Cygolite Metro 360 USB Bicycle Headlight

GadgetJim

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Jul 7, 2016
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I just got the Cygolite Metro 360 USB Bicycle Headlight. I really like this bicycle light, but run time is too limited. Sometimes I cycle all night long (playing the game Ingress).

I gave up driving. My bicycle (Surly Long Haul Trucker) is my main transportation.

Question: What would be a good Battery Pack I could use to charge the Cygolite while cycling, and still be able to use the light while charging ... ?
 

Steve K

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Jun 10, 2002
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Peoria, IL
sorry.... no idea.

If you knew how much power the light was using, and estimated how long you wanted the light to run, that would give you some estimate of the capacity that would be required of the battery pack.

The most practical method might be to buy a battery pack with a known capacity (for instance "5000mA-hr"), and use the results you get to estimate how much more capacity is needed.

This seems like a perfect application for a dynamo light, but of course, that's a more expensive option. You might keep your eyes out for someone selling their LED dynamo light system cheap.
 

Alaric Darconville

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Sep 2, 2001
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Stillwater, America
They state it's a 4W LED, but then there's the rest of the circuitry involved.

Since they say that at maximum brightness (360lm @4W) it runs 1:45, if we just assume 100% efficiency for the sake of a reference point, that's a 7 Watt-Hour battery. Since a 5000mAH power pack puts out 5V, that's a 25W/hr battery, which at 100% efficiency is over 3x the original battery capacity.

Of course, there are efficiency losses everywhere, but you probably won't go wrong with a 5000mAH power pack. It might weigh around 150g or so.
 

angerdan

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Feb 12, 2015
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Do you even know if the Cygolite Metro 360 USB will be able to use while charing?
That's the first thing to clear.

Then you have to know how long you want to use the light.
Regarding the consumption stated by Cygolite (High (360 lm): 1:45 hrs), you will need 5Wh per hour of use in the High mode. Depending on efficency of the powerbank and the headlight caused by conversion from 3.7V to 5V USB and then back to 3.7V, you can calculate with 6-7Wh.
So for 6h this will be 37Wh or 10.000mAh (36Wh/3.7V=9.7Ah).
 

GadgetJim

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Jul 7, 2016
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I discovered that I can use my RavPower Battery Packs (I have two: 1) 13000mAh, 2) 14000mAh) to run my Cygolite 360 Lumen Bike Light while cycling, but it does not charge while running the light, which is ok, because at least I get bright light. I just ordered the Magnus Innovation 860 Lumen Bike Light, so I will have two strong headlights for cycling now. The Magnus light uses 18650 batteries, also USB, but I can interchange the batteries with the Magnus, which is the option I prefer.
 
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