Repair advice for Inoled 20+

I'm an electrical newbie, so be gentle on me.

My inoled 20+ light ceased functioning a short time ago. I think that one of the leads from my Schmidt hub came loose and may have touched the other perhaps shorting something out. I've tried the stuff below and now need advice. Thanks.

• I've confirmed that the hub makes voltage.
• I've confirmed continuity in the supply wire that leads from the hub to the light.
• Prior to taking the light apart, I tested continuity with the supply wire connected to the light and found none (with the switch in both positions).
• I took the light apart and didn't see anything obviously burnt.
• The wires that feed the LED broke free of their solder points. I'm able to read voltage on these wires with the switch on and the leads connected to the hub.
• I tested continuity across the LED and found none. I was thinking that was my issue until I bought a cheapy LED from Radioshack and found no continuity across that either.

Again, thanks for any advice.

I doubt that anything bad would happen if the two dynamo wires shorted. The loose LED wires seem to be the problem. Do you have any pictures of this?

Offhand, I'd suggest returning it to the vendor that you bought it from. That's going to be the most reliable fix. Plan B would be to try fixing the wiring yourself. How's your soldering?

As far as testing LEDs is concerned, your best bet is with the "diode check" feature on most multimeters. The meter will produce a few milliamps of current and then display the voltage across the diode. On LEDs, this is usually enough to dimly light the LED when you put the positive lead on the anode, and negative lead on the cathode.

regards,

Steve K.

Picture link below. The vendor said that inoled doesn't like anybody taking apart their stuff and therefore it would have to go back to Germany from the U.S. I was taking a stab at diagnosing and repairing myself because if it has to go back to Europe, I'm just going to buy a new light.

I did try soldering in a cheapie LED from Radioshack (see pictures) which does not get lit.

Also, no matter how fast I go (while holding multimeter and steering!) I get only 2.1v from the wires that feed the LED.

Pictures here.

Again thanks for any insight.

My Inoled 20+ died

I removed the circuit board and replaced it with a bridge rectifier and a capacitor
To remove the case, CAREFULLY work on gap between the case and the clear plastic lense. Eventually the two will pop apart

See this as an opportunity to upgrade the LED to something more powerful. I have done this once when fixing the light and I'm doing it again soon, I have a Cree MCE multi-chip unit and a Cree Q5 or-what-ever-the-latest one is on order

looking thru some old BikeCurrent postings from Peter Jon White, there was a mention of the Inoled 20+ not being rated for speeds above 30mph. Any chance that this might be the cause of the light's death?

I haven't found any mention of how to fix this problem, unfortunately.

The design is complex enough that it would take a while to figure out how the light is supposed to work and what is wrong. If returning the light to the manufacturer isn't an option, then the option for gutting the electronics and just installing a bridge rectifier and a modern LED is tempting. It looks like the circuit board already has a bridge rectifier and supercaps, so maybe you could "re-purpose" them for a basic light?

Steve K.