Rechargeable Batteries

[bmeadow]

Has anyone tried using rechargeable batteries? I found a store online that sell rechargeable 2032 batteries with a nominal voltage of 3.6V. I know the iBike uses a 2032 w/ 3.0V. Will using a 3.6V battery work? Is it even worth it, or does the iBike draw too much current for rechargeables?

[Velocomp]

Please let us know where to purchase these batteries and we'll check them out.

[bmeadow]

I've attached the link for of the source I found:
http://www.onlybatteries.com/showitem.a ... 9&uid=1972

Thanks.

[racerfern]

There was a discussion about the potential of this just as we were switching from topica to this forum. I bought one and have it sitting around here somewhere. Never used it because the charged voltage was upwards of 3.8v. I don't think we ever got the OK to try them out. Could it be that the iBike might go green yet?

[Velocomp]

For the foreseeable future the iBike will continue to come only in black or white.

[bmeadow]

Are you referring to color or the battery issue? I think racerfern was talking about being more environmentally friendly.

[iodaniell]

Are you referring to color or the battery issue? I think racerfern was talking about being more environmentally friendly.

It was a joke... green vs. black or white. Play on the words. Nevermind... I guess you had to be there.

[jparker]

I did't see where anyone had really answered the question because if they can be used I will probably purchase the rechargeable batteries. Thanks J. Parker

[racerfern]

I bought the kit and decided not to use them. Voltage was extrememly high in the neighborhood of 3.8v and when it got to about 3.0 it dropped like a rock. I never even installed one in the unit out of concern for frying something.

I'm using mine to power some fake candles this time of the year.

[jparker]

Thanks for the reply. I actually emailed Boyd a little later and since he's very close to where I live he said he'd test one in one of his old Gen I models just to see if it works. Thanks agian.

[ChrisS]

They might be good to use in cold weather; I use a new battery every time I go out in winter as the voltage drops from over 3 volts to under 2.7 in a couple of hours.

All batteries drop voltage when it is close to freezing and these might be just right if the nomimal voltage drops from 3.8v to 3.2-ish due to the cold.

Chris

[jparker]

Chris I have also had to change my battery very often and was looking for another option for winter besides having to change the battery so often or the 2AA battery method that has been described on the forum. I'm also getting ready to upgrade to wireless which will help with battery life in cold weather but I'm wondering if it still ends up being to much voltage in the computer could it be used in the wireless mount to assist the computer? If you or somene else knows or has tried it I'd like hear about it.

[iodaniell]

I bought the kit and decided not to use them. Voltage was extrememly high in the neighborhood of 3.8v and when it got to about 3.0 it dropped like a rock. I never even installed one in the unit out of concern for frying something.

I'm using mine to power some fake candles this time of the year.

All right, I'll 'fess up. I have used two rechargeable lithium-ion coin cells in my GEN II iAero and wireless mount. Other than a weird affect on the display when one initially turns it on, I didn't see much of a difference in operation unless I didn't recharge them completely before a ride. And, that's the rub. My problem with them is the charger. I really can't tell what is going on with the thing and it didn't come with any directions. So, I put the coin cells in it (I READ ON THE BATTERYSPACE SITE THAT YOU MUST PLACE BOTH IN AT THE SAME TIME. RE: TOO HIGH RECHARGE CURRENT WITH ONLY ONE) and hoped to see a lit green "FUL" LED when I was ready to use them.

I haven't tried them with the GEN III iAero. I suspect that it may work, but that is only a "wag" and anyone who uses these batteries without the blessing of Velocomp is doing so at their own risk--at the risk of their warranty.

[Russ]

I bought the external battery kit from John or Christmas, along with my second gen 2 to gen 3 upgrade .

I had emailed John to see if he could supply the stem mount base with the kit and the larger handle bar one (got one of each). I also bought the cadence sensors for them for a little more.

