lumotec oval - standlight broken

Paul Rudin said:

The standlight bit of my lumotec oval has stopped working. I've pulled
the thing apart and can't see any lose connections

oops - posted inadvertently - I meant to write (for some reason gnus
won't let me cancel atm - need to rtfm :/):

The standlight bit of the lumotec oval on my commuting bike has
stopped working. I've pulled the thing apart and can't see any loose
connections, so I guess it's either the capcitor or the little led
that's packed up. Any tips on diagnosing which and repairing? Or is
it really time to bin it and buy a new one?

If I do get a new one I quite like the look of the newer ones where
the main light is also led, how do they compare with the incandescent
bulb ones. The solidlights offerings also look quite nice, although
they're pretty pricy, and I also worry that they might attract theft
attempts if I left them on the bike (as I do with the lumotec atm).

On 19/02/2007 18:15, Paul Rudin said,

Quoted message said:

The standlight bit of the lumotec oval on my commuting bike has
stopped working. I've pulled the thing apart and can't see any loose
connections, so I guess it's either the capcitor or the little led
that's packed up. Any tips on diagnosing which and repairing? Or is
it really time to bin it and buy a new one?

If you can get inside the thing and you're an electronics engineer you
should be able to fix it - it's a simple circuit, otherwise buy a new
one. I don't know how old yours is, but if it's as old as my old one
it'll have a dim yellow LED. Newer ones have a bright white standlight
which makes a world of difference.

Quoted message said:

If I do get a new one I quite like the look of the newer ones where
the main light is also led, how do they compare with the incandescent
bulb ones.

Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer the light output from a good old
halogen as the main light. I do have an LED light as well, but use that
just as an additional light. The halogen gives me the decent spread,
the LED light gives a brighter "spot" light for spotting obstacles
closer to my front wheel.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

"Paul Rudin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Paul Rudin said:

The standlight bit of my lumotec oval has stopped working. I've pulled
the thing apart and can't see any lose connections

oops - posted inadvertently - I meant to write (for some reason gnus
won't let me cancel atm - need to rtfm :/):

Not that cancel actually works...

Quoted message said:

The standlight bit of the lumotec oval on my commuting bike has
stopped working. I've pulled the thing apart and can't see any loose
connections, so I guess it's either the capcitor or the little led
that's packed up. Any tips on diagnosing which and repairing? Or is
it really time to bin it and buy a new one?

Mine died some years ago. I just ignored it and used it as a normal front
lamp.

cheers,
clive

On 19/02/2007 18:37, Clive George said,

Quoted message said:

Not that cancel actually works...

It can do if you're really, really quick and your ISP is really, really
slow at propagating usenet posts.

Quoted message said:

Mine died some years ago.

Just curious, how long did it last? I've never heard of the standlight
bit failing until today, and mine lasted about 9 years. I replaced the
whole lamp because I broke the bloody thing off it's bracket, but the
standlight still worked!

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Paul Boyd schrieb:

Quoted message said:

Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer the light output from a good old
halogen as the main light. I do have an LED light as well, but use that
just as an additional light. The halogen gives me the decent spread,
the LED light gives a brighter "spot" light for spotting obstacles
closer to my front wheel.

That depends on the reflector.

My main problem is that the light color from LED will make a bad
illumination, especially on a wet road.

Kristian
--
§23 StVO Sonstige Pflichten des Fahrzeugführers Abs.3 Satz 3:
Radfahrer und Führer von Krafträdern dürfen die Füße nur dann von den
Pedalen oder den Fußrasten nehmen, wenn der Straßenzustand das erfordert.

Clive George said:

"Paul Rudin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Paul Rudin said:

The standlight bit of my lumotec oval has stopped working. I've pulled
the thing apart and can't see any lose connections

oops - posted inadvertently - I meant to write (for some reason gnus
won't let me cancel atm - need to rtfm :/):

Not that cancel actually works...

Well - in my case I run my own news server and articles only escape
out into the wild when a cron job runs every so often, so there's at
least a chance...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The standlight bit of the lumotec oval on my commuting bike has
stopped working. I've pulled the thing apart and can't see any loose
connections, so I guess it's either the capcitor or the little led
that's packed up. Any tips on diagnosing which and repairing? Or is
it really time to bin it and buy a new one?

Mine died some years ago. I just ignored it and used it as a normal
front lamp.

Yes, that's what I'm doing atm, but I kind of miss it... maybe I
shouldn't worry.

