Replace fly6 1st Generation Battery

[CKinnard]

Anyone attempting to solder in a new battery might consider the full risk of burning their houses down when the units are on a charger. No doubt your house and contents insurance will likely be voided if an investigator can prove a device with a non consumer replaceable battery was tampered with and left on a charger.

[eeksll]

I just found this for the second-gen lights, but it looks like it might work with the first-gen as well. Jaycar has the 18650 battery with solder tabs in stock, $21.95.

a 18650 battery is 18mm diameter by 650mm 65mm long. Which would not match the 7.0mm thin battery as described above (if that is in fact correct)

If you can wait for china post, I would buy genuine panasonic batteries 3400 mAh, US$19.70 for 4 with solder tabs

can you vouch for fasttech? I want to get some genuine 18650 batteries for some lights i am bodging up. The "trustfire" ones I have last as long as 3 x eneloop AA batteries.

...
Here is what the battery looks like:
...
I will see if I can get one of these to fit in:
...

pic not working.

edit: fixed battery length, thanks jasonc

[Patt0]

Hobbyking.com sells individual cells.

[AUbicycles]

Afraid we can't see the photo - it is likely protected and not for public view. Typically an image also has an extension like .jpg at the end.

Thanks for sharing the other details.

[jasonc]

a 18650 battery is 18mm diameter by 650mm long. Which would not match the 7.0mm thin battery as described above (if that is in fact correct)

you're missing a decimal point there - 65.0mm
650mm = 65cm. that's not fitting anywhere

[find_bruce]

If you can wait for china post, I would buy genuine panasonic batteries 3400 mAh, US$19.70 for 4 with solder tabs

can you vouch for fasttech? I want to get some genuine 18650 batteries for some lights i am bodging up. The "trustfire" ones I have last as long as 3 x eneloop AA batteries.

I have used fasttech 6 or 7 times to date I have been happy with them - both the batteries & LEDs I have bought appear to be within the proper specifications. They are actually pretty good at listing exactly what you are getting, provided you know exactly what you want - solder tabs, protection circuit, nipple tops, etc. Eg when the list the mAh in inverted commas, they are saying it is exaggerated & then usually list the measured capacity in the listing. Sadly, as with all of these OS markets, there is no guarantee that the next shipment will be the same.

If you wanted an Australian supplier, I have found this ebay seller to be reliable. Only seems to have the tabbed batteries in 6 packs, but I am sure if you asked he would sell you smaller quantities. Not cheap though- about 3 times the price of fasttech.

[eeksll]

If you wanted an Australian supplier, I have found this ebay seller to be reliable. Only seems to have the tabbed batteries in 6 packs, but I am sure if you asked he would sell you smaller quantities. Not cheap though- about 3 times the price of fasttech.

thanks, I might look into that one.

[tallmantim]

Afraid we can't see the photo - it is likely protected and not for public view. Typically an image also has an extension like .jpg at the end.

Thanks for sharing the other details.

Pic fixed.

18650 doesn't fit and can't get a 14500 battery in 1500mAh... will need to try something else.

[RhapsodyX]

Afraid we can't see the photo - it is likely protected and not for public view. Typically an image also has an extension like .jpg at the end.

Thanks for sharing the other details.

Pic fixed.

18650 doesn't fit and can't get a 14500 battery in 1500mAh... will need to try something else.

When you say "doesn't fit", is this something a die-grinder/dremel could fix? I was thinking that carving 1.5mm off the side supports might be possible.

[tallmantim]

When you say "doesn't fit", is this something a die-grinder/dremel could fix? I was thinking that carving 1.5mm off the side supports might be possible.

I don't think so. It was a long way from fitting.

On the interesting side - I was right that they are releasing a new Fly6 (v3) - available today.

[tallmantim]

FWIW - I have now bought the v3 Fly 6 discounted down to AU$119 with shipping following a discount code from support after asking about getting a replacement battery for the V1.

[RhapsodyX]

FWIW - I have now bought the v3 Fly 6 discounted down to AU$119 with shipping following a discount code from support after asking about getting a replacement battery for the V1.

They offered me the same deal to upgrade from a V1 to a V2, or accept a new V1 as a warranty replacement without sending back the original. As of this week, both lights now only run for ~ 1.5 hours or 1 hour in cold conditions.

[cancan64]

FWIW - I have now bought the v3 Fly 6 discounted down to AU$119 with shipping following a discount code from support after asking about getting a replacement battery for the V1.

I will have to contact them.... mine spends more time charging than actual use

[JakethePeg]

This thread might be a bit old but hopefully better late than never...

I have a Fly6 with a battery that dies after about an hour. I dismantled the Fly6 and pulled out the battery as shown in previous posts... I thought buying a replacement would be easy but not so.

