[Closed] Rear bike lights dying all the time

Any ideas?

Mud guards, proper mud guards.

That being said on bikes sans mudguards:

I've a knog one which seems to have lasted well this time around, previous one was OK b but not great.

Also a moon nebula on seat rails which is doing well.

I have a Lezyne Lazer light that if I don't use for 24 hours goes flat. But it holds charge otherwise.

I've got a few of these on various bikes and I cant fault them, they would be good at 3 times the price.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/LIPXDOG100REA/planet-x-dog-star-100-lumen-rear-bike-light

I can recommend See.Sense
Even if something does go wrong their customer support is excellent.

Mud guards, proper mud guards.

This, basically.

However, i've had good results lubricating any seals/joints on rear lights with a little vaseline - it stops/slows down water creeping in.

Similar problem to you, I went through quite a few that either died very quickly or burn times weren't as long as stated. This was on my road bike and I needed something robust that would last for a 5+ hour ride. Ended up biting the bullet and getting an Exposure Blaze daybright last September. As expected it's solid, reliable, and has a very long burn time. I probably could have bought two with all the money spent on others, live and learn.

I've had a leyzne zecto on the back of my road bike for 5 or 6 years, no mudguards, still works fine.
Shame they don't make the old cateye TL-LD1000 and 1100 anymore, i've had one of them since they came out. Still in regular use!

Lupine Rotlicht - bomb proof design.

https://www.lupine.de/products/tail-lights/rotlicht/rotlicht-max

I’ve got a moon nebula I’ve had quite a few years now. Still holds charge and seems to last ok. I used it for commuting before Covid and haven’t gone back to the office really.

It’s quite flexible - I used to use it on the seat post, but now have a saddle bag on the bike so I don’t have to carry the spare tube / tools on my person. Managed to get a moon clip adapter so it clips onto the back of the bag. You can also saddle rail mount it.

I use it on a solid setting with a flashing pulse through it - so it’s always lit but also flashing as well. If you run it on the solid 100 lumen setting you can probably burn out the retinas of the driver following you if you so desire but I’ve never used that as it seems a bit antisocial. It’s got loads of different brightness / mode settings. If it breaks I’ll probably buy another one.

I looked at the exposure trace as I have a maxx D and it’s excellent - but the trace is a funny shape for a rear light

I’ve had see sense and exposure back lights but have drifted back to Cateye lights, as I have had a couple that are still going strong after many years.

I just bought a Viz 300 and it’s great. Perfect for daylight riding, as it’s very distinctive.

I think the important thing is storage, don't leave them flat or fully charged for too long aim for something like 60% for long term. I've got years old Moon and a few Planet X still going strong (which surprises me as they were £5 but will still run solid led for 2-3 hours) while a colleague ruined his Moon in short order by leaving it flat for a few weeks.

I think the important thing is storage, don’t leave them flat or fully charged for too long aim for something like 60% for long term.

or avoid bike lights with built in rechargeable batteries and use something that takes AA or AAA rechargeables. Most people end up leaving their lights unused for 6 months of the year and that's enough to kill a lot of the crap li-ion batteries that get fitted. I had the same problem with early Exposure Front lights too - come back to them in the autumn to find out they'd run down over summer and died. The ones we've had for some years now are ok but definitely used to be a problem.

really happy with the moon light recommended in this thread
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/rear-light-recommendations-not-too-bright-long-lasting/

Exposure. Or moon for a cheaper option

Exposure trace r

Exposure tracer r has never missed a beat

My Moon shield did many sterling years commuting, until it fell off one day. Assume the rubber strap broke. Worked in all weather although the charge capacity did drop over time.

Replace with a Trace R. Great light, seems very waterproof and works nicely with the saddle rail mount. Due to COVID and WFH hasn't been used as much for commuting but been on the MTB and covered in crap for two winters. Seems to be holding a charge well.

The Trace R is good, but in the three years I’ve had mine, it’s has two replacement bands. (The band that goes over the switch and USB port)

Five years from Tracr still holds charge. I had a see sense with all the fancy gubbins, it wouldn’t even do a three hour ride and wasn’t bright at all. It was the cheaper ‘ace’ model.

The other big plus is exposure will repair it when needed.
My fat fingers pushed in the charge port- they fixed it for £12. I like stuff to be fixable.