Paul Rudin said:

If I do get a new one I quite like the look of the newer ones where
the main light is also led, how do they compare with the incandescent
bulb ones.

Having pranged my original I decided on the strength of a review a
few VeloVisions ago (Issue 21) to replace it with the LED version.

At /very/ low speed (walking or less) it flickers madly rather than
produces the cosntant feeble glow of the halogen, but any speed
past walking and it's fine. My subjective feeling is it's an
improvement overall and one doesn't have to worry about the bulbs
going Foom!

The VV test reckoned the LED was considerably better (to a greater
extent than my subjective feeling, I'd say). "Forget the halogen
light. While this one is about as good as the technology gets,
it's weak and yellow at moderate speeds compared to LED, and while
it's bright and warm at high speeds, the beam pattern is very
patchy. Halogen may still have a place when driven at full beam by
high power rechargeables, but for dynamo lights they're history".
My feeling it's beeter already stated, however, I'm not cursing
that my recent new Brompton lamp isn't LED and Roos hasn't felt any
need to replace either of her two Lumotec Ovals.

They also tested the Solidlights and thought they were amazing, but
OTT for utility use at the cost.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Paul Rudin said:

The standlight bit of my lumotec oval has stopped working. I've pulled
the thing apart and can't see any lose connections

I sent an email to Busch and Muller some time ago about a similar
problem about the rear standlight. This was their excellent reply
from a real technician who seems to know what he's talking about.

====================

Dear Tom,

if the standlight function of the rear light doesn't work, it is
normally caused by an uncharged condenser. The condenser gets not
enough "current" to charge.

If the halogen bulb of the front light is going to "die", there are
short circuits in the filament of the bulb, which take to much current
and the condenser can't be charged. So please replace the halogen bulb
of your front light and try again.

Otherwise please control the wiring. Do you use a twin wire cable?
(That's advisable in any case) Is there any loose contact or broken
wire?
If you are not successful please contact us again.

Best regards

Busch & Müller KG
i.A. Dagmar Abraham

====================

Note: I haven't fixed the problem, but I haven't tried either! It
seems that the first step is to change the main bulb. In your case,
the twin wiring won't be an issue.

"Paul Boyd" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 19/02/2007 18:37, Clive George said,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Mine died some years ago.

Just curious, how long did it last? I've never heard of the standlight
bit failing until today, and mine lasted about 9 years. I replaced the
whole lamp because I broke the bloody thing off it's bracket, but the
standlight still worked!

Mine died after a few months I think - it's been a while since I looked. Of
course me playing with the internals to try and work out other ways of
attaching wiring probably didn't help :-)

cheers,
clive

Paul Boyd said:

Quoted message said:

Not that cancel actually works...

It can do if you're really, really quick and your ISP is really, really
slow at propagating usenet posts.

But only if the ISP actually accepts cancels - many no longer do.

Paul Rudin said:

If I do get a new one I quite like the look of the newer ones where
the main light is also led, how do they compare with the incandescent
bulb ones.

I've had four D'Lumotec Topals which I have found to be excellent lights
- for a short time. Three of them stopped working after a few days or
weeks and the other (number two) got stolen (with the bike attached).
I'm currently waiting for my fifth, which will be a replacement of the
fourth.

The lamps have failed in several different ways - the main LED failed in
one, on another the stand-light stopped working. The on-auto-off switch
has stopped working on the most recent one - the light is on all the
time, but is rather flickery.

Has anyone else had similar problems, or am I just unlucky?

At the moment I do most of my cycling along city streets, and I find the
Topal's mounting position and colour ideal for visibility. I have little
need to illuminate the road ahead, but on the occasions that I do I have
found the lamp adequate.

Bob

Paul Rudin said:

The standlight bit of the lumotec oval on my commuting bike has
stopped working. I've pulled the thing apart and can't see any loose
connections, so I guess it's either the capcitor or the little led
that's packed up. Any tips on diagnosing which and repairing? Or is
it really time to bin it and buy a new one?

None at all. But odly enough the lamp in mine blew tonight on the way
home. The standlight doesn't come on until the bike stops moving.
Which is logical, but annoying. And I can't find the spare in the
depths of my not very well ordered garage.(1)

Quoted message said:

If I do get a new one I quite like the look of the newer ones where
the main light is also led, how do they compare with the incandescent
bulb ones. The solidlights offerings also look quite nice, although
they're pretty pricy, and I also worry that they might attract theft
attempts if I left them on the bike (as I do with the lumotec atm).

The word on the Audax street is that Solidlights, err, rock, as the
young people say. They are, as you mention, pricey. Or indeed,
bleedin' expensive.

