Dynamo Lights

Another Cinq5 Plug update - to try and get to the bottom of the problems I've been having charging power banks from the plug I did some testing and tried all my power banks and all my micro USB cables in different combinations. In the end all the power banks charged but only with 3 of the 6 cables, the other 3 resulted in the blinking light / overload cut off that the Cinq5 has.

I can't distinguish a common feature between the cables which work and the cables which don't, I've just ordered a USB multimeter to see if that sheds any light on things.

Interesting please keep updating :-)

Could it be down to whether the cables were manufactured to comply with one of the relevant power charging standards of the usb specification. Good luck with working out the small print of that with any cables. (Also dependant what the plug 5, battery is designed to work with).

I think Snapdragon quick charge or the oppo/OnePlus cables will likely not be compatible. USB power delivery might.

USB is much more fragmented than they want you to believe.

Look for a front B&M Light please - cheap cheap - anyone got any spares atm?

Cinq5 news

The usb multimeter arrived, I thought I’d do a test using mains plug before going out on the bike.

Test 1: New RavPower power bank, ‘not working’ cable from previous tests.

• Current draw is 1.5A, as expected this is above the Cinq5 limit and causes it to turn off.
  
  

Test 2: New RavPower power bank and ‘working cable’ from previous test.

• Current draw is 0.15A, this shows why these cables are working with the Cinq5 but it also means the power bank / device is getting so little current it would take days and days of riding to charge up.
  
  

Test 3: very basic cheap 1200mAh power bank and ‘non working’ cable

• Current draw is 0.9A which would work with the Cinq5.
  
  

I’ll do some more tests at the weekend on a ride but for now I’m at a bit of a loss of what to do and think I need to choose one of these options.

1. Find a dongle which acts as a current limiter and stops devices drawing too much current. I don’t know if such a thing actually exists.

2. Buy the power bank that Cake suggested and I know is compatible. Downside is that it’s very expensive compared to other power banks and if I need a replacement when on a tour this could be tricky.

3. Get a new dynamo usb charger. The Cycle2Charge is looking like a good value option at the moment, a bit bulky but I can live with that.

Would be interested to know the origin/brand of the different cables.
Usb-c has communication between devices and only pass an agreed current between them. 150mA is the USB3.0 unit load specification so that cable is not to spec and is only allowing the minimum current to pass.
900ma is the USB3.0 high speed limit so there is some sort of communication happening. The 1.5A appears to be handshaking the devices properly as it's allowing the proper USB-C current to pass. This is the cable I would trust with a £500 smart phone.

I'd spend £10 on a decent cable from a reputable brand before binning the cinq and buying new. (Or buy new and post me the cinq to play about with)

thanks for the reply and adding some knowledge

I think all of the 150mA cables are very old, one is branded Sony Ericsson so it's probably from a phone I had in 2010.

The cable that came with the RavPower should be fairly good quality, I think the problem lies firmly with the Cinq5's design and the built in current limiter / cut off circuit.

These are great, as are the SON version, or I like "kLite Qube FLASHING Rear Safety Light" if you want flashing! its tiny.

I managed to snap the plastic mounting bit of my Cyo T Premium Senso Plus last night.

Is it worth getting the same again, or should I go for an IQ-X or IQ-XS.

my brain hurts looking at all the different models

Found that cutting the large velo orange E3 mount works quite nicely as a lower bridge mount option.

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brightness specs on this are pretty poor compared to say an Edelux or IQ-X

Nice set up on eBay atm

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353157993100

Anyone have a cheap but good B&M front light they'd be willing to part with?

IQ CYO or Eyro would be perf

I have something in the garage. Let me look it out.

How to get front lights out of the way of a bar bag? I don’t really want the mounting on the bars permanently.

Has anyone used a ‘Brompton bracket’ with a B+M light, to put the light further forward, clearing a bag?

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Does the bar bag have its own rack?
or..
I have one of these that brings it further forward, although probably not far enough to clear a bar bag:
https://www.evanscycles.com/busch-muller-front-dynamo-bracket-cantilever-00105956

There is also this kind of thing, which is useful if you have mudguards (this isn't for BM but maybe there is something similar out there / you could bodge something together).

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Does anyone know if I can use an SP or a Son hub with the same wiring to the lamp (B+M Lumotec) as a Shimano Deore LX?

ie: if i want more than one front wheel to use on the same bike, do i have to stick to one brand of dynamo hub?

Cheers : )

How to get front lights out of the way of a bar bag?

I resorted to this setup previously. It does still cast a rather odd shadow on the road though.

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No it doesn’t.

I think a combo of an elastic chord (to slightly lift the bag) and bending the standard B+M bracket (in a vice) might be enough.

Somewhere aero and warm to rest your chin I guess.

Shimano and SP are the same / similar enough to not be a pain.

So the Shimano connector will fit into the SP hub? Happy days!
(Sorry, I know that's the same question as last time... just double checking before I get a new hub!)

I mounted my front light down near the axle on the fork leg. Works well.

https://www.lfgss.com/comments/15044111/

https://www.perennialcycle.com/dynamo-hub-connector-for-shutter-precision-hub.html

They say Shimano fits on SP hub, but a bit loose vice versa