Geomangear temporarily has stopped selling Magicshine lightsets due to our concerns regarding the safety, quality, and performance of Magicshine's lithium-ion battery packs sold by Geomangear between July 2009 and November 2010. We have determined that these Magicshine battery packs do not meet Geomangear's high expectations regarding product safety, quality, and performance. We have notified both the manufacturer of Magicshine lightsets and the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission that Geomangear intends to voluntarily recall all Magicshine battery packs sold by Geomangear.
We are actively working with the Safety Commission, outside engineering consultants, and a new battery pack supplier to evaluate product recall options for our customers. Geomangear will provide recall information and instructions directly to our affected customers after our final corrective action plan has been approved by the Safety Commission.
If you bought a Magicshine lightset from us between June 2009 and November 2010, please discontinue using your lightset until we are able to provide you with an upgraded replacement battery pack or another recall remedy. Despite our best efforts, this process will take some time, and we ask for your patience. You can rest assured that Geomangear has taken, and will continue to take, appropriate steps to protect the safety of our customers, and we will stand behind our products. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you and appreciate your continued loyalty and support during this unprecedented situation our company is facing.
I just dug up the post over on candlepowerforums (it dates back to october last year).
the 15 min on / 15 min off method was actually recommended to prevent the charger catching fire:
quote:
'Or using the least invasive, least intensive, countermeasure and most passive solution in an ordinary digital timer, just set the digital timer for fifteen minutes of charging the battery pack which is then is cycled off for fifteen minutes off cycle and then fifteen minutes of charging, this is repeated until the battery is fully charged(lit up green); without causing the undesired thermal runaway conditions that can lead to a potential fire on the connected lithium ion charger. This is the most surefire way of preventing a potential overheating thermal runaway condition from developing in the first way(see below link).'
Ok so who has had a battery explode or catch alight, not a single forum I have read today has anyone stated anything of the sort so stop looking for something when it is not there. Geoman is a company in the States and you know how people are scared of being sued. I heard all they need is 20 faulty batteries and then it needs to be investigated now bet your ass they have sold thousands of these lights. All I have ever read about these lights has been great until the guessing and speculation in the last few days. If you have a light that has exploded or caught alight, lets hear about it, if not, get on your bike and get night riding!! I am keeping mine cos can't get anything better for that price. It still kicks butt!
Ok so who has had a battery explode or catch alight, not a single forum I have read today has anyone stated anything of the sort so stop looking for something when it is not there. Geoman is a company in the States and you know how people are scared of being sued. I heard all they need is 20 faulty batteries and then it needs to be investigated now bet your ass they have sold thousands of these lights. All I have ever read about these lights has been great until the guessing and speculation in the last few days. If you have a light that has exploded or caught alight, lets hear about it, if not, get on your bike and get night riding!! I am keeping mine cos can't get anything better for that price. It still kicks butt!
For the love of Dog, does anybody actually know what the issue is?
Is is blowing up during charging, or blowing up in storage, or blowing up during use? Is it specifically a battery fire, charger fire, of both?
Way too much speculation, and 'fixes' to problem we don't even know about yet.
This issue is starting to feel more like a McCarthy style witchhunt for communists than a real concern.
I have a real hard time believing that a 400ma charge current can generate enough heat to start a fire. I thought the issue was more about internal plate shorting.
A friends house burnt he claims. Come on that's second hand speculation. He also shows pics of a burnt light head? Maybe he left it plugged to the light head in a bag, it got hot being static and ignited something.
We threw half a dozen packs high into the air and drove over more with the car after the doco on TV about the aircraft LIPO battery fire.
Simulated a short in the terminals which lasted all of 2 seconds before the connections melted.
Too much speculation at the moment. As stated before. Geoman, DX and magicshine cells and PCB's are quite different to ours although you will probebly SPECULATE differently. LOL
I bought 6 lights recently and I haven't got one either I think the CPSC will be going threw Geos database and they will be sending official recall notices, I'm not too worried we will get something soon enough.
