hey there. last year i had purchased the tri bar LED brake light for my softail standard. A few weekes ago a buddy of mine got behind me me and said when i throttled up it got brighter when i got off the throttle it would dim dow. since then it does not work at all. i thought maybe the ground but the shop just called me and said i need a new one. has anyone else had any trouble with this. any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks.
tri bar led rear light gone bad?
- Thread starter mattman17
- Start date
Hey Mattman,
My light failed one night after riding in some heavy rain the day before. Moisture had found its way into the sealed unit around the wire harness and was shorting the circuit board out. Condensation on the inside lense area was the tip-off that I had a problem.
My light was just over 12 months old and my dealer offered to look at it for $$. Since the lense unit is glued together the dealer is not going to attempt any repair. It is just quicker to replace it.
I took a razor knife and cut around the silicon seal between the back and lense. Be patient. It took me 30+ minutes to gradually pry the two apart without cracking or causing a lot of damage to the lense. There are a two each plastic tabs on the top and bottom that using a small screwdriver I was able to free the lense from the sticky sealant. I got to the point of thinking that it was trash anyway so if I broke it nothing lost, but I finally won!
Anyway, once inside you can separate the L shaped circuit boards by just pulling them apart. One board plugs into two prongs of the other circuit board. I wiped the parts dry, let them air dry another two days, bench tested them with an old battery and they worked like new. It has been a while, but I think every other LED lit for running lights and all LED's were lit when the brake wire (third wire) was touched to the battery.
I cleaned the old gasket sealer away with a wire brush attachment on a dremel. I resealed the unit with Loctite Stik' n Seal that was purchased from Discount Auto (waterproof adhesive). I also sealed around the wire harness using the sealer. This is some very sticky stuff , so if you get any on the lense let it dry then peel it off. This method is much easier than smearing it around when it is wet-trust me on this.
I have not had a problem since.
My light failed one night after riding in some heavy rain the day before. Moisture had found its way into the sealed unit around the wire harness and was shorting the circuit board out. Condensation on the inside lense area was the tip-off that I had a problem.
My light was just over 12 months old and my dealer offered to look at it for $$. Since the lense unit is glued together the dealer is not going to attempt any repair. It is just quicker to replace it.
I took a razor knife and cut around the silicon seal between the back and lense. Be patient. It took me 30+ minutes to gradually pry the two apart without cracking or causing a lot of damage to the lense. There are a two each plastic tabs on the top and bottom that using a small screwdriver I was able to free the lense from the sticky sealant. I got to the point of thinking that it was trash anyway so if I broke it nothing lost, but I finally won!
Anyway, once inside you can separate the L shaped circuit boards by just pulling them apart. One board plugs into two prongs of the other circuit board. I wiped the parts dry, let them air dry another two days, bench tested them with an old battery and they worked like new. It has been a while, but I think every other LED lit for running lights and all LED's were lit when the brake wire (third wire) was touched to the battery.
I cleaned the old gasket sealer away with a wire brush attachment on a dremel. I resealed the unit with Loctite Stik' n Seal that was purchased from Discount Auto (waterproof adhesive). I also sealed around the wire harness using the sealer. This is some very sticky stuff , so if you get any on the lense let it dry then peel it off. This method is much easier than smearing it around when it is wet-trust me on this.
I have not had a problem since.
had a problem with that light. first it flickered, then it shorted part of my rear harness out (i repaired it and moved it to the side i didn' like the double face tape in the middle of the fender) then the light finally burned out. i checked it with my power probe. the light has been revised 3 times !!!! it cost $180.00 for the replacement, they call it a light envelope. have the stock one back in now but im going to buy the light envelope this week and try it again. anyone who has to replace the light make sure it is the updated one !!!!! if you see one cheap online stay away from it because it's the old style and it will give you problems !!!!