Next I went to Batteries Plus and purchased a two pack "RAYRL123A-2" 3v lithium 2pk.
I paid to have them spot weld solder tabs and had them solder three foot long red and black
leads to them and put shrinkwrap over the battery. I plan to shove the battery in the end
of my handle bar or aero bar when I mount all this later today.

Only thing I may do differently (anticipating) is next year when the battery needs replacing,
I will probably get the larger 1.5 v lithium in series pairs and see if I can get two years or
more out of them .

I doubt I will ever get a dpfm so, although I purchased a wireless mount awhile back,
I think I will use it only on my trainer bike for occasional heart rate bench marking
as I prefer not to bother with the heart rate strap and all for the road.

I can't tell you the exact price Batteries Plus will charge because the passed on the
accidental savings of a new employees goof at the register to me. There is a fifteen dollar
charge associated with the spot welding and wire soldering and all, seems to be flat fee for
whatever you have them do to a single or set of batteries (think series), if I under stand it.
My Christmas present from them was 15 bux total for the whole deal .

I was leary of the rechargable idea with the higher voltage and memory says guys were
reporting a full year out of, I think it was, the 123 battery.

Russ

[jparker]

OK I've tested the rechargeable batteries but only in the wireless mount not in the unit because I didn't want to take a chance on frying the computer! The voltage is higher at 3.6v (actually 3.7 to 3.8 when fully charged) for the 2032 rechargeable batteries you can buy online,as I had been told by others on the forum so that's why I used them only in the mount. The reason being is that you get some voltage from the battery in the wireless mount which helps support the voltage in the battery of the computer. When I use the rechargeable battery fully charged in the mount with a new battery in the computer the most voltage I have seen is 340 with no side effects or damage to the computer. I'm not saying it couldn't in some way damage a computer but I have been using this combination for almost a month with no issues. The rechargeable batteries don't last long 4-6 hrs. but that's ok because I can just charge them up in a couple hrs.and they're like new. I will only do this for cold weather riding because warmer weather won't eat the batteries like the cold does and it seems like a great alternative to buying a new battery or having the cold weather wired battery rig just so I can go ride in the cold which is a good bit.
I hope in the future that they come up with a way to better power the iBike, maybe something like what Garmin uses. I know it's a little heavier but would it not be great to be able to download your ride and charge the battery at the same time and not have to change batteries all the time?! Just a thought.

[Velocomp]

When we started Velocomp we imagined ourselves on a multi-day bike tour, perhaps in the Western US, more hopefully in the Alps. For our dream tour we wanted 50 hours of memory--enough for storing 6 days of riding.

We did that.

We also thought about batteries for our tour. When we thought of rechargeable batteries on our bike tour we imagined hauling around a heavy battery charger, with odd-shaped plugs, to recharge iBike batteries. This is not something we wanted to do.

Or, hauling a PC, equally unacceptable, especially if its critical function was to recharge iBike batteries.

When we sized up the battery options we decided to go with the inexpensive, non-rechargeable, and ubiquitous CR2032, useable both in the iBike and in the wireless mount.

We certainly respect those who wish we had made a different choice, but as is the case for most things in life, there is good and bad associated with almost any choice.

[jparker]

Good point! I never really thought about in the since of touring. I'm kind of have the one track racing and training tunnel vision thing going on. I've read alot on the forum and no one has ever really gone into any detail about the reasons or thought process behind the use of the 2032 battey so thanks for shinning some light on the subject and keep up the great work. My computer works awesomely well and the customer service is top notch.Thanks!

[coachboyd]

I do have to admit, it is nice being able to stop in pretty much any store and pick up a battery for the iBike for a couple bucks if I need one. . .of order them in bulk off the iBike website for really cheap.