Thanks fellas, we have a recall page on the site now see the link below, we will place as much info in the FAQ section as we can, this page will be evolving so check back often. The matter is is being managed by the US Safety Commission, the flow of info is governed by their protocols. We are taking the battery quality issue very seriously, your safety is our number one priority. We are sending out info updates to the Recall page, Twitter and Facebook. Some folks reported they didn't receive the Interim Notice email, we believe it may have been blocked by spam filters, the same info is available on our recall page. There will be a number of notices sent via email and regular mail so folks won't miss out on info. Customers from The Singletrack Store will be receiving a similar notice shortly, the company has been closed down for 6 months so we are working on getting an email out with safety info shortly.
Correct Raku, we are sending out Interim Safety Info to help folks take precautionary measures, the Safety Commission will be working on further releases. We will continue to update our recall info page for everyone as soon as we have new info. Our email volume has increased ten-fold so we are trying to get as much info on that page as quickly as possible.
I bought 6 lights recently and I haven't got one either I think the CPSC will be going threw Geos database and they will be sending official recall notices, I'm not too worried we will get something soon enough.
thanks geoman for sending out information so willingly. I don't normally browse this board, so the e-mails were instrumental for me.
it is disappointing, though, because temperatures are good for commuting in my area finally and I've been wanting to commute, yet it gets dark so early.
guess I'll be driving at least until I can get replacement batteries.
Customers from The Singletrack Store will be receiving a similar notice shortly, the company has been closed down for 6 months so we are working on getting an email out with safety info shortly.
For all the curious battery geeks out there that want to understand some basics on how lithium ion batteries fail - The following link is a blurb I wrote a couple years ago in a RC car forum. It specifically applies to lithium polymer and RC car applications, but almost all of it is still valid here.
Hi Jim, you will be included with the GeoManGear recall we have obtained customer info for The Singletrack Store customers already. Notification will go out to STS customers shortly via US Safety Commission :thumbsup:
Thanks for the support, we want to get you all safely back out on the trails and roads as quickly as possible. :thumbsup: Please check our recall page regularly for info updates and spread the word to any of your cycling friends that may have bought a Magicshine lighting system elsewhere, your safety is number one on our list.
MOMtbiker said:
Geoman is top notch!
Thanks for standing behind what you sell, seems rare these days.
Hi Mike
GeoManGear was not retailing Magicshine lightsets prior to June 2009 you may simply be mistaken about the date. The recall covers every Magicshine battery that GeoManGear has ever distributed. Did you purchase directly from China prior to June 2009? We plan to make sure every GeoManGear customer is taken care of, you can email us directly contact@geomangear.com to make sure you are on our list
I have not received any email (just checked my spam folder) so I will email you. Thank you very much for being honest and pro-active with these batteries! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
I respect what Geoman is doing, but I have to wonder... If there was a safety danger, and a recall coming...don't they have an obligation to let us know exactly what the danger is? It's not enough just to say not to use the batteries. The customers need to know if there is some kind of safety concern. I doubt the safety commission would tell you not to disclose this information. I don't know what the issue is, and I don't want to speculate, but let's look at worst case scenario.
If someone's house burned down in the meantime, or were severely burned because of a battery failure without knowing the specific dangers involved, what then?
When Toyota had the accelerator failure, they told you that the accelerator could get stuck and kill you. They didn't just say "don't drive your car, we'll tell you why later." People will wait and blow it off if they're not certain it's a serious issue that can result in injury.
Dell came out right away with their disclosure that certain laptop batteries could catch on fire and then issued the recall. This isn't new ground here.
I'll gladly stand by GeoManGear in the future and continue to order from them once they make this right, but it isn't right to keep people in the dark like this if there is indeed a legitimate safety concern. I doubt the Safety Commission would tell a company not to disclose this information that could result in consumer injuries.
I haven't had an issue with the battery that Geoman replaced for me about a month ago (first one didn't charge at all out of the box). So, I'm still riding with it. I mean, why should I worry about an potentially explosive fire hazard strapped right between my thighs?
Note, please, that was just a little gallows humor and I do not expect the thing to explode or start burning.
I respect what Geoman is doing, but I have to wonder... If there was a safety danger, and a recall coming...don't they have an obligation to let us know exactly what the danger is? It's not enough just to say not to use the batteries. The customers need to know if there is some kind of safety concern. I doubt the safety commission would tell you not to disclose this information. I don't know what the issue is, and I don't want to speculate, but let's look at worst case scenario.