Tim

(1) I saw inside Chris Juden's garage last weekend. Blimey.

Tim Hall said:

(1) I saw inside Chris Juden's garage last weekend. Blimey.

I'm intimidated just at the thought of that. Blimey.

A

Quoting Peter Clinch <[email hidden]>:
[Lumotec Oval]

Quoted message said:

Having pranged my original I decided on the strength of a review a
few VeloVisions ago (Issue 21) to replace it with the LED version.
My feeling it's beeter already stated, however, I'm not cursing
that my recent new Brompton lamp isn't LED and Roos hasn't felt any
need to replace either of her two Lumotec Ovals.

And the Lumotec Oval (while I use it on my Brompton) clearly isn't the
best possible halogen - the Schmidt E6 puts it to shame.
--
OPTIONS=name:Kirsty,menustyle:C,female,lit_corridor,standout,time,showexp,hilit
e_pet,catname:Akane,dogname:Ryoga,fruit:okonomiyaki,pickup_types:"!$?=/,scores:
5 top/2 around,color,boulder:0,autoquiver,autodig,disclose:yiyayvygyc,pickup_bu
rden:burdened,!cmdassist,msg_window:reversed,!sparkle,horsename:Rumiko,showrace

Peter Clinch said:

They also tested the Solidlights and thought they were amazing, but
OTT for utility use at the cost.

Well - I can usually manage to justify expensive bits of bike kit on
the basis that I'll get many years of use out of them.

The thing that partly worries me about the solidlights is that they'll
attract attention and get nicked, I'd rather they had a less
eye-catching design. Perhaps wrapping them in black duct tape would
help.

Part of the utility of dynamo lights is that you can leave them bolted
to the bike and don't have to faff with taking them on and off the bike
all the time.

"Paul Rudin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Paul Rudin <[email hidden]> writes:
If I do get a new one I quite like the look of the newer ones where
the main light is also led, how do they compare with the incandescent
bulb ones.

My Giant Twist came with a Lumotec Oval Sensor model which I promptly
upgraded to the D'Lumotec Oval Sensor Plus (all LED) model. The latter has
received excellent reviews from AtoB magazine (among others) and has a very
good light output - much better than the older one and it's whiter/bluer
light.

Paul

In news:[email hidden],
Bob Johnstone <[email hidden]> tweaked the Babbage-Engine to tell
us:

Quoted message said:

I've had four D'Lumotec Topals which I have found to be excellent
lights - for a short time. Three of them stopped working after a few
days or weeks and the other (number two) got stolen (with the bike
attached). I'm currently waiting for my fifth, which will be a
replacement of the fourth.

Quoted message said:

The lamps have failed in several different ways - the main LED failed
in one, on another the stand-light stopped working. The on-auto-off
switch has stopped working on the most recent one - the light is on
all the time, but is rather flickery.

Has anyone else had similar problems, or am I just unlucky?

I suspect you may be unlucky. I've had two, one of which succumbed to the
Amazing B&M Cheese-O-Metal mounting brackets. T'other has been insulated
from the vibration with assorted rubbery doofers and has stayed put and
effective in a year or more of RRTY-ing.

--
Dave Larrington
<http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk>
If you want a bicycle, buy a bicycle. If you want something
that folds, buy a deckchair.

Paul Murphy said:

"Paul Rudin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Paul Rudin <[email hidden]> writes:
If I do get a new one I quite like the look of the newer ones where
the main light is also led, how do they compare with the incandescent
bulb ones.

My Giant Twist came with a Lumotec Oval Sensor model which I promptly
upgraded to the D'Lumotec Oval Sensor Plus (all LED) model. The latter has
received excellent reviews from AtoB magazine (among others) and has a very
good light output - much better than the older one and it's whiter/bluer
light.

Ok, given I'm peering at a wad of Her Majesties IOUs which would
otherwise be spent on such things as food, clothing and beer, while at
the same time possessing a Lumotec Oval Sensor Plus, would you recommend
the change?

Mainly lit cyclepath/urban riding.

Tosspot said:

Ok, given I'm peering at a wad of Her Majesties IOUs which would
otherwise be spent on such things as food, clothing and beer, while at
the same time possessing a Lumotec Oval Sensor Plus, would you recommend
the change?

Mainly lit cyclepath/urban riding.

Not until such time as it goes wrong or gets borken, or unless you have
problems/issues with the light as it is. It's better IMHO, but not
earth-shakingly so.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/