Cateye HL-500 II "Donut light"

I bought one of these lights recently, and it seems strangely defective. It casts a ring of light -
a completely dark centre, with a thin, but very bright ring of light. This is almost completely
useless for seeing anything. The bottom of the ring is too close, the top is too far away, and the
sides are, well, off to the side. The area that I want illuminated is the centre, but this is black
black black.

I've tried taking the bulb, lens and reflector apart, and rearranging them in every possible
configuration, but all I get is a donut of light.

Any experience with this?
--
"Naturally, the common people don't want war. But, after all, it is the leaders of a country who
determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along. All you have to do is
tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing
the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
- Hermann Goering

 

"Baka Dasai" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> I bought one of these lights recently, and it seems
strangely
> defective. It casts a ring of light - a completely dark
centre,
> with a thin, but very bright ring of light. This is
almost
> completely useless for seeing anything. The bottom of the
ring
> is too close, the top is too far away, and the sides are,
well,
> off to the side. The area that I want illuminated is the
centre,
> but this is black black black.
>
> I've tried taking the bulb, lens and reflector apart, and rearranging them in every possible
> configuration, but all
I get
> is a donut of light.
>
> Any experience with this?

Mine has a little bit of that effect, but not enough to be annoying or cause problems.
Lamp/reflector assemblies do suffer from manufacturing variances. I suggest you return your
light and get another one. Most Cateye Micros are pretty good, but there are probably some
"lemons" out there.

Matt O.

 

"Baka Dasai" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I bought one of these lights recently, and it seems strangely defective. It casts a ring of light
> - a completely dark centre, with a thin, but very bright ring of light. This is almost completely
> useless for seeing anything. The bottom of the ring is too close, the top is too far away, and the
> sides are, well, off to the side. The area that I want illuminated is the centre, but this is
> black black black.
>
> I've tried taking the bulb, lens and reflector apart, and rearranging them in every possible
> configuration, but all I get is a donut of light.

Try the similarly priced Micro Halogen or MC-200 instead. We dropped the 500-II in favor of those.
The 500-II is no longer in Cateye's new catalog.

--
Andrew Muzi http://www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April 1971

 

Of COURSE the light pattern sucks. That's what seperates a $20 light from a $200 light. For $20, you
didn't really expect to actually see anything, did you?