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| Several days of chasing wires have past.... |
Trying to determine faults in a dynamo hub had me doing a ton of online research to determine how to approach this problem. Let me tell ya.....there ain't a lot of clear info out there! First of all, did you know almost all modern "generator" lights are, in fact, magnetos? And that the way you determine if your hub is good is by dead shorting the terminals momentarily. (If'n ya gets a spark, she's a gud'un!)
Crude, but effective, I guess. (As I slide the multi-meter back across the bench.....)
Anyway, I have connections, and I checked those out too. There were some questionable connections there, but that turned out not to be the issue. I kept on with my multi-meter set to check continuity and ended up finding that the only bit that wasn't passing current was the light unit itself. Which makes sense if the rest of it is checking out good, which it did.
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| The B&M light seems to be the issue. |
Further research revealed that it could be that the "super capacitor" may have failed, which is the electronic component that helps with low speed and stopped conditions so that the light doesn't dim or go off at stop lights, etc.
But whatever it might be, the unit seems sealed and I don't see any good way to crack that aluminum egg without damaging it anyway. So....
A new light is in order. I've been digging into this of late, and with a couple of solid recommendations, I think that the SON Edelux II is the top runner in the field of possibilities at this time. That dovetails in well since I already own a SON rear light.
Now, these critters are not cheap, and with the harnesses and what-nots I think I'll end up somewhere close to three hundred bucks on this. But there is no other good choice and since I have a SON system (mostly) already, may as well stay in that ecosystem, especially considering the experiences and expetise of those who recommended this to me.
Anyway, property taxes and bills will take precedence until I can find the funds to get this back up and running again. Gotta put this in perspective here, and in due time, I'll have this all sorted. Until then, I've got bikes, USB rechargeable LED headlights, and taillights to get me by with.
Stay tuned.....
8 comments:
Those B&M lights do not play well mixed with Son. You can find info on old Peter White's site. I battled issues for a long bit running the same setup. Eventually, bought the B&M taillamp. That was the cheapest option and fixed the headlamp intermitted working and staying on issues.
My previous posting does not apply to your situation as I thought more about it. My situation was due to a specific Son tail lamp, which is no longer made. I remember the system worked great for a month. Then it was downhill from there. When I made touch with PW they found the issue the version of tail lamp of vintage.
Did you try giving the headlamp direct power with batteries?
G-Ted, Howdy;
Just a thought not related to your lighting problem.
Your mention of Property Taxes reminded me of when I was a property owner back in Ohio.
As My income was, and still is limited I asked the County Treasurer if I could pay by way
of monthly payments. Allowing them to make an Automatic withdrawal each month and either
sending me a bill for any difference or making a deposit if there were an overage. Usually came out to a bill sent to me for something like $8.45 or something in that neighborhood.
The monthly grab was generally about $90.xx. Worked fine until the Land transferred to another.
Never hurts to ask ...
Hope your Labor Day was a good one.
hank
@teamdarb - I tried the headlight with the taillight disconnected. It did not work. I don't know of a 6 volt battery I could use to try, and anyway, that would be DC (direct current) where the headlight requires an AC current. So, I don't think that would be a good way to test the light.
@ hank - Thanks for that suggestion. Property taxes are a bill I save up for, so it isn't a big deal when they come due. But I don't save for a big unexpected expense on a bicycle like this. Combined with my (much) lower salary working at the Collective, that means things have to be put off for a time when they are less pressing issues, like a dynamo headlight unit.
As I said in the post, I have other bikes, LED lights, and this won't stop me from riding. But I appreciate that you took the time to think about a solution, and then you decided to comment on it. Thanks for that and for reading the blog!
@GT
Any AA 4 battery holder and even a 12v source. It was one of the test steps PW suggests. Those lights can see voltages as high as 48v, think bottle dynamo at various speed. The regulator does the rest. Do not over think the DC vs AC deal. I had a Supernova E3 warrantied after preforming the step. I did the headlight only check with the hub as well. Months later, the hub was warrantied. Call PW.
One option might be to check out what they have over at K-Lite. I bought one directly from them in Australia (USD-ASD conversion was strong) and one from their US rep at jefe.bike
They are very very popular in the bikepacking world
@DT - I actually did take a look at that. My only reservation would be that I need a commuter friendly light, nothing like the K-Lites which are really for off-road/bikepacking and those pack way more punch than I would want, (or oncoming drivers would want!)
But I agree, those are killer lights.
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