Bontrager Flare RT battery bug

Hello

I made a datafield to show status of both Bontrager light. Flare RT in the back and Ion in the front.

I notticed that when I discharge the battery of rear light to the point that it turns off after charing the battery it still reports empty battery.

It reports empty battery through ANT+ and also the red led lights up. When I reset the lamp (15 s to turn off ANT+ and again 15s to turn it on) battery status is correct.

Does anyone have this light and can confirm it? Maybe my unit is faulty however it seems like a firmware bug.

You have to drain the battery and the connect it to charger. When the green light shows up, disconnect the power.

After that when turning the light on you should see blue and then red led (instead of green)

I tried to contact Bontrager/Trek but after initial response I didn't get any answer.

Top Replies

9671585 over 3 years ago +3

A bit of a workaround on this. While the lights are plugged in to power (and fully charged), power them on while your head unit is on, this seems to kick the status into shape as the lights LED status…
doucetp over 4 years ago +1

Hi,

Same issue for me. You have to reset the light to get back to the green status. Have a look to: forums.garmin.com/.../bontrager-flare-rt-battery-level-indicator
ManuS5 over 3 years ago +1

My first Flare 200 RT started to shows irregularities on the Garmin while decreasing the battery..5 led 4 led then jump to 2 led then Low or 5 4 3 the Low...so after a year I sent it back to Trek and send…

All Replies

jetguat over 2 years ago in reply to Patryk

Ive not heard that, and I missed that comment. So powering on, while connected, and observe the green LED indicator being on again. Is it actually charging more? or did the act of powering it on while connected via cable do something to the "smarts" of the charging firmware

Patryk over 2 years ago in reply to jetguat

I assume it then recognizes that the battery is fully charged beacuse it takes just few seconds. I wonder if the white front light has the same bug. Apart from that this ANT feature is really great, I made my own data fileld which shows both front and rear light status.

You can download nRF app for android and connect those light via Bloetooth to your smartphone and get all sort of data.

jetguat over 2 years ago in reply to Patryk

I have my RT connected to USB charging cable. LED charging lite was on. it went off. Usually meaning charging is done.
I turn on the light using a single press. I see the LED turn on using the same mode as prior (flashing day for me) and the BLUE LED lit up (indicating BT I think) Then I see the green LED on. curious it didnt do that last time I tried.

what does the GREEN LED indicate anyway

Patryk over 2 years ago in reply to jetguat

GREEN or RED indicates battery status.

Vestica over 2 years ago

My Bontrager Flare RT once fully charged will run for 10 minutes and then lose power as if the battery is low. It started when I connected it to the new Garmin 1040, but after that I rebooted and uninstalled it from the Garmin device. Now I would like to ask, is there any procedure to return to normal condition? Just a reminder that my Flare RT doesn't have more than a hundred charges.

Patryk over 2 years ago in reply to Vestica

It seems strange, maybe the Garmin is turning off the lamp. Try disabling ant/bluetooth. Push the button while powered off and wait for the second flash. Then there should not be the blue blink after power on.

Vestica over 2 years ago in reply to Patryk

first thing i did was restart it, turned off ant/bluetooth. I didn't solve the problem.

Patryk over 2 years ago in reply to Vestica

Maybe try to turn it on while connected to charger it also resets the battery level.

What's the led color when turning on? Is it red or green?

Vestica over 2 years ago in reply to Patryk

Its Green

ManuS5 over 2 years ago in reply to Vestica

when you turn the light on and you see green means the battery is fully charged.

If while using it you receive some low battery alarm don't consider it...just keep in mind that usually the battery lasts 8/9 depending from the light setting.. after 2 years and 2 lights replaced (Bontrager replaced it under warranty but no one knows if the bug is their or Garmin's), I'm used to ride 3 times then recharge it.

to reset the light and solve the bug (temporarily) keep pressed the button for 15 seconds, release the button after the second blink