Planet Bike Blinky Superflash problem...
 

Started using my rear Planet Bike Blinky Superflash on my commute and I'm noticing that at some point it switches itself from blinking mode to solid-on. I'm assuming it's happening when I go over a bump. I've had this light for many years, haven't used it for some time, but don't remember ever having this problem.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there something I can do to fix it? If not, any suggestions for replacement that will not do this?

If you take it apart you will see a tiny little push button down at the bottom. It must be contacting the outer housing and being pressed when you hit a hard bump. Perhaps gently bend the outer casing away and push the button mechanism up and away. J

Sometimes just taking things apart and putting them back together will cure the problem. Also try cleaning the contacts and changing the battery.

Low voltage systems like this can lose contact just a little when bumped. It would be very typical if new batteries would fix it. I have had it happen on a few different bike tail lights, and other battery powered things. Try new batteries.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'll open it up, take a close look at the on/off button, and change the battery.

It isn't the battery voltage. Mine does this with brand new batteries. Nor do I believe it is the switch, but that is a possibility worth investigating. I do think it might be the fit of the batteries in their holders. Some battery holders are bendable tabs and others are springs. Either way, a firmer, less bouncy contact with the battery must be acquired. I went to Planet Bike flashing arm bands, otherwise I would have found a fix for the blinky by now.

My first step, would be to use the Eraser on an 'Old School' wooden pencil to 'burnish'/polish the battery contacts inside the light. Pay attention and do a thorough and carefully gentle job. The goal is to remove any surface oxidation on the battery contacts that probably formed while the light 'Sat Around Unused'.
Carefully blow/brush out any Eraser 'crumbs' from the battery contacts and compartment.
You can finish up, by wiping down with 90% or better Isopropyl alcohol if desired. Avoid the temptation of using the cheaper 'Rubbing Alcohol' (70% or so, Isopropyl Alcohol) as it will contaminate the contact surfaces with mineral oil.



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Hmmm,
Just had another thought. Did you leave batteries inside the light while it was unused? It's possible they may have leaked corrosive electrolytic fluid. There's a chance the fluid got into the power switch if you did have a battery leak.



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I think I recall that this was a common problem with that blinkie. I have a couple of them but I haven't used them for years because they're just not that bright.

If it's like mine, there's a tac switch under a thin bit of the plastic case. You could, I suppose, file down the nub on the tac switch a little. But first I'd stretch the battery contact springs. It's more likely IMO that the batteries bounce on a bump and break contact for a moment, confusing the controller.

If it makes you feel any better about it, I'd argue that you are far better served by a steady light than a blinking one. I like steady lights for visibility, not blinking ones. Blinking ones are pretty annoying, and surprisingly difficult to gauge distance. They make you 'visible', but cars have very little depth perception with a blinking light, so while they can see you, they can't really tell where you are, which is a problem.

We did a bunch of tests at my bike club, and overwhelmingly, people favored the steady lights after seeing them in a comparison test, including die-hard pro-blinky people.

So, maybe just keep it on solid? :)

It is because as some point, the electrical connection is intermittently broken. That could be the switch button or corroded battery contacts, but it could also be some other point in the circuit. I don't know about the Planet Bike Blinky Superflash specifically, but any time the circuit includes part of the body, that's the weak link. That would be the case if the switch can be separated from the light or LED. Clean that part, use sandpaper even, if there is someplace that aluminum joins.

It won't be the switch button breaking contact, it's normally open on almost all blinkies and closes when you push it. I think it's almost certain to be the battery contact. Probably not corroded either, I think the mass of the batteries is just forcing them down when you hit a bump and causing the one with the negative downward to momentarily break contact with the top contact.

If so you could quick test, try jamming some foam under beside the coil or tape around the battery to keep it from bouncing.

Annoying... can you see the blinky while it is flashing? Is it annoying you? If it is (possibly) saving your life(!) is that not (possibly) a trade-off worth making? Delibarately shining your helmet mounted 800 lumen MagicShine in a drivers eyes is annoying, no one considers that stupid behavior, using a flashing taillight is not considered annoying by drivers. I have never heard even the most rabid bike hater really get excited about blinkies. They have simply become accepted as an is.

I was getting a ride in a car the other night, and in the sea of taillights up ahead I could see a blinky flashing. I couldn't see the cyclist, but I could see their blinky. It said to any car behind them, for at least a quarter mile: "up ahead there be a cyclist, make of that what you will". The majority of drivers will be grateful for the heads up. A solid taillight simply would not have stood out in that sea of redness. What I know from actually using my own eyes and experience vs parroting tired (and wrong) myths and anecdotes is that a steady light is just as unlikely to provide any meaningful extrapolation of a cyclists speed as a flashing one. Moreover, it simply does not matter!

Relative to the speed potential of the humblest economobile, a bicycle is a stationary object. Most motorists make that assumption automatically upon seeing the blinky flashing. When they get close enough to actually overtake the bike, their headlights are providing all the information they need about the speed (or lack of it) of the bicycle they are overtaking. It works. It works so well that by subverting what has become a convention of nighttime bicycle equipment, the contrarian cyclist hurts, rather than helps their overall safety. FWIW.

