# Recommend me a SolarStorm compatible battery pack that isn't a POS



## MaverickRider (Sep 15, 2017)

I always bought these packs on eBay because they're exactly what I need: Practical Power Bicycle Bike LED Light Waterproof 8.4V 4x 18650Battery Case Box | eBay

Except there's a major flaw with them: they die in a year or earlier, and my last one (ordered late July this year!) died randomly earlier tonight. On a late evening trip to a wedding too :madmax:

Wat do, mtbr? I really love my SolarStorm X3 on my ML8 but I can't be arsed to buy a damn battery pack every time my old one breaks. Should I just ditch everything and get something on the high-end side of lights, or..?

Oh, and I already had a Kaidomain battery pack. Lasted for a year and of course, it also died, wire breakage which couldn't be fixed.


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## RAKC Ind (Jan 27, 2017)

Thats the joys of buying cheap, have to keep messing with it and having the fail with no warranty or anything else.

Broken wire for the connector is an easy fix for anyone with basic soldering skills and a steady hand.

But to be honest if your finally sick of dealing with it, you dont have to go "high end" lights. Can run several hundred dollars or more. 

Simply rule, if a light kit costs half or less of what a battery pack alone from a reputable brand costs, avoid it. A triple emitter (like your solarstorm) should run you 200-300 for something quality and reputable for a full kit.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


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## MaverickRider (Sep 15, 2017)

RAKC Ind said:


> Thats the joys of buying cheap, have to keep messing with it and having the fail with no warranty or anything else.
> 
> Broken wire for the connector is an easy fix for anyone with basic soldering skills and a steady hand.
> 
> ...


Basically, i'm SOL because there are no other battery packs out there than the one I have?


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## Hobine (Jun 16, 2004)

Solder an RC car battery plug on it and use an RC battery. That's what I did when the original pack died. I used a Traxxas connector, but there are many options.


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## RAKC Ind (Jan 27, 2017)

There is a expensive packs that will work, your talking $50-100 for just the battery pack. 

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


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## MaverickRider (Sep 15, 2017)

RAKC Ind said:


> There is a expensive packs that will work, your talking $50-100 for just the battery pack.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


That's the thing, I already have a source of cheap Panasuckit 18650 cells, but finding a good case of them is a hassle.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

MaverickRider said:


> I always bought these packs on eBay because they're exactly what I need: Practical Power Bicycle Bike LED Light Waterproof 8.4V 4x 18650Battery Case Box | eBay
> 
> Except there's a major flaw with them: they die in a year or earlier, and my last one (ordered late July this year!) died randomly earlier tonight. On a late evening trip to a wedding too :madmax:
> 
> ...


I own almost every type of Solarstorm lamp there is including the X3. I also recently tested the Zanflare B3 which also uses the SS type of battery connector. I have no SS type batteries that use the screw on connector. That said I have had very good success using my standard battery packs that use the typical MagicShine type connectors with lamps that use the screw-on sleeve type connector. The connection between the two sides is not as secure but it works. What I do is plug the two ends together and then take the sleeve on the lamp side and act like I'm screwing it over top of the rubber end on the other side till it feels tight. Then I test how much effort it takes to pull the two sides apart. You would be surprised. Sometimes ( depending on the battery I'm using ) it takes a considerable effort to pull the ends apart. It won't be as water resistant but it'll work. If you think it might rain just wrap a little electrical tape around it and you're good.

If you are dead set on getting a battery with a SS connector you can buy a quality battery pack from the e-bay vendor Hunk Lee. Just make sure you request the SStorm type screw on connectors and the type cells you want. ( Hunk Lee will custom build your battery with the cells you want as long as he has them in stock ) Now if you don't have a good battery bag for mounting to the frame you should be able to find one that will handle a 4-cell battery without too much trouble. Just look online. Vendors do sell those as well.

Now about the Kaidomain batteries; The newer batteries sold by KD are using the better Panasonic cells and supposedly have better wiring. I'm surprised to read that your "new" KD built battery failed in a year. That is quite strange. ( Perhaps a loose solder connection on the PBC inside the pack (?) or an intermittent open or short somewhere on either the lamp or battery wire (?). Keep in mind the SS lamps are cheap. Wouldn't surprise me if the lamp or lamp wire had a bad connection ( or bad wire ) somewhere. Actually, this whole thread should of been moved over to the "Battery Thread" because it's mostly about the batteries.


