Site Faqs

How often can I charge a rechargeable battery-set, how long is it's life-span?

The durability of a rechargeable battery-set depends on various facts, such as type of cell, strain, as well as the maintenance regime. Basically the durability varies from 300 to 700 charge and discharge cycles before the capacity becomes ineffective (80% of it's nominal value) - corresponding to a minimum period of 3 years when charging the battery twice a week. With good care, a life span of approx. 3-5 years seems realistic.

To give an example:

Compare a rechargeable battery-set with a new set of tyres: New tyres have a sharp profile and therefore are of high efficiency. Being in use, they slowly start wearing out. The same happens with rechargeable battery-sets having to be reloaded. The life-span is often indicated at 1000 cycles. After a 3-5 year period, the number of cycles is reduced by several hundreds of cycles and tired rechargeable battery-sets will therefore be of no further interest to their owner. For correct storage, keep the rechargeable battery fully charged and avoid complete discharge. This will give your rechargeable battery-set greater durability. In general Li-Ion batteries do have a shorter lifespan than Ni-Mh batteries.

Which type of rechargeable battery has the highest durability?

The smaller the specific capacity of the rechargeable battery cells the longer is it's durability.

With good care Ni-Cd batteries have the longest life-span (700 cycles) (Reliable maintenance is some effort - memory effect!)
Meanwhile, Ni-MH batteries last almost as long (approx. 500 cycles
Li-Ion batteries have a durability of approx. 300-500 cycles.

In use, the life-span of the battery is not the only important factor for actual service life, the maintenance regime itself is also of importance.

How high (%) is self-discharge with regard to the rechargeable battery type?

NI-MH batteries are known to lose their charge the quickest. Within 2-3 days they will lose approx. 10% of their power, continuing at at a loss rate of 1-2% per day depending on the surrounding ambient temperature. (higher temperatures promote greater self-discharge). Li-Ion batteries are unbeatable, with a maximum self-discharge loss of 10% per month at a storage temperature of 20° C - even less if the temperature is lower.

How do I store my rechargeable battery during the summer months when not used?

Two options exit:

If you have an automatic charger (such as Micro Charger, Wiesel or Charger One) you can leave your rechargeable battery connected permanently to the charging unit. With this method the rechargeable battery is being charged with short current-impulses at 2-4 min. intervals, the current consumption cannot be checked. Note: This keeps your battery only fully charged. It only avoids deep discharging, to keep the battery fit you need to use it from time to time. Constant charging levels, no matter if full or empty makes your battery unwilling to provide power or get charged.

Should you not wish to keep the rechargeable battery connected, charge it to the brim (the rechargeable battery must grow warm) and store it in a cool place for not longer than 4 months. Remember: low temperature = low self- discharge!

To give you a tip: store it in the refrigerator.
Basically, storage does not harm the rechargeable battery - complete discharge is the problem and MUST be avoided. Total discharge will damage the rechargeable battery and reduce it's life-span.
After a longer storage period, the rechargeable battery will need 2-3 charge-discharge cycles to bring it back to it's original efficiency.

I own a Charger One from the year 2007 or newer - what is the best way to store my Li-Ion battery?

Simply use the storage programm to perpare your battery for a longer storage.

I have scarcely used my Ni-MH rechargeable battery and now it has lost it's capacity - what can I do?

The rechargeable battery is slow and tired and needs some training. It functions in a similar way to a muscle- regular training brings back it's capacity. Try to widen the zone between FULL and EMPTY. To begin with, discharge your rechargeable battery by using the lamp at full power (not Micro Charger, the discharge being too slow and no training-effect will occur). Should your lamp have a spare tank, switch on the PCS once again until the lamp expires. Then charge the rechargeable battery to it's maximum (the rechargeable battery will grow warm when full). You can repeat this procedure two to tree times (without doing any damage) and the rechargeable battery may recover some capacity.

Can I use the lights without air flow?

The lights are absolutely heat-proof. Attention: the lamp will become very hot, so please take care not to burn your fingers!

Please note any runtime tests without airflow are useless. The light will dimm down to protect itself from overheating.

How durable are the halogen bulbs?

The average life-span of a bulb is approx. 120 hours, independent of the dimming process or the efficiency of the headlight involved. With regular use the life-span of a headlight amounts to 2-3 years.(The life-span of a H4 car headlight is said to be approx. 150 hours) If used frequently, we recommend a spare bulb.

How durable are the LED's?

High power LED's running on the limit will not last for 100.000 hours. This is a marketing hype! But they will at least work for 5.000 - 10.000 hours, which is alot longer than any halogen or HID bulb. They will probably even last alot longer but will loose brightness over the time.

Can all Lupine lights be mounted to the handlebar, helmet mount or headbelt?

Certainly - all lights can be switched to the helmet or handlebar tool free without additional mount.

Can I use a different bigger lupine battery with my light?

All lupine batteries and lights are interchangeable. We keep things simply and did not change our lights voltage and connectors since the foundation of Lupine. Even lights from 10 years ago will still work with brand new batteries.

How big is the loss of capacity at low temperatures?

The loss of capacity of Ni-Mh cells at a temperature of -20° can be almost 30%. Normally it is easy to keep the batteries at optimum efficiency. The following simple methods will be of help:

After use, charge the rechargeable battery-set completely and keep it in the warmth. Take it outside shortly before use. Insulation of the bottles and bags will delay the cooling down process for about 2-3 hours. After this period the core of the cells go totally cold and the cells become tired - the capacity sinks. Wear batteries under your clothing if possible. Li-Ion batteries are less sensitive to cold temperatures but we suggest to treat them the same like Ni-Mh batteries at very cold temperatures.

The capacity lost by Li-Ion batteries is alot smaller, nevertheless we suggest to cover them under clothing at extrem cold weather.

Whats the difference between an HP and SR bulb?

SR bulbs provide better peripheral view while HP bulbs do have more range. In combination with different glas reflectors several beam patterns for special needs are possible.

How can I determine the burn time of my Lupine lights?

Burn time = Wh/W

Wh = Watt hours (you will find this value in the system technical data)

W = Watts (you will find this value in the system technical data)

For example: NightMare (9/25W) Li-Ion rechargeable battery (Wh 83) system:

83 Wh / 9 W = approx. 9 hours burntime

83 Wh / 25 W = approx. 3 hours burntime

This is only an approx. calculation. In reality the burn time period can be different because of line losses ambient temperature variations, battery age, heat control and regulation of the light, aswell true battery capacity. Most batteries have a higher capacity than what is printed on them.