I was just reading a thread in the wattage forum about somebody who had a dead battery on their SRM. They had to send the computer back to the company, get it replaced, and then they would send it back. . .for a cool 120 dollars! If I remember right, Ergomo had a deal like this for seventy dollars. And if you changed them yourself then you voided your warranty. I know I would rather spend a dollar per week in the winter than all of a sudden be hit with a charge of over 100 dollars.

[mwirwin]

Just came across this thread - so sorry about being late to the party! Question: Can my iPro be charged via the USB data mount? I have a Duracell instant charger that I use to charge my MotoQ Phone - I usually get 3-4 full charges out of it (http://www.duracell.com/en-US/product/i ... arger.jspx). It's not much bigger than the iPro itself. This would solve the problems of extending battery life of rechargeable batteries without carrying large battery chargers or using laptop USB ports.

[gregh3285]

John, if the supply rails for the iBike see 3.8 volts, is the a risk that anything is going to see a voltage above it's maximum operating voltage? If I had access to the schematic and BOM , it wouldn't be too difficult a question to resolve. Still, I'm still bleeding down the supply of 50 batteries I bought two years ago. Let's face it, the iBike is (except in cold temperatures), pretty easy on the batteries.

[jazclrint]

Did we ever get an answer?

I just got a little charger with 6 lithium rechargeable batteries off ebay for $15. Other than the computer, and maybe the wireless base, the heart rate monitor tends to go through them pretty quick if I use it a lot because often times before I leave the house to drive to the mtb trails, and then not taken off until I get back. Either way, I saw just a touch over 4 volts. I serious doubt an extra volt is going to hurt anything in my Gen III, but I wonder if the high voltage will throw anything off.

[Velocomp]

Did we ever get an answer?

I just got a little charger with 6 lithium rechargeable batteries off ebay for $15. Other than the computer, and maybe the wireless base, the heart rate monitor tends to go through them pretty quick if I use it a lot because often times before I leave the house to drive to the mtb trails, and then not taken off until I get back. Either way, I saw just a touch over 4 volts. I serious doubt an extra volt is going to hurt anything in my Gen III, but I wonder if the high voltage will throw anything off.

I don't know what will happen, particularly with your HR strap.

With the Gen III I doubt it will be damaged, but we won't warrant the unit if it is fried...

[racerfern]

Did we ever get an answer?

I just got a little charger with 6 lithium rechargeable batteries off ebay for $15. Other than the computer, and maybe the wireless base, the heart rate monitor tends to go through them pretty quick if I use it a lot because often times before I leave the house to drive to the mtb trails, and then not taken off until I get back. Either way, I saw just a touch over 4 volts. I serious doubt an extra volt is going to hurt anything in my Gen III, but I wonder if the high voltage will throw anything off.

I've had the same CR2032 battery in my HR strap for about 18 months. There's something wrong there somewhere. It might be that your HR strap is always on. Try waking the iSport without touching the HR strap. See if it connects to the bike and the HR strap without touching the strap.

I too bought some rechargeable ones but didn't like the way they made the LCD overly dark when fully charged. In addition they seem to drain quickly. I've relegated my rechargeable CR2032s to tea light candles for the house.

[texmurphy]

The rechargeable 2032's hit 4.2V on full charge. When they are at the "nominal" 3.3V they are almost discharged and are essentially drained at 3.0V. In winter cold weather the indoors +4V becomes effectively 3.6V.

As recerfern says, no reason to use rechargeables in HR straps as a CR2032 will usually last 300 hours in a strap.

