There have been a variety of generational changes with the Luxos-U. I believe it was the first generation that had the USB charger port built into the handlebar switch; this was the generation I got from Rivendell two years ago (with my 10% birthday discount, which made a luxury purchase more appetizing). It worked fine from first installation, until the pivot bolt on my front Mafac Racers snapped last September; the brake/TA bag rack/light assembly I'd jury-rigged together all sagged down about 1.5", and the light never worked properly afterwards.
One of the curiosities of the Luxos-U is that instead of using a capacitor as the power supply for the standlight, it uses a lithium battery for both the standlight and to filter power for the USB charger. The battery made it much harder to diagnose the problem; the battery was enough to power the daytime running lights for several weeks, but the higher-powered night lights wouldn't switch on. Apparently, the battery was drawing enough charge from the hub to keep the day lights on, but not enough to fully power the lights directly. I kept trying to figure out if the hub or the headlight cable was the problem; it was only after I unplugged the Luxos and swapped in my old wussy Spanninga that the internal battery drained enough to demonstrate that the problem was the headlight. Fortunately, I was still under warranty, and Peter White replaced it with a current-generation Luxos (Gen. 3, I think). This variant has the pigtails for the cable connections, as Anton has previously recommended. It also has a different connection system for USB: Instead of a female socket in the bar switch mechanism, there's now a pigtail coming out of the switch body. When you want to connect a USB device, you screw a female USB pigtail to the connector or the switch pigtail, and then attach a normal USB cable to the device. This gives you a somewhat securer connection, and a little extra length to stick the USB gadget in a handlebar bag. My experiments with gadget charging with the current light have been: When you have a gadget connected to the USB port, and the gadget is drawing a connection, the lights do not come on. So, it's gadget-charging or road illumination - but not both. All that said: Both variants of the Luxos-U have been great lights for me. I get cars flashing their highbeams at me, I think mostly out of shock that there's so much light coming out of a bike. The B&M Toplight Line Brake Plus, which I ordered from Peter White so he wouldn't be taking a bath on a $250 warranty replacement, is a nifty upgrade to the Toplight Line Plus I already had - now those people following me know when I'm stopping. Next step: Turn signals, since nobody recognizes hand signals! And on the meta-point: Dynamos and generator lights rule. I despise battery lights, because I'm not diligent enough to keep on top of the charging situation. They're always dead when I need them. Dynamos just work, as log as you don't smash 'em up. I should have adopted them years before. BTW, I'm using the Velo Orange branded version of the SP PV7, which has a clutch mechanism to disengage the generator when you don't need it. For the first year after I built the wheel, I left the generator disengaged, since I didn't own any lights; I didn't notice any difference in drag from the '70s Phil Wood wheel that had been there before. After I got a set of cheapie Spanningas as an experiment, I switched the clutch out during the day, rather than hitting the switch on the headlight. The clutch mechanism loosened up after about 15 months; I stripped the wheel down and sent the hub back to VO (who refused to intervene with SP to get me the socket necessary to remove the proprietary locknut; grr...). When I rebuilt the wheel with a better-er rim and installed the B&M lights, I just left the clutch engaged, and switched the light off from the more convenient handlebar switch. These days, I don't turn the lights off at all. If there's a riding difference between these various methods, I haven't felt it. Another point for generator be-seen lights: The ReeLight magnetic induction lights are essentially a freebie riding-wise, even though they're not super-bright. You mount magnets in your spokes, which set up a charging current as they go past the ReeLight light or sensor, which has a wire coil in it. https://www.reelight.com/en/products/sl100/ Peter Adler who puts in at least 40% of his riding hours after dark in Berkeley, CA/USA On Friday, April 1, 2016 at 7:05:35 AM UTC-7, Anton Tutter wrote: > > I have the simpler Luxos "B" without USB charging, and that one is > problematic as well. Overall an unreliable light. Firstly, the external > connection terminals are a poor, poor design and prone to snapping off. Not > Good. I've had to replace two of the four, which isn't a job for those > uncomfortable with soldering. Secondly, my Luxos has started cutting in and > out in wet weather... also Not Good. > > I've never had problems with other B&M lights, but something went terribly > wrong with this product. > > I just bought their newest IQ-X... let's hope it's not another Luxos story. > > Anton > velolumino.com > > > On Friday, April 1, 2016 at 9:32:43 AM UTC-4, Tim wrote: >> >> From what I understand, the Luxos U, while a wonderful light and charger, >> has a lot of problems. I'm on my third one on my Hilsen. The USB has quit >> working on two and #3 acted up for a bit at PBP but not since. However, I >> sent the other two back to Peter White and once he tested them to be sure >> it was faulty and not user error, he immediately replaced them. In fact, >> one failed two days before a 400k brevet (which I'm not fast enough to ride >> in daylight only) and he had me up and running in time! Hooray Peter! I >> have the Edelux II on my new rando bike but haven't gotten to ride it at >> night yet. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
