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Acxing: Go go shine sidewall dynamo

Tested: from 3 March 2012

I mentioned the Acxing Go Go Shine dynamo on my Sunup DS review page, and for various reasons I have decided to now test one...

Specifications:

Mass: 150 g (with screws and plastic fork mount, there's also a steel cantilever/v-brake brake mount).
Size: 41 mm width, 98 mm height (without mount), 24 mm thickness.
Cabling/connectors: There is a double strand wire coming from the dynamo.
Construction: Plastic, rubber wheel, plastic mount for the bike with pieces of rubber, steel cantilever/v-brake mount.

User serviceable: No.
Price: ? (information on where to buy them to follow)

Pictures:

This dynamo spins for a while after giving it a push without a load, similar to the no longer available Lightspin. Acxing says the difference with a regular dynamo is that the wires aren't wound around steel (this causes the steady positions when turning a regular dynamo) but plastic. I am curious about the power it can supply and the efficiency, but first experiences just using a regular headlamp/taillamp.

I tested it powering an Edelux headlamp. First thing I noticed was the noise from running on the tyre, this is annoying! The second issue is that if there is a slight unevenness in the tyre or if the wheel has a slight sideways deviation in some position, then the dynamo will slip there. I haven't run it in the wet yet. Even if it doesn't slip in the wet then hub dynamos are so much nicer to use, I wouldn't want to go back to using a sidewall dynamo, despite possible vibrations in the handlebar.

I tried mounting it on the rear stainstay and that didn't work due to the shape and that the wheel doesn't have a large enough distance to the housing, and the housing touches the tyre/rim when trying to set it such that the wheel rolls on the tyre with enough force. The way it rotates is also an issue in this regard (2 often used methods are this one where the dynamo pivots such that the wheel changes the angle with the tyre, and the second is where the dynamo wheel stays at the same angle to the tyre but moves closer to it).

I was thinking about some more tests in the rain etc, but I gave up after this inability to run on the rear chainstay.

2016-3-2: If all goes well I will do a StVZO power output test soon along with the experimental version of the Renark Enparlite.

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