If someone's house burned down in the meantime, or were severely burned because of a battery failure without knowing the specific dangers involved, what then?
When Toyota had the accelerator failure, they told you that the accelerator could get stuck and kill you. They didn't just say "don't drive your car, we'll tell you why later." People will wait and blow it off if they're not certain it's a serious issue that can result in injury.
Dell came out right away with their disclosure that certain laptop batteries could catch on fire and then issued the recall. This isn't new ground here.
I'll gladly stand by GeoManGear in the future and continue to order from them once they make this right, but it isn't right to keep people in the dark like this if there is indeed a legitimate safety concern. I doubt the Safety Commission would tell a company not to disclose this information that could result in consumer injuries.
Maybe Dell and Toyota corresponded with the CPSC or similar agency before we ever heard anything about the possible safety issues with their respective products. I bet Toyota and Dell *could* have come out publicly with information well before the recall was official. We are in an informal setting here and it sounds like Geoman is just providing us with a "heads up" if you will. I think Geoman also does not fully realize the extent of the problem since it sounds like there are outside consultants looking into it.
We are bound by the protocols of the US Safety Commission, once you notify them of a potential safety issue they literally take over control. We got approval to release an Interim Safety Notice via email, website and forums so that we could give advance warning on a potential safety issue for consumers. We have suggested that you discontinue using your batteries and store them outdoors in a safe manner for your own safety until we can get further approval from the US Safety Commission. More info with be forthcoming the very instant we have it. Please see our recall info page for updated info http://www.geomangear.com/index.php?main_page=recall
BaeckerX1 said:
I respect what Geoman is doing, but I have to wonder... If there was a safety danger, and a recall coming...don't they have an obligation to let us know exactly what the danger is? It's not enough just to say not to use the batteries. The customers need to know if there is some kind of safety concern. I doubt the safety commission would tell you not to disclose this information. I don't know what the issue is, and I don't want to speculate, but let's look at worst case scenario.
If someone's house burned down in the meantime, or were severely burned because of a battery failure without knowing the specific dangers involved, what then?
When Toyota had the accelerator failure, they told you that the accelerator could get stuck and kill you. They didn't just say "don't drive your car, we'll tell you why later." People will wait and blow it off if they're not certain it's a serious issue that can result in injury.
Dell came out right away with their disclosure that certain laptop batteries could catch on fire and then issued the recall. This isn't new ground here.
I'll gladly stand by GeoManGear in the future and continue to order from them once they make this right, but it isn't right to keep people in the dark like this if there is indeed a legitimate safety concern. I doubt the Safety Commission would tell a company not to disclose this information that could result in consumer injuries.
I stopped using my lights. I have two which are my only lights currently. I put them outside in a metal can for storage. Bummer, night riding season is here. I will wait a few more days and if an e mail does not arrive, I will e mail geoman
Sounds like Geoman is good people and going above and beyond, but I'm still a little confused. I assume that all MS batteries built within a certain time frame will have the issue, not just those sold by Geoman.
So...what's the process? Does the CPSC do an investigation then if warranted compell the manufacturer to issue a product recall?
I bought mine from an Ebay seller a couple of weeks ago. I'm not really worried and will continue to use it, but just curious.
I have used a Dinotte battery on the magicshine I put on my daughter's bike. It seems to be fine. I have also interchanged the magicshine charger with Dinotte batteries. All you magicshine lovers out there might consider a Dinotte battery, and just run it off the magicshine charger and hope for the best. Or better yet, plunk down the money for great Dinotte lights.
Nothing bad to say about Dinotte lights.
My Magicshine front and rear lights are my main commuter lights so I am still using them. I'm charging my batteries in a metal can with a lid (small dent for cord to go through) in my presence, then I take the can outside and leave it till morning when I grab a battery for my commute. In the evening, I remove the battery from the bike and put it back in the can, which is left outside on concrete. I don't think the odds of my battery catching fire is great, but I like my house.
Didn't get an email, I think my spam filter dumped it in the junk folder and I just deleted it along with the 60 other junk emails I got that day... Will have to keep closer tabs on that.
Thanks for the heads-up Geoman, it's good to see a responsible vendor do what is right. Now I gotta go take my Tundra in to check for rust-through on the frame that makes the spare tire fall out...
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