Fixing a Bike Light

Thargor

Hi, my favourite light has become unusable with a fairly common problem Ive seen in a few lights now, namely the LEDs still work and the batteries are full and it works 60% of the time but if it gets any kind of knock at all like the bike going over bumps it just dies instantly.

Sometimes you can just switch it on again straight away, sometimes you have to give it a rattle and pop the batteries out and in again.

I think the problem is that it has one of those clicky switches that are just a button with no on/off position, you just press it once for on, again for strobe and again for off.

If it was just a cheap Ebay light Id replace it but Id love to fix it, it takes 3 AA batteries and is super bright, best light I ever had and totally unmissable on the road. I dont suppose theres some simple trick to this problem? It cant be disassembled besides the way Ive shown in the pics anyway, its all moulded:







EDIT: I stretched those springs with a small pliers a bit aswell to hold the battery in place better but it made no difference, theres no corrosion anywhere either it looks brand new everywhere.

Keep_Her_Lit

Since the accessible connections look clean and you've tweaked the springs to ensure good contact pressure, there's probably not much else you can do without risking destruction of the light.

If I were you, I'd identify a suitable replacement light first (in case your attempted repair fails), then make a more invasive effort at fixing the faulty light. Even if it is moulded, you might still be able to find a way to get at the switch, even if it's only to bypass it altogether (e.g. using tin foil or solder) - though that means that you will have to "turn it off" by removing the head from the body.

TBH, unless you're cash strapped, you should be able to pick up a reasonable replacement for a modest sum.

Thargor

Yeah Im already looking, this is seriously the best bikelight Ive ever seen even though its just a fairly cheap Halfords Bikehut brand one I got with Cycletowork, I might just buy another one to be honest.

route66

Thargor wrote: »

Hi, my favourite light has become unusable with a fairly common problem Ive seen in a few lights now, namely the LEDs still work and the batteries are full and it works 60% of the time but if it gets any kind of knock at all like the bike going over bumps it just dies instantly.

Sometimes you can just switch it on again straight away, sometimes you have to give it a rattle and pop the batteries out and in again.

I think the problem is that it has one of those clicky switches that are just a button with no on/off position, you just press it once for on, again for strobe and again for off.

If it was just a cheap Ebay light Id replace it but Id love to fix it, it takes 3 AA batteries and is super bright, best light I ever had and totally unmissable on the road. I dont suppose theres some simple trick to this problem? It cant be disassembled besides the way Ive shown in the pics anyway, its all moulded:







EDIT: I stretched those springs with a small pliers a bit aswell to hold the battery in place better but it made no difference, theres no corrosion anywhere either it looks brand new everywhere.

I had 2 of these and had exactly the same experiences: very bright light, but sometimes switched off for no reason. Well, there was a reason: vibration. The problem was if I was going down a bumpy hill at dusk, it would switch off thus making me invisible. The short term solution was to unscrew the head and screw it back on - not easy when decending, and I was afraid I would kill myself doing it some day.

The long term solution was simple - return it to Halfords! As long as you have the receipt, there will be no problem. I replaced the light with a name brand light in Wiggle - it was a 35 Smart Lunar. On special at the time but a bit dearer now. But lots of lights on special out there.