Anyone have any thoughts…

I bought an Exposure Joystick in March 2011, worked flawlessly (used once a week or so) until October 2012, when I noticed that the rubber button had split. Sent it back and it was repaired under warranty.

Last week, twenty minutes after switching it on it goes dead. From then on it will only work for 20 mins or so after a full charge and goes dead instead of stepping down in power. Exposure say it’s out of warranty and typical cost is £45 if it needs a new battery or they’ll give me a concession on a new one.

If the split button let in water, is it reasonable to think that water damage in October wasn’t repaired? Or is that a bit tenuous?

£135 is a lot to pay for a torch that only works for a couple of years, given that my £50 Magicshine bar light lasted three and a half years of weekly use. Anyone know what concessions they give on new lights?

I would go back to the shop you got them from. Under the Sale of Goods Act, items have to be durable and fit for purpose.

You could argue that an premium torch such as this should last longer then 2.5 years?

If required, you’d have to prove the light was not mistreated and used as expected.

But then again batteries have a finite life so might be hard to argue against that?

I think Troute does mods to Exposure lights? Might be worth asking him if he can do something for less money?

Did you talk to them over the phone or email? If email it might be worth giving them a call and discussing it with them. They’re a pretty helpful bunch IME, so as long as you’re not taking the wotsit or getting all shouty I’d be surprised if they didn’t help you out.

I spoke to them on the phone this morning and they said it was out of warranty, then emailed me a returns form. I’ve replied to that and asked if they checked for water damage when they repaired the button and whether it would be covered by a guarantee of their last repair, but not had a reply as yet.

Battery wear is normally gradual (in every other device I’ve ever owned anyway). This went very suddenly from lasting a full three hours before stepping down to a lower setting, to barely 20 minutes before suddenly dying.

I’ll see what they say…

FWIW I’ve got a Mk1 Joystick (2007?) and it’s still going strong so I don’t think they can really claim the battery is shot. Of course yours could have been through a lot more charging cycles than mine, but mine has been very well used.

Try to keep talking on the phone.

It could be that the battery has discharged below its safe threshold during storage and if so will not recharge
a new cell is quite easy to fit if you are handy with a slodering iron
hardest part is opening the thing.

Smudge has done quite a few battery replacements on the joysticks .
if he cant help then I can have a look but not till after September 15

I’ve used it pretty much weekly since I bought it in 2011, so haven’t really stored it. Do you think it’s almost certainly battery or could it be the pcb? I’d happily replace the battery (found a blog entry on how to do it), but if it’s pcb or a component at fault then I might struggle, assuming that there’s a pcb that may be faulty. Happy to solder more or less anything, it’s just identifying a failed component.

Exposure got back to me, it’s a six month warranty on repairs so will have to pay.

Fixed my Diablo promptly and very amicably under warranty, cause i dealt with them direct rather thn through a forum. 😉

IanW: was your Diablo within the warranty period?

I did deal with them direct, so fail to see your point…

my joystick battery died one summer too, got a replacement from smudge as was out of warrantly and wasn’t going to pay exposure that much. sadly killed the driver board when i was soldering in the new one…

See what exposure come back with as they are normally very good on these sorts of things. The two guys (brothers) that own the company have developed all their products themselves over the years and its very much a family business rather than say a big company owned by accountants that know nothing about bikes.

IanW: was your Diablo within the warranty period?

I did deal with them direct, so fail to see your point…

Not sure if it was or not, I bought it from a lbs at a dusk till dawn who has since stopped trading. Exposure were in my opinion very good in fixing it both because I couldn’t prove any kind of purchase and the turnaround which was at short notice fro this years dun run.

They also went beyond the minimum they could have done just to get it working, I wouldn’t want to say they did this and that in case it sets expectations they wouldn’t want to repeat.

So my experience of their back up service is great.

The relevance of pointing out how you deal with them, is your implied criticism by posting a question which is really a complaint.

I imagine its pretty difficult running a uk company competing against imports manufactured with lower costs. You’ve had two and a half years use from something that now needs a new battery, they’ll do that at a reasonable IMO price or let you buy a new model at a discount. ??
Would you like the repair for free? At what point would you not expect it for free? And have you told them what you would like before coming on here?

We’ve got a couple of Exposure lights. One of them goes flat in about a month if not used. The other doesn’t. USE say tested and no fault.

Have had two joysticks fail not long out of warranty with board problems.

They’re very nice lights but do seem a bit finnicky.

Not sure if it was or not, I bought it from a lbs at a dusk till dawn who has since stopped trading. Exposure were in my opinion very good in fixing it both because I couldn’t prove any kind of purchase and the turnaround which was at short notice fro this years dun run.

They also went beyond the minimum they could have done just to get it working, I wouldn’t want to say they did this and that in case it sets expectations they wouldn’t want to repeat.

So my experience of their back up service is great.

Thank you, that’s very helpful.

The relevance of pointing out how you deal with them, is your implied criticism by posting a question which is really a complaint.

I imagine its pretty difficult running a uk company competing against imports manufactured with lower costs. You’ve had two and a half years use from something that now needs a new battery, they’ll do that at a reasonable IMO price or let you buy a new model at a discount. ??
Would you like the repair for free? At what point would you not expect it for free? And have you told them what you would like before coming on here?

I am not complaining, I am looking for opinion (on Exposure, rather than me). Whilst I’ve had the light nearly two and a half years, I’ve probably recharged it 120 or so times (based on my riding patterns). That’s not a lot of life for a l-ion battery IMO.

I’ve no doubt how difficult it is to run a UK company, especially when in direct competition with Chinese suppliers and I actually had a fairly pleasant discussion with George who issued with me a returns form.

If the light isn’t economically repairable, then it will potentially have cost me £135 for 300 hours of light. You can hardly find fault for wanting to find out more about others’ experiences of Exposure and their customer service: for which I am grateful.

Cheapes option would be to get a single cell and solder it in
Smudge will have some with tails on
if it works then happy face time. if its the driver board then its back to Exposure and pay for the repair .

or write it off and put the money to a new light

Very good IME. they fixed then replaced (a couple of years later, at a charge) a light of mine which was borked.

I doubt they’d replace a switch cover but leave knacked electrics.

Send it see what they say may be a heating isuue.