| Author | Message | ||
     Pmjolly |
I broke down on the way home from watching Jdugger and his friends run at a local track day. This was my first ride since installing HID lighting on my '08 1125R. I rode nearly three hours with no issues. I stopped to fill my tank about half a mile from my house. When I tried to start it, the starter did absolutely nothing. I knew I had a blown fuse when I looked around front and saw the headlights were not burning. By the way, QT does not sell fuses.  I had a neighbor of mine bring me some fuses. I rode home with no problem. This all got me thinking. In buildings, lighting loads are figured using the ballast ratings, not the lamps. Why would a motorcycle be any different? DDM uses the same ballast for 35 and 55 watt lamps. I swapped out low and high beams. That's four lamps and four ballasts on the 1125R. I'm now thinking I went from a total of 140 watts of headlights to 220 watts of headlights, even though I use the 35 watt lamps. These ratings might be after the lamps warm up, as I believe they draw more when starting. I had my high beams on when I tried to start her up at the gas station. The sun was behind me as I was coming home, and I wanted to try to be more visible. After I replaced the fuse, I started her with just the low beams on. I rode home this way. When I got home, I turned on the high beams and left them on for a while with no problems. I'm thinking the start up of all four ballasts at once was too much for the circuit. After the low beams are running, the high beams can be turned on with no problems. Next weekend, I am going to put an ammeter in the circuit to find out what is going on. I will update this thread when I know more. I now carry spare fuses. | ||
| Pmjolly |
Oh yeah. For those that don't know, the 1125R has four 35 watt halogen headlamps in stock form, two for low and two for high. The low stay on all the time, even when the highs are turned on. | ||
| Freight_dog |
I noticed that too when my stator died recently. With the HIDs the system couldn't even maintain 12 V. When I returned to the stock bulbs for the service call, it was holding 12.3 V on the highway. As much as I like the HIDs, I haven't put them back on yet. I want to see how durable the electrical system is first. (Message edited by Freight_dog on October 11, 2010) | ||
| Jdugger |
Eh, remove all that street crap and just do trackdays!  | ||
| Bueller4ever |
just change the low beams! I used to ride with my high beams on during the day, but it did help stupid people see me,so I quit. | ||
| Pwillikers |
The start up amperage for HID's is quite high (9 Amps per ballast) but it quickly settles down in 5~10 seconds to the same current as with a normal bulb. This is why most HID kits include direct battery wiring to supply current to the HID bulbs. It's switched by the stock wiring and a relay. In this case, the stock wiring and fuse see much less current than without HID. Some of the cheaper kits just plug into the harness and pull all HID current through the stock circuit and fuse. In this case, the stock wiring and fuse see much higher start up currents than without HID. This may be your issue. | ||
| Pmjolly |
OK. I put my Fluke ammeter to good use. The HID ballasts from DDM Tuning with 35 watt lamps draw right at 6 amps at start up, then go down to just a fraction over 3 amps when the lamps are warmed up. This is nearly the same load as the original halogen lamps once the HID lamps are warmed up, but much brighter. If you turn on all four ballasts at the same time, you will blow the 15 amp fuse with 24 amps across it. If you let the low beams warm up first, you can then turn on the high beams all day long. There is a slight overload as the high beams warm up, but the fuse can handle it. You have close to 18 amps for just a second. Once warmed up, the low and high together are about 12 amps. |
