joelr

This is a phenomenon I've just recently discovered, and it worries me greatly. Apparently, after hitting a bump in the road, the shock is so great to my tail lights that they momentarily lose the connection to the batteries. But to them, it doesn't matter how momentarily it was, because they are designed in such a way that after losing power and gaining it again, you must push the darned button to turn it on.

I am convinced it has nothing to do with how tight the batteries are in the light, because I added high-tension springs to one light so that it was nearly murder to get the battery to lose its connection (on purpose). So, maybe something besides the battery connection is at work here, but I can't imagine what. I'm sure all of you have noticed this behavior as well, with your taillights?

I know that if they were designed with a power switch and the mode button was separate from the power connection, this would not be a problem, but so far I've never seen a light like that.

I have 4 tail lights, and all but one of them exhibits this problem. The one which does not, is the oldest one, and has only 3 LEDs compared to the 5 on the others. And the reason the old one doesn't have the problem is because it uses a switch (it has only one mode).

So, has anyone found a solution to this problem, possibly by reworking the circuitry somehow? Or must I buy some expensive taillight (brand?)? Or should I find some way to add suspension to the lights so they do not have to absorb all of the shock? I'm not sure how I would go about doing that...

mechBgon

What brand are yours? My Cateye TL-LD500 never kicks out... I always arrive with it doing whatever it was doing when I departed, and it does definitely take a few bumps.



That's my backup taillight and legally-required rear reflector... my primary taillight is a NiteRider ultra-output unit that's powered by my rechargeable light system.

joelr

I'm sorry to say that I don't know what brand it is, maybe it's some kind of generic brand, because it doesn't say on it.

mechBgon

Hmmm, well the Cateye gets my nomination if you're looking for a replacement. Its reflector prisms meet the legal requirement for a red rear reflector in the United States (unlike the majority of its competitors), its flash is pretty good, and it isn't too extremely expensive, perhaps US$10-12. They're Japanese-made and use two AAA cells.

joelr

Oh, btw mechBgone, I forgot to ask... does your backup light have a mechanical, or electronic power mechanism? With mechanical power button, you will hear or feel a slight click when you push it in.

joelr

Oh, also, here is how you can check if the light has the problem my lights do: turn it on, then bang it against a hard surface (using your hand) about 10 times (on the depth dimension of the light, i.e. the part that goes from front to back). I can't really describe how hard to bang it, as I don' t know any words to measure bang-strength, but don't treat it too kindly... these things don't break easily.

P.S. mechBgone: AAA batteries? Seems like they wouldn't last very long compared to AAs... how many hours do you get on blink mode for fresh cells?

mechBgon

Blink mode is supposed to do 100 hours on fresh alkaline cells, and I don't know if that's a fact or not, but they seem to last a long time.

I believe that the switch on this model is simply a silicone-rubber dimple with a conductive-rubber underside, like Cateye has often used in their bicycle computers. When the button is pressed, its conductive underside makes electrical contact between two sets of meshed "fingers" and the circuitry is signaled to switch on or off. It goes through this cycle as the button is pushed repeatedly:

Off > Flashing > Off > Steady

At any rate, it doesn't have the tactile *click* of, say, a VistaLight-brand unit. I admit a good *click* would make it easier to activate without looking.

Michel Gagnon

I have Vistalite Eclipse taillights. One had a similar behaviour, but removing the batteries and reinstalling them seemed to solve the problem.

Also, all things being equal, a seatpost-installed taillight should be more stable than one dangling to the rear of a rear rack.

Regards

joelr

Actually, my taillight is quite stable. Its seat-clamp is attached to a broom stick which is sawed down on one side and attached to the crate with a nut and bolt. I haven't 100% fixed the problem, but it seems to be almost non-existent now. The main thing I did was to install high-strength springs to really clamp those batteries in. The reason I didn't think it had worked before was because I hadn't put the reflector/red thingy on before banging it around to see if it would go off. The reflector part must add some more compression to the batteries.

I am still of the opinion that a class action lawsuit could be won against many of the companies that make taillights with electronic on/off/mode buttons.