My light will not charge from a power bank?
Note, there are many different USB power banks on the market, and we cannot test all of them, because of this we cannot guarantee your power bank will work with our lights.
We recommend using a power bank with a bigger capacity than the light and with the highest output possible, minimum 2A, ideally higher.
Charging
In most cases you should be able to charge you light using a power bank. However, bear in mind that our big lights (Sixpack and Maxx-D) may have bigger batteries than a lot of power banks. If the battery is very low the light may pull enough current to trigger over current protections on some power banks causing them to shut off.
Power banks have a boost converter to generate the 5V output. To save energy they will switch this off if there is no load. Some of them you have to press a button to start, others will test every second or so. We momentarily stop the charging every second to measure the battery voltage for the fuel gauge, some power banks can turn off during this. If you are charging your light with short regular top ups, for example during pit stops on an enduro ride, you may find that the lights with OLED displays may be less accurate when displaying time remaining. This is normal and is expected. Our lights are designed to be most accurate when running down from full to empty.
Using on the GO
Your milage will vary depending on what light you are using and how you are using it. When using our support cells, we recommend fully charging both the light and the cell, then running the light down with the support cell plugged in. This ensures you get the maximum runtime from the support cell.
Using a power bank to do the above may work for small lights (helmet lights) at lower brightness levels but results may vary at full brightness. If you want to do this we recommend using a power bank with at least a 2A output. Using a power bank as a support cell for the big lights will only work for the low outputs. As the high output modes will draw more current than most power banks can supply.
How do I know if there is a problem with my charger?
If the charger has developed a fault then when it is plugged in to the mains and not attached to the light, the LED on the charger may pulse or flicker or show no light at all.
My light appears to be losing charge when not in use, what can I do?
We have found that unplugging (or turning off) the charger before removing the charger jack from the light can cause a circuitry component to pull current when unplugged resulting in a slow drain of charge. Unplugging the charger jack from the light before turning off or unplugging the charger from the mains should stop this happening.
Can I use any Exposure charger to charge my light?
The lights are supplied with the charger most suited however most of the chargers can be used to charge most of the lights. The new 5A rapid chargers (supplied with Six Packs and Maxx-Ds) should only be used to charge the supplied lights. If these chargers are used on the older lights then it may result in the light not charging or turning itself on when on charge.
Can I charge my Support Cell with the USB cable or do I need a mains charger?
Whilst it is preferable to use the mains charger as it will be quicker and give an indication of the charge status, you are fine to charge using the USB cable via a 5V source and cannot overcharge the cell. You may find that the mains charger can put a little more charge in the support cell.
What batteries do Exposure Lights use?
All Exposure Lights use market leading, Panasonic and Sanyo Lithium-ion batteries. These batteries are very versatile and user friendly, as well as being extremely light and compact. The batteries do not have a memory like NiMH which allows the battery to withstand "abusive charging" and are more stable and energy dense the LiPo batteries.
Can I over charge my battery?
No, the circuitry in the light and charger prevents this from happening.