Ride home for Thursday, 05 January

I noticed this morning that my Tiresparx had stopped working, so at lunchtime I took a look, thinking the batteries had gone flat. The batteries may well have been flat, however I couldn't say for sure because the salt and slush had turned the innards into a pile of iron oxide and assorted chemicals (largely from the batteries leaking). Just for kicks I tried putting fresh batteries in, and one of the Tiresparx still functioned - although it was permanently on, rather than flashing, as all that rust seemed to have done a great job short circuiting the flip-flop circuit. I went into MEC at lunch and picked up a new set, and this evening I tried a new approach; instead of sealing the Tiresparx with packing tape, this time I used weatherproof silicone sealant, and when it cures tomorrow I'm going to put another layer on top, and then after that seal it over with more packing tape. It looks like there's a design flaw in the Tiresparx, they can't be closed too tightly or the contact will be on permanently and the light will always flash. In addition, the packing they come in has a little circuit board with a contact that goes into each Tiresparx to do the "tap to activate" routine. This contact needs a hole in the Tiresparc to fit in, which is left open to the elements and seems to be where most of the gunk got in.

Still, I think I got $7.50 (plus taxes) worth of enjoyment out of them, and it should be interesting to see how the next ones hold up to the weather, too...

Distance logged: 14.197km
Time: 45:23
Average speed: 18.8km/hr
Max speed: 47.6 km/hr
Temperature: -1C, clear
Cumulative distance: 80.639km
Cumulative cost per km: $0.48
Monthly distance: 80.639km
Monthly cost per km: $0.48