I feel like they are glued together, I see no fasteners. The circuit board is pretty far inside the case, and I need to replace a spade lug, They have some plastic pieces to attach the wires without a connector. One of the tabs got stuck in one of them due to corrosion and I ripped it off trying to replace the wire.

Rene Herse and Velolumino (rip) take out the guts and use them in their own lights. I was trying to find Anton's email, but no joy. And I doubt RH will give me the time of day.

You can see the spade lug at the bottom of the light in this picture.


The plastic pieces are at a little after 30 seconds in this video. Unfortunately on mine the wire corroded to the lug and when I took it out, the lug came out too.

I remember these being fairly well put together. Maybe using a small modelling saw to cut along the halves, then use RTV to glue them back together when you are finished?

There's always the danger that forcing results in the separation of plastic. They are probably welded/chemically bonded together, at least from my explorations of damaged lights.

I would ask Peter J White he might know?

I think you need to buy a new one. I took apart a B&M Toplight Line rack mount light, I managed to split it with a utility knife where two pieces of plastic were either glued or welded together, then glued it back together again when I was done. I assume the Secula is made the same way, not intended to be repaired.

The Spaninga Pixeo is screwed together, I took one apart about a month ago and decided the corrosion on the circuit board was not worth trying to repair on that one, chucked it. But I had already bought a replacement light before I took that one apart. The screw is really tight, you need a good fitting phillips to remove it.

It was glued, but I didn't damage it too badly. I took it apart with a couple of sharp wood chisels. It would have been nice if I could have found a spudger, but no luck. I'm not that organized. Now I'm stuck trying to decide how to fix it. One thing I realized is that it goes on the left seat stay and the right terminal is over the tire. That was the side with all the corrosion.

I guess I'll just epoxy it together and have a lead sticking out. Finding the lug seems like it will be an entire thesis, and I would have to buy a lifetime supply of something I will never use again.

I didn't think Peter White takes many of these apart, that's why I didn't want to ask him.

I was going to suggest using a Dremel tool or something to cut it open, then epoxy back together. But sounds like you got it open.

Reattaching the lug should be easy if you have a soldering iron and know how to solder.

The lug corroded in half. I will post a pic later, I swear. I could probably repurpose a male wire connector, have to decide.

By lug, I assume you mean the male equivalent to a 2.8mm spade connector? Do you have a tin snips? That is basically a giant scissors that can cut thin sheet metal. If you have one, could you cut a piece of 2.8mm wide metal from something like the base of a coffee can? That would be coated steel, not sure if it is tin coating or what. Other cans with liquid likely have a plastic coating, such as a soup can so that might not work so well. Or better yet, a piece of brass or copper?

So, are you saying that I can look forward to my Secula getting more corroded over time?

Yes, it's a male spade lug.

The light was on my gravel bike, which has seen a lot of rain and sludge. So it might not be the same as your bike. What I would do in your case is disconnect it and put some dielectric grease on the wire or female spade lug depending on how it is set up.

The other thing I found out during this light troubleshooting ordeal is that B&M wire ages poorly in use. Granted, I'm sure it is going on 10 years old, but it was all petrified and just broke easily.

Thanks for the suggestions.

If you only need one, buy a bar of brass stock from KS metal, and make it. Local hobby shops to you almost certainly carry them.

Depending on how thick it is (memory serves, this is probably sub-1/16", so you're in gauge territory...), you might buy sheet instead.

The critical dimension is the hole in the spade, which locks with a bump/latch on the female part. It still works without it, but it becomes fussy.

I think the real ones are steel plated with copper plated with zinc. All for corrosion.

The stand light stopped working last year on one of my Spaninga Pixeo taillights. I have them on two bikes, fender mount. Bought a couple replacements. Once you pay for shipping on the first one, second one is pretty cheap to have as a spare.

That light can be disassembled with a screwdriver. So, after I replaced the one without standlight, took it apart to see if it had an obvious solution for repair. With this much corrosion, it went into the garbage bin.



This is the one that still works (the fender light, not the seat stay light), with optional wire guard, although in daylight you can't tell it works with my photo.

I have 4 pixeos, I think. They are definitely cheap. Not quite as bright as a Secula.

After I had the problem with the Secula, the pixeo is back on the bike. It is mounted to one of the wire canti mounts from B&M. My bike has a threaded boss in the seat stay bridge that I connected it to.
I have a pixeo I got from Anton, he modifies them with pigtails. He uses rc banana plug connectors, similar to Schmidt.

I do not know how the water got in mine. The wires come in from the inside of the fender, covered by electrical tape. That light went into service seven years ago.

Photo below is from a bike that the light still works since I installed it four years ago. Bike is upside down in this photo.




I am guessing that it got in through the seam between the clear and black plastic casing on the top of the light, there now is a narrow piece of black electrical tape that covers that seam, just in case. The one that corroded is on my light touring bike, that bike has been on several bike tours were it was out in the rain continuously for days.

But, inside a fender with tire spray, maybe the water got past the electrical tape? But I am not going to worry about it now, I still have one more new one on the shelf ready to replace one of my others.

Pixeos are great for mounting on flimsy plastic fenders. I wouldn't use a secula for that, they are a little too heavy. I used my gravel bike a couple of times on brevets with fenders, but when I took the fenders back off for gravel use, I just used gorilla repair tape to tape it between the seat stays. I really should have taken a picture of it before I removed the tape, it was pretty fitting for my hillbilly upbringing.

I'm pretty sure Anton sealed up the back of the Pixeo I bought from him. I'm trying to remember which bike it's on, but it might be on my son's bike in California. The way they have wires come in probably doesn't stop much if the light is subjected to a lot of water.