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## MaverickRider (Sep 15, 2017)

Cat-man-do said:


> I own almost every type of Solarstorm lamp there is including the X3. I also recently tested the Zanflare B3 which also uses the SS type of battery connector. I have no SS type batteries that use the screw on connector. That said I have had very good success using my standard battery packs that use the typical MagicShine type connectors with lamps that use the screw-on sleeve type connector. The connection between the two sides is not as secure but it works. What I do is plug the two ends together and then take the sleeve on the lamp side and act like I'm screwing it over top of the rubber end on the other side till it feels tight. Then I test how much effort it takes to pull the two sides apart. You would be surprised. Sometimes ( depending on the battery I'm using ) it takes a considerable effort to pull the ends apart. It won't be as water resistant but it'll work. If you think it might rain just wrap a little electrical tape around it and you're good.
> 
> If you are dead set on getting a battery with a SS connector you can buy a quality battery pack from the e-bay vendor Hunk Lee. Just make sure you request the SStorm type screw on connectors and the type cells you want. ( Hunk Lee will custom build your battery with the cells you want as long as he has them in stock ) Now if you don't have a good battery bag for mounting to the frame you should be able to find one that will handle a 4-cell battery without too much trouble. Just look online. Vendors do sell those as well.
> 
> Now about the Kaidomain batteries; The newer batteries sold by KD are using the better Panasonic cells and supposedly have better wiring. I'm surprised to read that your "new" KD built battery failed in a year. That is quite strange. ( Perhaps a loose solder connection on the PBC inside the pack (?) or an intermittent open or short somewhere on either the lamp or battery wire (?). Keep in mind the SS lamps are cheap. Wouldn't surprise me if the lamp or lamp wire had a bad connection ( or bad wire ) somewhere. Actually, this whole thread should of been moved over to the "Battery Thread" because it's mostly about the batteries.


All I need is a battery holder with cells that can be replaced, except the only one I know is the one I linked in the OP.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

MaverickRider said:


> All I need is a battery holder with cells that can be replaced, except the only one I know is the one I linked in the OP.


Well, as you already know most of the cheap cell holders are nothing but cheap crap. You might save a couple bucks by using one but it isn't going to be as reliable as a dedicated battery pack and at some point the cells become old and need to be replaced just like a normal battery pack.

Standard cell packs for bike lamps have come down in cost over the last 2-3 years. The price difference is just not that significant anymore to justify messing around with loose cells but that's my take on it. There are lamps however that use loose cells inside the lamp body. Once again though there is a cost to buying new lamps. You can build your own cell holder as many have done but from the viewpoint of someone who has used cell holders before ( Me ), It's just a PITA having to take out, charge and reinstall loose cells after every other ride. At least in my case it didn't take long before I figured out what worked best for me. I'm a lazy SOB, I like just coming home, throwing the battery on the charger and opening a cold beer all in about 30 sec. vs. coming home, prying the case or covering off over the batteries, then loosening the Velcro, screw top or whatever you have that keeps the batteries from losing contact, digging out my charger designed to charge each cell separately, charge the cells and then set the whole sh'bang up again when I'm ready to ride.

Now if someone made a really nice cell holder with a built in quality PCB for protection and designed it for using both 18650's and 20700's...:ihih:...well, that would perhaps change my opinion as long as the build was high quality, waterproof and included a decent mounting solutions.

You could use something like these to build your own holder but IMO it's not worth messing with as you still need connectors, a way to protect the cells from moisture and then come up with a mounting solution. Of course you could go ahead and use one of those holders that include the extra USB charger but like what's been said before the circuit for the USB charger helps to drain the batteries which of course is not the ideal solution if you intend to just keep the batteries in the holder until the time you intend to charge the cells.


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## MaverickRider (Sep 15, 2017)

Fecking great, got my battery pack in the mail, same issue. Ergo, those packs are inherently **** quality wise.

Weird, considering I never had issues before.. time for a new light I guess.

EDIT: LMAO, both of them have the same issue. I bought two btw in case the other one breaks again, but that's of no use when both of them shut off after driving into a pothole or jumping off a curb! Good thing I paid with Paypal so there's a high chance I might get my money refunded.


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## MaverickRider (Sep 15, 2017)

Holy effin **** I managed to fix it! All you need to do is make four balls of Aluminium foil and put them in the bottom of the case, and then put in your batteries. No more shutdowns whatsoever, even on a hardtail!


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## ledoman (Apr 17, 2012)

Watch out you can make a short if alu foil gets into gap around positive button. 

Loosing contact is known issue. I've experienced lost of contact on jumps or drops cause cell suddenly press spring so hard the other side loose contact. Wrapping cells with some tape so the cells hardly gets out solves problem somewhat.


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## MaverickRider (Sep 15, 2017)

ledoman said:


> Watch out you can make a short if alu foil gets into gap around positive button.
> 
> Loosing contact is known issue. I've experienced lost of contact on jumps or drops cause cell suddenly press spring so hard the other side loose contact. Wrapping cells with some tape so the cells hardly gets out solves problem somewhat.


I made extra sure that the batteries compress the balls into small flats, no shorting or shutdowns so far.


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

I make my own battery packs with holders from Digikey. They have a spring contact on both ends. That way, even if the cells move a bit on a hit the springs keep the connection. My very first cell holder only had a spring on one end and it did just like you found out. Hit a bump and the cells move enough to break contact on the non-sprung contact and all goes dark.


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## angerdan (Sep 18, 2017)

You can switch to an 2S1P case instead of 2S2P:
http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night-riding/fenix-ba4c-case-found-946922.html
http://forums.mtbr.com/lights-night...terproof-bicycle-battery-packs-gb-982688.html

Or go for an "Assembled in Germany" battery pack:
ENERpower Mitte Plus Battery 7.4V 10200mAh with Round Plug - ENERprof
Bike Light Batteries - ENERprof


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