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I have a set of the original AY-UP lights, which back in the day were the cats pyjamas.
I have three battery packs and two lamp units. I put one on my helmet and one on the bars. The packs give a good runtime and are 7.2v LiPo packs.
When i have used them the last couple of times, they have seemed dim in comparison to other units my ride buddies are using. Is this just because the newer units of my friends are actually brighter, or has something degraded the performance of these units?
I have a lipo charger that will tell me how much charge the batteries have taken and their voltage, but i havnt used it yet, just the dedicated ayup charger.
Does anyone have any experience of this effect?
newer units are much brighter. LED tech has moved on a long way. Best bet would be to replace the leds with up to date ones for doubled brightness with the same runtime
Assuming that they are Cree emmiters, they degrade over time with use. I may have read something a long time ago about the emmiters developing a black spot in the centre which degrades the output. This can't be seen with the naked eye but through a filtered lens?
Or it could be the driver pcb for the emitters?
the old ay-ups were probably not much more than 700Lumens. Most modern lights are in the 1500-2000 range and a number going up to 5000.
I have a 5000 lumen bar light and 2000 helmet one but I rarely run the bar light at full brightness as it causes problems for anyone in front of me who ends up riding in their own shadow.
If they're original Ay-ups, the LED's will be nearly 10 years old, possibly 500 lumens per unit Things have moved on a lot since then.
Would be fairly easy to replace them for something new to boost the output without affecting the runtimes.
When ayup had a uk distribution centre they offered free led upgrades. I never did that and i guess they are 8+ yrs old. Maybe even more.
Does anyone know how to open them, or a uk place to add newer led units?
if they are the ones controled with a resistor. I did upgrage quite a few in the troutielights era .
they had the old Cree XRE leds which I replaced with XMl leds
the casing is wat too small to run the xmls at full power  but it was a good upgrade .
I never did any of the newer Ayups with level control . so cannot comment if they are multi level .
I do have quite a few Xml and other cree leds in the workshop so can have a look at them for you and hopefully upgrade them .
My AyUps are the same age. Looked positively anaemic at the Puffer especially when Troutie came up behind me with his solar system.
They used to be so good....
Now I'm looking at getting a long white stick.
I got a C&BSeen light for the bars to replace one of my AyUp lights but still use the helmet mounted one because of the low weight and low profile.  Can't say I've noticed a drop in brightness but it's possible.
Trout, I have the old Ay-Ups. Would I be able to send them to you for an LED upgrade? No problem if not for any reason...
I have the upgraded 700lms ay-ups around 6 years old, there great solo riding,bar unit is the flood lens, bonce one is spot,but washed out in group rides,( i just ride at the back for this reason😉)still a great design though.
Hi Troutie,
Thanks for the reply. I have sent you a PM about this 🙂