Magic Shine ME 1000 Issues

[cheating-is-awesome]

I recently purchased a Magic Shine ME 1000 to add to my Bafang BBSHD bike. I was excited about having a setup that ran off one battery, the main battery, and being able to control the light from the existing display (an Eggrider v2). However, the light is not delivering the brightness claimed, not by a long shot. I'm not sure what the problem is at this point, and Magic Shine has so far been zero help over email. I'll try to start at the very beginning.

Anybody who has a BBSHD probably is aware the stock light power out is anemic, 6v 500mA. I wanted something more powerful.

To aid in this quest, I bought a light adapter module, this one. The purpose of the adapter is to allow the puny built-in 6v signal cable to activate what I can only imagine is a relay, and for that relay to provide more power to the light than 6v. It has the added benefit of making the brake light functional, but there is no problem with that functionality, so I believe we can just ignore that for the remainder of this post.

The module listing states the output power is 24 volts. The multimeter determined that to be a lie. It's putting out the full motor voltage, so for me 52 nominal volts. I wanted a 12v light, so I also bought a voltage step down, this one. The multimeter confirmed that was putting out 12v, so I'm all good.

The light adapter module states it can do 3 amps. The voltage step down states that it can output 12v 5 amps. The light, a Magic Shine ME1000, claims to need 1 amp at 12 volts for full brightness. So it seems all the components are rated high enough to deliver full power to the light.

After getting everything hooked up, immediately after turning on the light I thought to myself, "I should have gotten the brighter one". Riding around that night I could barely see that the light was on. Once I got back home I compared it to two other battery powered lights I have that I know the claimed brightness settings for (an Olight RN600 and a Fenix TK12v2). From just eyeballing it, the ME1000 appeared to be putting out around 250 lumens, +/- 50 lumens. The stated max lumens on the ME1000 is 1000, so clearly something is wrong.

My initial thought was that the Ali Express components were not doing what they were supposed to be doing. I thought, if I could plug it into something that I was more sure would deliver the full power, then I could know whether it was my ebike wiring or the light. I looked around my apartment and found not one, but two AC->DC adapters that output 12 volts. The claimed amps out were 1 amp and 2 amp, so they should both be able to deliver full power to the light. I plugged both into the light and the results were the same, the light seems like it's putting out a measly 250 lumens. I could not visually tell any difference from when it was plugged into the ebike. Putting the multimeter inline shows the light only pulling .22 amps. The kill-a-watt that I plugged the DC adapters into show between 3.3 and 4.2 watts being drawn. This aligns with my visual estimation that the light is only putting out about a quarter of the light it should be.

I emailed Magic Shine about this. Their first and only response so far was basically "Yes, the RN600 (one of the lights I compared it to) and ME1000 are different lights, so the light output is different". I had written almost all of the details I wrote above. Whoever read and responded to my email clearly didn't understand it in the slightest.

Wiring this all up took so much time and effort. Waiting for the parts, trying to make the wiring clean. I can't express how disappointed I am in this outcome.

I suppose my question is, is there any other troubleshooting steps I could take, and what are they? Is this a common or known issue with this brand?

 

[amberwolf]

To aid in this quest, I bought a light adapter module, this one. The purpose of the adapter is to allow the puny built-in 6v signal cable to activate what I can only imagine is a relay, and for that relay to provide more power to the light than 6v. It has the added benefit of making the brake light functional, but there is no problem with that functionality, so I believe we can just ignore that for the remainder of this post.

Just for future reference when the AE ad is gone, I've attached their connection images (and their text descriptions) at the end of this post for reference.

The TLDR version of what I posted below is that your light probably just isn't capable of what it says it is...but you might need some testing to verify a couple things first.

The module listing states the output power is 24 volts. The multimeter determined that to be a lie. It's putting out the full motor voltage, so for me 52 nominal volts.

It also says it's signal input voltage max is 24v (it doesn't specify if that is only for hte control signal or also for the supply voltage). I've not seen a 24v BBSHD system, so either their description is wrong or incomplete, or if it's correct it's not compatible with your 52v system (and has either been damaged by the more-than-double voltage, or else it's really just a relay and not actually a DC-DC converter, so it always passed input directly to output when it's turned on). (it's still possible it's only a 24v-rated relay, in which case it could arc and become stuck on at some point).

If it's a DC-DC converter that can be powered by 52v+, there could be a failure of a component (or design issue) allowing input voltage to pass thru instead of being converted.

Would likely require cutting open the heatshrink on the DC-DC board and some voltage and/or continuity measurements to verify what problem exists (if any). If the DC-DC is of the switching-pass-thru type, then if the switching FET fails, it can fail shorted, which passes the input directly to the output (generally bad for everything hooked up on that side, including the stuff on the board itself). Sometimes it's a "soft" short, so that without a load you get full battery voltage, but with a load it sags a lot, limiting the current that can be pulled thru it so total output power is too low even if the powered device can handle the battery voltage. That's probably not the case here, but voltage measurement under load will tell you that for sure. (you can also verify that at the 12v converter output to be sure it's giving you 12v under load).

FWIW, it's pretty common for counterfeit parts to end up in cheap DC-DCs, and also for designs to use the converters right at the edge of their limits. Either one can easily result in device failure, with either no output or the wrong output.

After getting everything hooked up, immediately after turning on the light I thought to myself, "I should have gotten the brighter one". Riding around that night I could barely see that the light was on. Once I got back home I compared it to two other battery powered lights I have that I know the claimed brightness settings for (an Olight RN600 and a Fenix TK12v2). From just eyeballing it, the ME1000 appeared to be putting out around 250 lumens, +/- 50 lumens. The stated max lumens on the ME1000 is 1000, so clearly something is wrong.

