What's wrong with my Cateye Opticube (led front light)?

[HLaB]

I am resigned to agree. I am now looking for a front light for less than £12 or a front&back for less than £20. Any suggestions?

Planet X does some good SMART light combos; just above your budget the 35Lux/ Superflash (£27 iirc) is a great combo.

 

[albion]

The EL-135 is a different kettle of fish.

If you are looking for a straight replacement I can sell you mine.
There are also 10 solder points so see if they need redoing.

I'd say it is a design classic so worth saving.

 

[PedalCat]

Planet X Phaart Aeon (Front) and Booster (rear)
Seem to be clones of the better known Smart brand (in which case the pair would be over £20)

How do i choose between the Aeon and the Dark Star?

 

[PpPete]

Aeon = AA
Dark Star = AAA
batteries, that is.

 

[The Jogger]

Bring it back for a refund.........

 

[PedalCat]

Mine's an EL-300, the fitting seems a tiny bit wider than for the Smart.

BTW a quick flash might be just dirty contacts. Clean, maybe sandpaper and stretch them.
edit - a quick look shows you can slide a screwdriver under the 8 well designed battery tabs to stretch them.

Stretched them, wiggled everything else, put it back together and it's working again! I'll have another 10 yrs out of it . (All this about an hour after clicking to buy some Phaart lights! But at £10 inc delivery for a front and back, i'm not gonna cry).
BTW, for any enthusiasts, my Opticube is an EL200 (still available, at least on Ebay).

 

[albion]

Pleased its sorted.

I recommend you always double up with the rear pharts as the switch mechanism is flaky enough to turn itself off!

http://www.nirvanacycles.com/shop/product.php/326/69/cateye_hl_el300_5_diode_white_opticube

Methinks this one of mine will become a collectors item. Not worth that price these days but I do wonder if I can change the, weak by today's standards, 5 LEDs.

 

[albion]

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?111456-Cateye-HL-EL300-LED-bike-headlight-*boo*
So "Five 5mm LEDs connected in parallel, then connected to 4 x AA through a 10 ohm resistor".

So that supposedly makes it 3 watts.
I'm thinking that with a 5 ohm resistor I could find some efficient modern 1 watt LEDS.
Any LED/electrical experts care to comment?

 

[Hamachi]

I found a problem with my own Opticube and a way to fix it. In the battery holder, pieces of metal press against the positive and negative terminals of the AA cells. The left rear of these is in three parts connected together by metal touching metal. This contact can go bad. You can disassemble and retention the contacts by pulling out the central plastic fin and then pulling off the battery contacts. Bend the metal to provide more tension, and then reassemble.

You have this problem if, with fresh batteries, you measure zero volts across the two spring contacts that connect to the light assembly.

 

[subaqua]

Technical term is banjaxed .

Treat yer self to a new one