If you peel away the plastic covering you'll find the battery is actually two very thin lithium polymer batteries that are soldered together. I checked with Jaycar electronics and they don't stock anything similar. I asked if you could use simple AA sized rechargeable batteries (the ones with the solder tabs) but they said that the discharge rate for those batteries isn't as high as for the one in the Fly and the device might not work... they suggested I contact a hobby shop as these types of batteries are used in remote control toys.

I then checked with Battery World ... they'd never seen these batteries before so no luck.

I checked on eBay (thinking there'd be zillions of 'Sinyo' batteries ...) ... not a sausage.

By now I was getting a bit fed up and then I accidentally dropped the disassembled Fly and snapped the red and black battery wires off the top of the battery ... ggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

In desperation, I plugged in a high capacity battery that I use to top up my phone to check it was OK ... switched it on and .. hey presto... the Fly lit up and recorded!! I had to keep the ON switch pressed for several seconds but the light booted up and I could adjust all of the flash modes etc.

The battery I used is a Comsol ... I havent got the model number but it's sort of a squared-off tube about 9cm long that I bought from Officeworks. I velcro the battery under my seat and run the Fly from a USB cable... no problems and lots of battery life.

If you do this, just remember to keep the ON switch pressed in until the light starts flashing/recording.

[cjrich]

FWIW - I have now bought the v3 Fly 6 discounted down to AU$119 with shipping following a discount code from support after asking about getting a replacement battery for the V1.

Same deal for me, had my v3 for a few weeks now, though had to wait more than two months for it's release before I could order it.
I do like the new attachment method on the v3.

CJ

[RhapsodyX]

...
In desperation, I plugged in a high capacity battery that I use to top up my phone to check it was OK ... switched it on and .. hey presto... the Fly lit up and recorded!! I had to keep the ON switch pressed for several seconds but the light booted up and I could adjust all of the flash modes etc.

The battery I used is a Comsol ... I havent got the model number but it's sort of a squared-off tube about 9cm long that I bought from Officeworks. I velcro the battery under my seat and run the Fly from a USB cable... no problems and lots of battery life.

If you do this, just remember to keep the ON switch pressed in until the light starts flashing/recording.

Thanks for the tip - I'll probably try this as a solution.

[ktastrphe]

Hey guys- my first post, and a kind of grave dig.
Looks like someone has had some success with a replacement battery - Panasonic NCR18650B. Anyone else tried the same?

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads ... ent.25478/

[Dodgy-Knee]

Hey guys- my first post, and a kind of grave dig.
Looks like someone has had some success with a replacement battery - Panasonic NCR18650B. Anyone else tried the same?

http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads ... ent.25478/

It looks as if the battery replacement was for a later version of the Fly6 - not the original version ... battery size might be a problem as the original Fly6 uses a long and slightly flat battery used mostly in RC gadgets ... as I originally posted, I couldn't find one to replace the v1 battery anywhere here in aus and all of the electronic and battery shops just drew a blank.

FWIW - I also posted my solution on the Cycliq forums but my post was blocked by their admin ... I wonder why??

[defy1]

my v2 battery died after 1.5 years. Out of warranty so no help from Cycliq. Its ridiculous that there is so many issues with batteries after a short time and consumers need to buy a new one, or resort to replace the battery themselves.
Electronic gadgets such as this should have a longer life span. Can you imagine an iphone that lasts one year only? I was offered to buy a v3 at discounted price as well, but won't be buying anything from Cycliq in near future.

[CKinnard]

I was offered to buy a v3 at discounted price as well, but won't be buying anything from Cycliq in near future.

I had been considering a 12 and 6 last year, but after hearing about the lame response of the manufacturer to the short lifed and irreplaceable battery, I will never deal with the owners of this company.

Integrating the light and camera is just not worth the 12's $500 when compared to

a 400 lumen rechargable headlight for $29
https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/bike- ... /102845139

and a comparable camera for $99
http://www.99bikes.com.au/camera-shimano-sports

[brokenbus]

Can you over write on the shimano like you can with the fly12?

I was offered to buy a v3 at discounted price as well, but won't be buying anything from Cycliq in near future.

I had been considering a 12 and 6 last year, but after hearing about the lame response of the manufacturer to the short lifed and irreplaceable battery, I will never deal with the owners of this company.

Integrating the light and camera is just not worth the 12's $500 when compared to

a 400 lumen rechargable headlight for $29
https://www.bikeexchange.com.au/a/bike- ... /102845139

and a comparable camera for $99
http://www.99bikes.com.au/camera-shimano-sports

[Comedian]

my v2 battery died after 1.5 years. Out of warranty so no help from Cycliq. Its ridiculous that there is so many issues with batteries after a short time and consumers need to buy a new one, or resort to replace the battery themselves.
Electronic gadgets such as this should have a longer life span. Can you imagine an iphone that lasts one year only? I was offered to buy a v3 at discounted price as well, but won't be buying anything from Cycliq in near future.