I think we just disagree about the relative value of blinky lights. I trust my large surface area, always on solid light, that I use day and night when I ride; super bright, high visibility, and because of the large surface area, it's easier to judge how far away it is. There's a reason that after studying it, blinking lights were made illegal in Germany, it's not for the heck of it. Other cyclists, pedestrians, and yes, drivers can have problems with blinking lights. Of course they can. Ever ridden behind another bike?

I also think it's a mistake to view yourself as 'stationary' relative to a car; bikes move pretty quick. I want drivers to know where I actually am, not assume that I'm moving at walking pace.

This is a bit off topic though. I was just trying to at least let the poster that all is not lost in the event they can't fix their blinky light resetting to steady mode.

Yep. I imagine that what OP really wants is for his blinkie to keep blinking.

Thank you, once again, everyone, for all your suggestions. I will be trying several of them.

Regarding blinking vs. steady, I appreciate the comments on both sides of the issue, but I do lean toward blinking. Years ago when I decided to commute to work by bike, I bought John Forester's book, Effective Cycling. When I read that he recommended against rear blinking lights because they "distract" drivers, I immediately decided that's exactly what I wanted - to distract drivers - and went out and bought the blinky. I want to get drivers' attention first and foremost. I do like to keep an open mind, though, and will look up the German study that condemned them - I am curious about that.

Many thanks for all the comments.

I agree. I don't intend to irritate, but if irritation happens as a result of a minimum viable effort to make the most distracted idiot driver on the road see me, then I guess people are going to be irritated.

I do think that running two blinkies is a MINIMUM for safe operations, and I run one blinking and one steady.

You will never know if a blinkie fails on you. So run two.

If the Superflash switch is like the Rack Blinky 5 it may be difficult to modify. That soft touch switch is finicky. So far mine has stayed in the mode I've chosen, but I usually have to cycle through the steady/blink/off options a couple of times because it's too touch-sensitive.

I doubt the soft touch switch can be modified, but it may be possible to replace with another switch if you're handy with a soldering iron.

Exactly.

The contact interruption is so minor that the higher voltage from new batteries will almost certainly fix it.
Unless it is very cold, that makes it a little worse. I have fixed many, lights that got "bumped off" this way.
After spending most of my life doing this kind of thing for work, I've learned that it is not unusual. It happens in all kinds of electrical things. Plus it's easy to try. I shimmed my battery support piece of the cover that keeps the batteries in place in my Radbots with a small piece of inner tube. That can help too. It's not the switch.

If you want the light to work better, the higher voltage from lithium batteries will help too.

If your answer were credible, then a best practice for blinky maintenance would be to put fresh batteries in them daily, or at least a couple of times a week. The initial voltage of lithium cells is indeed higher, but it drops rapidly with use, just like other AA or AAA technologies so, here again, constant vigilance with recharging if rechargeable, or frequent replacement, if not, would be the best practice. Erm... no, just no.

Actually the electronics in blinkies are able to function at extremely low battery voltage levels. We've all been behind 'that guy' with the batteries so shot you can barely see his blinky but it is flashing away, albeit at a very low light intensity. There is no need to chuck fresh cells out in the trash for optimum performance. Higher voltage is NOT the issue, poor battery contact, i.e. 'bounce' at the contacts is the only problem. Eliminate the bounce through shims, increasing the spring tension, or the re-adjustment of bendable tabs. Of course if there is corrosion present this should be removed. Paper towel moistened with a weak acid like vinegar or lemon juice does this easier and better than an eraser which may not even be around in most Generation X/Millenial households.

l

Sometimes What actually happened is better than what should happen.


cleaning the contact surface can make for a very small increase in power, just the same result as putting a fresh battery. Out of the 20-25 different types (usually buying 2 of one style) in the last 22 years, only 3-4 pair have had this problem. When testing the batteries on my percentage battery tester (not a volt meter) I discovered that when the problem was at it's worse the batteries were under 20%. Some were almost at 0%. There is no need to
replace the batteries that are fresh.
Indeed the bouncing of the batteries is the root of this problems. But just changing the pressure can on the contacts can change the resistance slightly, probably only a few ohms. The mating surfaces are not perfectly flat,
and can change the size and shape on the contact patch.
Increasing the contact tension, can fix this by keeping the contact pressure higher sometimes. Also batteries can be shimmed so the batteries don't move. Cleaning the contact points keep the power up by keeping the resistance low.
More power from new batteries can also increase the power to the light. The different ideas all help keep the power to the light higher. Some lights may need all of these methods . They all do the same thing, they increase the power to the light. If you're on the road carrying an extra set of batteries is an easy fix. But, most lights don't have this problem

Those must be some weak-springed blinkies. I've seen this problem (batteries losing contact) in hand-held flashlights with D-cell batteries, but not in blinkies. I always have messed with the battery contacts and shimmed connections first, because that's the easiest and the first thing I think of, but it's never been the answer except on those big old flashlights. Almost all of my blinkies are mounted sideways though, so perhaps I wouldn't see that particular problem.

Every time I've seen this issue in headlights, ultrafires and little flashlights the fix was cleaning the threads holding the switch mechanism part. A couple of times on cheap AAA flashlights the switch was bad. Mot blinkies - I think - have the switch built in to the circuit or at least the body so it wouldn't be that problem, although if it's directly mounted on a circuit board the first thing I'd check is the solder connection. I'm just saying that it's not all that cut and dried that it's from the batteries moving around.

Perhaps the quick and easy try for a fix would be to mount the blinkies sideways.