Note that in my experience, especially the last several years, lumen ratings are generally about as reliable as political promises...rarely are they anything close to the stated amount. I have some decent but cheap LED panels here that while quite bright, certainly aren't in the millions of lumens that the ads for them stated.


There is a small chance that the "12v" the MS expects is not literally 12v, but "automotive" 12v, which is about 13.6v-14.4v. This probably would not make much, if any, difference to the light's brightness, since internally it likely uses a converter/current regulator to take the 12v down to what the LED takes to run. For LEDs running "directly" (with dropping resistors) from the 12v (like the stuff I use on the SB Cruiser trike) it does make a noticeable difference...but not as big as 3-4x as bright.

I looked around my apartment and found not one, but two AC->DC adapters that output 12 volts. The claimed amps out were 1 amp and 2 amp, so they should both be able to deliver full power to the light. I plugged both into the light and the results were the same, the light seems like it's putting out a measly 250 lumens. I could not visually tell any difference from when it was plugged into the ebike. Putting the multimeter inline shows the light only pulling .22 amps. The kill-a-watt that I plugged the DC adapters into show between 3.3 and 4.2 watts being drawn. This aligns with my visual estimation that the light is only putting out about a quarter of the light it should be.

Based on that, then unless it's defective or there is some other functional thing about it's design causing the issue, the most likely thing is that the light simply isn't capable of anywhere near the rating it claims; that's typical of lighting in general. Some outright lie, some just test things incorrectly (either on purpose so they can truthfully say it got so many lumens in their tests (but not tell you how they tested it because that would give the lie away), or because they don't know how to do it), some make honest mistakes somewhere along the line but dont' fix the info if they ever find out its' wrong.

There are some companies that actually test, for real, with correct methodology, the true brightness of their lights. But many sellers even of these items may exaggerate or outright lie, inflating the numbers to sell more stuff. (just like all those USB-chargers with their own battery in them that say they have tens to hundreds of thousands of Ah, when they dont' even have a one, or perhaps a dozen Ah. They conveniently leave off the "m" for milli, or they add all the series cells' mAh together, which is NOT how that works, or they just plain lie).

I emailed Magic Shine about this. Their first and only response so far was basically "Yes, the RN600 (one of the lights I compared it to) and ME1000 are different lights, so the light output is different". I had written almost all of the details I wrote above. Whoever read and responded to my email clearly didn't understand it in the slightest.

That's a fairly typical response from many companies (regardless of industry or support center location), unfortunately.

[Electric bicycle light group adapter]
Function Description:
When we use the switch of the display to turn on the light, the power control module has been activated,
In this way, we can use an additional headlight combination for connection. We have integrated the brake light signal. With our light group, we can realize the front and rear lights (6V signal control), brake lights, turn signals, and horns.
Perfectly solve the limitation of BAFANG lighting model difficult to choose! !
We can choose more types of front and rear lights.

[Scope of application] Light group conversion for bafang mid motor
[parameter]
Module signal input voltage: DC5-24V
Module output voltage: DC24V
Module output current: 3A
Maximum output power of the module: 60W
Harness plug: 8 pins input/8 pins output/4 pins output
Signal connection line:
2 pins signal input & XT30 plug
Wire specification: 20AWG high temperature resistant silicone
Maximum current: 3A
[Material]made of high-quality 20AWG high temperature resistant silicone
[Applicable voltage]Suitable for most electric bicycles and scooters, suitable for 12V/24V/36V/48V/52V/60V/72V voltage
[Cable length]25CM/9.84INCH(WP); 180CM/70.86INCH(SM)


Package Included:
1 pcs module combination
1 pcs 1T2 cable

 

[cheating-is-awesome]

Thanks for posting the Ali Express images. Hopefully this can help somebody in the future that may be trying to do something similar.

I believe specifically the signal input voltage is listed as being 5-24 volts, not just 24. The factory headlight output from the BBSHD motor is 6v, so it does fall within that range. I've confirmed with the multimeter that that line does in fact output 6 volts.

I did have an idea earlier today. I have two crappy ebike headlights laying around. One came with my motor kit, and the other came with a headlight/tail light combo I ordered a while back. I put both of these together, and with some alligator clips and steady hands connected them to my ebike headlight output (the one that goes through the adapter module and 12v step down) and saw it pulling 1.23 amps. So I think that proves the circuit can provide at least 1.23 amps. That makes me even more certain that the light is defective.

If the light is actually performing as the manufacturer intended, I am pretty disappointed. I thought Magic Shine was a reputable brand.

The alternatives I'm looking at now are lights from Lezyne, NiteRider, and Supernova. I am not thrilled about how expensive they are from those manufacturers though. I thought the Magic Shine price point was enough to make you feel like you were buying a quality product, but not so much as to make you feel like you're being price gouged.

 

[E-HP]

From just eyeballing it, the ME1000 appeared to be putting out around 250 lumens, +/- 50 lumens. The stated max lumens on the ME1000 is 1000, so clearly something is wrong.

I suppose my question is, is there any other troubleshooting steps I could take, and what are they? Is this a common or known issue with this brand?

Just want clarification that you are testing the light in the dark (not observing the daytime running light function)

 

[cheating-is-awesome]

Just want clarification that you are testing the light in the dark (not observing the daytime running light function)

Correct. I tested this by shining bright flashlight directly on the ambient light sensor and observed it then shifting into daytime running mode, and then back into normal / night time mode when the light was removed. Also, you cannot cycle through brightness settings while the light is in daytime running mode, there is only one brightness level in daytime running mode (very dim). It is possible for me to cycle through the brightness modes as expected, when it is in normal mode.

The update from Magic Shine is that they said they were sending me another unit. Hopefully that solves the problem. I was really hopeful about this light, and if it performs as advertised it will be pretty much everything I want.