rhm

This is a dynamo headlight. it comes with a pair of wires that go to the dynamo, and another pair to connect the tail light. So the power to the taillight comes through the headlight.

Well, my taillight is working fine. Headlight not at all.

So my question is, is there any way the wiring is at fault? i don't see how. I fear my headlight is FUBAR. Bummer, 'cuz it's barely a half year old.

Advice?

JaccoW

If you remove this bolt on the underside you can check the internals. Could be a loose wire or a short circuit. You'll see soon enough when you pop it out.

Remove the bolt, take out the heatsink and then pull out the transparent lens to access the pcb.

Looks like your light catches a lot of water from the wheel. Worst case scenario you can send it to Laempie.de to have the internals swapped for an upgraded version.

Tourist in MSN

What is the warranty status? If on warranty, that is probably your best option.

If your headlight is not working and your taillight is working, I suggest you disconnect the taillight until you get the headlight fixed.

Taillights are not designed to take all the power from a dynohub, thus if you ride fast, you could blow out the circuits in your talilight if the headlight is not keeping the voltage level down. That way, once you get your headlight problems solved, you would have a functioning taillight ready to be hooked up.

unterhausen

I agree with disconnecting the taillight to make troubleshooting easier. I would do that before dissembling the light. You can wire one light backwards, but if the taillight is grounded to the frame and the headlight is grounded to the frame, you might have both sides of the feed grounded to the frame. Okay, I know what I just said probably wouldn't produce light, but humor me.

There is a list on Peter White's site of taillights that work okay by themselves, so we don't know if Rudi's light is on that list or not.

JaccoW

Yeah it depends on the taillight being used. I believe most of B+Ms modern offerings are made with overvoltage protection built in. At the very least the Secula Plus I run on virtually all my bikes.

rhm

Thanks for all the replies!
@JaccoW, I will try what you suggest. For what it's worth, the light was wet when I took the photo above because I had just washed a lot of dirt off the bike. I did indeed ride through some torrential rain last week! But the dirt wasn't on the light, which is well off to the side of the wheel, and the bike has fairly good mudguards. I rather doubt water was an issue, but what do I know.

I did disconnect the taillight for troubleshooting; I couldn't make the light work no matter what I did. Re the taillight, it is supposed to be an AXA Basta, is a cheap Chinese thing and I'm quite happy with it. Judging by the price, I would not be surprised if it's a knockoff. Here's the best photo I have:


Re warranty status, I bought the headlight about two years ago, but didn't put it on a bike until March of this year. I have emailed the seller.

My commute is now 100% dark, so first priority was to get the lights working ASAP, so I swapped the headlight out for another unit, same model but several years older. It plugged it in and it worked no problem; so I think my wiring is okay.