[bartoncox]

This is my first post on this forum, and I'm only here because Tom Gore, the forum's moderator (or whatever) told me iBike doesn't have a user's manual. Tom and I exchanged a few emails to get me back in business. When I downloaded OS 6.1.1 on my iPhone 4s three weeks ago my two-year-old version of iBike died, and I downloaded what I thought was the "latest version" of iBike. The icon had a black background with the same "i" in the middle, only the "i" was green and it had the words: "iBike cc" written in black below the icon. It actually worked on my iPhone 4s in the iBike case on the tandem bike Beth and I ride here in Hawaii (we're the only iBike uses here that a I know of), but it drained hell out of the iPhone's main internal battery and didn't touch the 3.7 square white aux battery that goes in the case. Tom gently informed me that I had the wrong "iBike" and should get the blue icon, which I promptly did, but now I'm having battery problems with this new version. I was embarrassed to say anything here because it seems impossible to me that new software could cause a battery drainage problem, but I've thoroughly cleaned the battery contacts (even used a spot of dielectric grease, popular here in wet, salty Hi) and still this new version seems to draw power exclusively from my iPhone's internal battery, ignoring the little square, white 3.7 v aux. battery in the case. As for charging, when I put the little white battery in the charger it usually shows 3.78 to 3.82 when the red light turns green, and I never had any trouble with it using the old, (now) dead version of iBike. Back then, when the small white aux, battery was fully discharged it usually measured something like 2.9 to 3.1 on my volt meter, but with this new software, when my iPhone main battery is almost dead after a ride, and I take the aux. battery out of the case, that "used" battery (same one I used with the old software) rarely shows any drop at all. If it shows any drop, its something like from 3.82 to 3.79. Hope someone here has some ideas, because Beth and I like to ride something like 50 miles a day, three days a week, and the iPhone running iBike solely on its main battery without aux. battery power craps out at about 26 miles.

[Velocomp]

I was embarrassed to say anything here because it seems impossible to me that new software could cause a battery drainage problem, but I've thoroughly cleaned the battery contacts (even used a spot of dielectric grease, popular here in wet, salty Hi) and still this new version seems to draw power exclusively from my iPhone's internal battery, ignoring the little square, white 3.7 v aux. battery in the case. As for charging, when I put the little white battery in the charger it usually shows 3.78 to 3.82 when the red light turns green, and I never had any trouble with it using the old, (now) dead version of iBike. Back then, when the small white aux, battery was fully discharged it usually measured something like 2.9 to 3.1 on my volt meter, but with this new software, when my iPhone main battery is almost dead after a ride, and I take the aux. battery out of the case, that "used" battery (same one I used with the old software) rarely shows any drop at all. If it shows any drop, its something like from 3.82 to 3.79. Hope someone here has some ideas, because Beth and I like to ride something like 50 miles a day, three days a week, and the iPhone running iBike solely on its main battery without aux. battery power craps out at about 26 miles.

We will investigate this.

[FelicianoVASA]

I also have the IOS 6.1, and in the last ride I noctice that the spare battery as charge in a few minutes but no accetpable diference to the total life battery of the Iphone. The percentage of the Iphone battery just keeping down, after a few period less then 10 minutes of charging. When arrive home I put the battery and was almost charge to full, because the green light was on in less then 5 minutes.

[bartoncox]

Thanks for the reply, Feliciano. I haven't noticed a bigger drain from my iPhone's main battery since installing IOS 6.1 and the compatible iBike software. Twenty-six miles used to be about what we got when I forgot to install one of the little white 3.7 aux. batteries when we started out, but having the ability to utilize those little batteries (I have three and need every one on a Century Ride) is essential to our continued use of the iBike software. I do carry a JuicePack, and plug in the iPhone every chance I get, but without the juice from those aux. batteries I'm afraid we're screwed. Hearing you may be having a similar problem makes me think it might have something to do with IOS 6.1 or the latest iBike software. I'd like to be able to eliminate the possibility that its somehow related to my dumb move downloading the Green "i" version of iBike (talk about a battery drainer!, though it did have some pretty cool displays; i.e. HR and speed have ave. HR and ave. speed displayed along with fancy color graphs. And all three items are on the same line on the screen and are easily readable). I'd hoped someone here might have recognized what the hell I downloaded. I suspect (I'm totally guessing) it was an iBike app for motorcycles, and that it used a different case with an external port to receive juice from the motorcycle's battery.