Yes.. I'm quite concerned about it. So far the fly12 battery has been fine, but if it fails at 18 months there will be no way I'll be forking out $500 for another one.

Cycliq really need to offer a refurb service for existing units. They might consider making their units with user replaceable batteries in the future.

[CKinnard]

Can you over write on the shimano like you can with the fly12?

Based on Fly user experience reported here and elsewhere, is the Fly's overwriting feature redundant, and therefore not a feature you'd miss on a shimano cm-1000?
i.e.

From current Fly 6 specs
battery run time - up to 6 hours (2600mAh battery)
file size - 10 minutes around 900MB
A 32GB SD (maximum size supported) should have enough space to store 32000/(900*6)= around 6 hours of footage.
(I appreciate the unit is sold with an 8GB card.)

From current Fly 12 specs
battery run time - up to 10 hours (4400mAh battery)
file size - 5 minutes 750MB
A 64 GB SD (max size supported) should have enough space to store 64000/(750*12) = around 7 hours of footage.

From the above, with the maximum card, the battery will more likely go flat before overwriting is required.
I'd be interested to know if anyone has got 10 hours out of the new Fly 12 when recording in 1920x1080@45fps.
Reading between the lines, these maximum run time specs are based on not using the light simultaneously, which defeats the purpose of having an integrated unit, I think!

[Comedian]

Can you over write on the shimano like you can with the fly12?

Based on Fly user experience reported here and elsewhere, is the Fly's overwriting feature redundant, and therefore not a feature you'd miss on a shimano cm-1000?
i.e.

From current Fly 6 specs
battery run time - up to 6 hours (2600mAh battery)
file size - 10 minutes around 900MB
A 32GB SD (maximum size supported) should have enough space to store 32000/(900*6)= around 6 hours of footage.
(I appreciate the unit is sold with an 8GB card.)

From current Fly 12 specs
battery run time - up to 10 hours (4400mAh battery)
file size - 5 minutes 750MB
A 64 GB SD (max size supported) should have enough space to store 64000/(750*12) = around 7 hours of footage.

From the above, with the maximum card, the battery will more likely go flat before overwriting is required.
I'd be interested to know if anyone has got 10 hours out of the new Fly 12 when recording in 1920x1080@45fps.
Reading between the lines, these maximum run time specs are based on not using the light simultaneously, which defeats the purpose of having an integrated unit, I think!

I did those exact calculations recently when buying another memory card for the fly6. I've got a 16gb, and that's about all you can get out of the light in terms of operation.

The fly12 appears to have a very good battery. I've found I can do a few days riding with it before needing to charge. It's got more battery life than the fly6 anyway. Having said that - I only ever run the light on it's lowest setting which is enough for me.

[AUbicycles]

I had been considering a 12 and 6 last year, but after hearing about the lame response of the manufacturer to the short lifed and irreplaceable battery, I will never deal with the owners of this company.

I understand the frustration of a customer when a product does not meet expectations or assumptions though I feel that your criticism of Cycliq is undeserved.

In my case, I have not experienced the battery issue but have also seen Cycliq acting professionally, replacing product for customers with issues during the warranty period and providing discounts for customers with issues outside of the warranty period.

The units were not designed for, and are not sold with removable batteries. This is no different to a multitude of other consumer electronics devices. There is no arguing that a replaceable battery option would be nice (either done by the customer or by customer service), as a qualified industrial designer I recognise the additional challenges and costs involved in designing and manufacturing a product with removable parts. Lets see what happens in the future.

If this brand and their products are not for you - that's OK.

...is the Fly's overwriting feature redundant..?

The overwriting is an excellent feature and before the Fly6, I can't recall other name-brand sports action camera's that were doing this. Previously it meant manually erasing footage and once the memory card was full - recording stops. Other camera's have started to integrate this functionality and it is convenient and you only need to remember to recharge.

...these maximum run time specs are based on not using the light simultaneously, which defeats the purpose of having an integrated unit, I think

This is correct regarding the maximum run-time. With a full-power steady beam you get a far shorter run-time.

However it doesn't defeat the purpose:
- If you wanted 10 hour run-time with full-power light and high res video, you would need a gigantic battery.
- The units combine two units into a single unit which is convenient and saves space
- It is competitively priced compared to the purchase of an individual light and video with the same power/resolution
- The Fly6 and Fly12 introduces features in design / interaction which extend their functionality or value for the rider


My comments are based on using the Fly6 gen 1, gen 2 and gen 3 as well as Fly12 along with other brand cameras and lights.


Christopher