Grebel Posted October 19, 2010 Posted October 19, 2010 Hi, I recently got a set of Blackburn Flea lights with a bike I bought through O-Bike. The problem I am having is that I can get them to charge with the Micro Charger supplied that connects to a battery, but I can't seem to get them to charge via USB. Am I missing something? I have tried three of the ports on the front of my PC without any luck. Any advice would be appreciated!
Eugene Posted October 19, 2010 Posted October 19, 2010 I'm not a computer fundi, but in order to charge my cell phone via USB, I had to have the cell's software loaded. Isn't there something similar with the flea light? I was on their website some time back and there was a trouble shooting guide. Maybe you can get the answer there.
Grebel Posted October 19, 2010 Author Posted October 19, 2010 I was on the website but can't find a comprehensive FAQ section. They say how to take it out of demo mode but I have done that. I connected the USB dongle thingy that was supplied and "clipped" the light on but no response. No flashing indicator lights at all. The battery charger works fine
Spinnekop Posted October 19, 2010 Posted October 19, 2010 mmmmmm....strange.... I went the other way around.....had the Flea Lights with ONLY battery charge option......Cut the ends and soldered it to a USB cable....plug in, charge!!! NO problems. Basicly your USB has 4 wires.....one positive, one negative and two for data. Don't think it is going to help you but maybe you are not making contact on the light itself?
PYGA1 Posted October 19, 2010 Posted October 19, 2010 I have no problem charging my Flea light via the USB provided (only have the front light). Plug the USB into any of the ports, turn the computer on, make sure the contacts on the USB and light are properly connected, the light flashes intermittently while charging.
Zaskar09 Posted October 19, 2010 Posted October 19, 2010 (edited) I don't know if this is going to work but you can give it a try. I see in your OP you only tried the USB ports on the front of your computer. Some PC's only support USB 1.1 on the front and USB 2.0 at the back. And certain devices require USB 2.0 to charge so try one of the ports on the back. Edited October 19, 2010 by Zaskar09
Christopher Brunsdon Posted October 19, 2010 Posted October 19, 2010 I'm an ex-PC techie (papers 'n all) and what has happened is that your front USB ports are running in reduced power mode (USB1.1 and not USB2). This is either a result of a BIOS setting or most likely the cables are not correctly connected to your motherboard. Anyway, solution is easy: plug in the rear USB ports as they will be USB2.0 and give full power output.
Christopher Brunsdon Posted October 19, 2010 Posted October 19, 2010 I have no problem charging my Flea light via the USB provided (only have the front light). Plug the USB into any of the ports, turn the computer on, make sure the contacts on the USB and light are properly connected, the light flashes intermittently while charging. Unless you have a laptop, open up your case and set the USB power-on jumper (its next to your CPU). This will always give power to the USB ports even when your PC is off.
Zaskar09 Posted October 19, 2010 Posted October 19, 2010 Unless you have a laptop, open up your case and set the USB power-on jumper (its next to your CPU). This will always give power to the USB ports even when your PC is off. Didn't know that, cool tip thanks
Grebel Posted October 19, 2010 Author Posted October 19, 2010 I don't know if this is going to work but you can give it a try. I see in your OP you only tried the USB ports on the front of your computer. Some PC's only support USB 1.1 on the front and USB 2.0 at the back. And certain devices require USB 2.0 to charge so try one of the ports on the back. Thanks for the info! I tried plugging a powered USB hub into the rear ports and connected the light. It started blinking away! My bad... Thanks for all the feedback!
sampie Posted October 19, 2010 Posted October 19, 2010 I'm an ex-PC techie (papers 'n all) and what has happened is that your front USB ports are running in reduced power mode (USB1.1 and not USB2). This is either a result of a BIOS setting or most likely the cables are not correctly connected to your motherboard. Anyway, solution is easy: plug in the rear USB ports as they will be USB2.0 and give full power output. Same reason why most external usb drives wont work from front
Zaskar09 Posted October 19, 2010 Posted October 19, 2010 Same reason why most external usb drives wont work from front Thats exactly how I discovered it
Grebel Posted October 19, 2010 Author Posted October 19, 2010 Same reason why most external usb drives wont work from front What had me stumped was the fact that all my flash drives worked on the front ports. I thought I had a dud USB adaptor from Blackburn. Obviously not enough current to these ports...
Zaskar09 Posted October 19, 2010 Posted October 19, 2010 (edited) What had me stumped was the fact that all my flash drives worked on the front ports. I thought I had a dud USB adaptor from Blackburn. Obviously not enough current to these ports... Your flashdrives would probably work faster on the ones at the rear, I know mine does. And my external HD doesn't work at all (at the front). Edited October 19, 2010 by Zaskar09
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