Weatherproof Rear Flasher
 

I've used several AAA-battery rear flashers and haven't found one of them that was truly waterproof. So, does anyone have a recommendation for a decently bright flasher, with either AAA or rechargeable batteries, that will tolerate exposure to a lot of rain without leaking and ruining the batteries and electronics? I found the Dinotte rechargeable but at $190 I'm not that interested.

A search here didn't come up with any recommendations so can anyone offer a suggestion?

I have used planet bike super flashers for years. None have ever succumbed to weather. I have one with a manufacture date of late 2006 that I use daily, which means I bought it in 2007 and therefore has nearly 20,000 km on it. They stay outside on the bike in the rain.

I live in a rain forest as well.

Thanks for the recommendation. I've used one of the Planet Bike LED headlights on my "rain bike" and it never had a problem but I never used their rear flashers. I'll give them a try.

My experience with the PBSFs hasn't been quite that good. One of mine is mounted on the back of my rear rack where it is directly in line with water spray from the rear tire (no fenders on that bike). It has acted erratically several time during wet rides - not turning off, changing modes, etc. I now wrap a layer of Scotch tape around the seam in the body after recharging the batteries and that seems to have solved the issue.

That is weird. I use fenders but I still wonder if it is a production issue based in how wet I am at the end of a ride and how the lights sit out all day.

I wonder if road spray has that big of an impact? Do you use them everyday wet or dry?

I have mine mounted sideways at the rest of my rack also. I wonder if orientation makes a difference.

I bring them inside for the night if it might freeze.

I have been having button issues with the old one but that is a result of the housing being cracked; it still functions fine.

IMO, the Axiom Pulse 60 taillight from Performance is the best sub $50 light you can buy. Very bright, wide beam, USB rechargeable. Mine has been fine in all weathers. On sale for $30 most of the time.

About $25 is the bottom end for decent taillights anyway, so the extra $5 is worth spending, especially if you have a Performance shop nearby that you need an excuse to go visit.

currently using the cygolite hotshot. I didn't fry on today's rain ride so that is a good think. USB rechargeable. Another I'd vote for is the niterider solas 2. Better light than hotshot but mount is not as robust.

I have the niterider solas as well. Extremely bright 2 watter, usb rechargeable.

The clip seems pretty secure attached to a seatbag. I actually had a bit of trouble removing it from the bag's loop.

I have no experience as to whether the solas is weatherproof or not.

IMO the Axiom Pulse 60 is the successor to the Cygolite Hotshot. I have both and though it is a good light, I would not even consider buying a Hotshot again - the Pulse 60 is as bright but the beam is not as spotty, and it's almost the same price.

You must ride in a lot of rain or leave your bike outdoors. I have never had a taillight that was damaged by rain, in many years and thousands and thousands of miles riding. My rear lights include a PB Superflash, a Portland Design Radbot 1000, and a Dinotte 140.

My Old Vista-Light has a plastic gasket between the Body an the lens .. added clear Packing tape over it, since someone nicked the red lens ,

the source for Lens spares is,Now, apparently, theft.

I was going to suggest the Dinotte, but . . .

Actually, alongside the Dinotte, I also run a couple of Niterider Solas. They seem to be holding up equally as well as the Dinotte, for a whole lot less money (though they're not nearly as bright as the Dinotte Quad 4).

It happens. My old Dinotte 140R with the AA packs - the AA packs would rust out in the rain. I replaced them 3 or 4 times, Dinotte's response was "dry them out ASAP if they get wet, or they will rust"

I had a Serfas USL-TL60, which was about $55, and it had water inside it after just one ride in the rain, and yes, the USB cap was on. Serfas replaced it when I sent them a photo.

The waterproofing on the SuperFlash lights is notoriously bad, a lot of people have trouble with them getting wet inside. I have little experience since all of my SuperFlashes are just sitting in a box since they're really not very good by modern standards (their only real good feature being that they run a heck of a long time on AAA cells - but they're not really very bright).

I've been using the very popular Planetbike Superflash for a
few years with no problems. Many times in heavy downpours:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7jf...IoDLA&index=47

I switched when Cygolite came with the brighter and USB chargable Hotshot.
Had it for about 2 years now and no problems so far even in steady/heavy rain.
I use fenders though on all of my bikes that I take on rainy rides:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5586/...87d97532be.jpgBROOKS C17 LOANER FROM BFOLD by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

these are weather proof and are included in side of the seat post (27.2, 25.4 in standard type , also one made for Bromptons..

http://www.lightskin.org/ http://www.lightskin.co.kr/ NYCewheels.com stocks them for B's..

I've had better luck with Cateyes than with Planet Bikes. Two of three PBSF died after rain exposure, I think I'm down to about one in eight Cateyes of various models that crapped out in the wet.

Another cygolite hotshot user here, soaked it plenty of times on rainy days... heck one time I even forgot to bring the bike in one rainy night, still going just as strong as the day it arrived.

Hmm. So now that I am aware of the existence of PBSF rain issues, will mine start to fail?

Maybe, maybe not. Ya got fenders? You could run some electrical tape around the seam as added insurance.
Didn't feel I had to do that on my light(s) though for many years:

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5299/...462053827c.jpgSNOWBOUND by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

Everyone has their favorite and so do I, I like my Light & Motion Vis 180 (not the Micro Vis 180), it cost about $100. That light has survived many downpours and even survived a fly off the bike onto concrete without a scratch, and it's so bright it looks like a road flare in daylight! But having said that even my cheap Cateye LD600 has survived the same stuff but it isn't near as bright as the L & M. Technology is always moving forward and today Serfas has a brighter light than the L & M called the Serfas TL80 that cost about $75, not sure about the waterproofness of said light but I doubt Serfas would put out a light that would fail in real world situations like rain!

Find a light you like for a price you can afford and you'll be fine, but try to buy something as bright as you can afford.

As I said above, I had a Serfas TL60 that failed in the rain. Serfas did replace it. I don't know if the replacement would have fared better, as I lost it about a week later because the fabric clip that they ship with it was so horrible that the only viable explanation is that they INTEND for it to be so bad that you lose the light and have to keep buying new ones.

The Axiom Pulse 60 is pretty much an exact clone of the TL60. It doesn't have a good fabric strap either, but at least it's half the money ($30)

You made me curious; I submerged my PDW Danger Zone. . . no leaks.