 4 hours burn time with my hid light, but it would of ran out on my long country ride this weekend. sure i could buy another battery, but for $150.00, they can keep it. just get a $100.00 generator light set-up......