Does anyone out there have an image of the OEM headlight wiring setup you could post? I've search previous posts and couldn't find anything. I've also looked at the wiring diagrams in my Haynes manual but they aren't quite making sense to me.
I've been having trouble for some time with my battery not sustaining a charge very well and have been trouble shooting just about every problem it could be. A few years ago, a mechanic went and converted my headlights so both of them would burn all the time. I suspect now that this is actually putting a drain on my battery because the additional headlight is drawing more current than for what the system was designed. And it is drawing this current all the time. I'm going to do a test tomorrow by simply unplugging one light and seeing how it affects the draw on the battery but I would like to know how to rework the wiring back to the way it was. Unfortunately, at the time, I wasn't smart enough to take a photo of the wiring before the mechanic reconfigured it. I just assumed he knew what he was doing wasn't going to adversely affect the bike.
Thank you in advance to whomever may have this photo or is willing to take it while their headlight cowling is removed.
Paul
I haven't got a photo Paul but there shouldn't be any wiring involved. To get the second light working you just put a relayin where there isn't one on the standard bike.
If he messed with the wiring then there was no need and that may be your problem, however given the choice for a cause I would say it's the charging system starting to fail.
Your mechanic probably put the wrong relays in. There are 2 pin layouts for relays:
(http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e398/iansoady/bike/Tiger/relay-pin-layout1.gif)
but not many people know that......
If you use the wrong ones then they will appear to work but will in fact constantly energise the coil from the permanent live (and will just pass current from the dipswitch to the lights rather than using it as a trigger). Hence the battery flattening over time.
The easy check is to disconnect the extra relays (there should be one for each light, under the left side fairing).
Thanks guys. I'll be checking the relays today.
John - I thought it was the charging system and checked the resistance on both the reg/rec and the stator. Both checked as OK but I replaced the reg/rec anyway and my output was much better. However, it still varies considerably while idling and I'm not trusting it. A friend mentioned that it could be the additional headlight, especially if the system was not designed to burn it all the time. So, that'll be my next check.
Ian - which pin layout is correct for the bike? Or do I need both? They appear similar enough that I could see how an incorrect relay could be used. When you say fairing, are you talking up at the front of the bike or along the sides?
Paul
I can't answer the question directly. However, pins 85 and 86 are always the trigger inputs and 30 / 87 the switched load. So if the correct relay is my type A and a Type B is fitted (or vice versa) then 86 and 30 are swapped. This means that if the trigger voltage (from dipswitch etc) is coming in on 30 rather then 86, it is now connected directly to the output. The reason the battery goes flat is that the permanent live which should be switched (in on 30 / out on 87) is connected directly to earth via the actuating coil.
The overall effect is that the relay seems to be working as desired in that it passes current when "actuated". However, it is merely passing that actuating current forward. The battery is going flat because of that constant current through the coil.
Harder to explain than I thought but I hope you get the gist.
And they are under the left hand side of the front fairing cowl. Grope around under the plastic trim and you'll feel a rubber cover, peel it back and you'll feel the relays plugged into their sockets. Should be easy to wiggle them free one at a time and see which is which. It's so long a go I did mine I can't remember but you'll soon work it out....
Kind of on topic, but if I need to tap in to the high beam for an auxiliary light signal, which wire should I use?
I checked both relays under the cover and they are identical, both type B (in Ian's diagram). These are the top and bottom relays as the other two have different pin patterns.
I could have sworn what he did was with the wiring between the headlights but this was 3-4 years ago. I don't really recall how he did it. He never really let me in as to what he did.
Thanks for your help. I'll have to do some more troubleshooting to see where my power drain is.
Might be teaching you to suck eggs, but:
Turn everything off.
Disconnect the battery +ve lead
Put your multimeter on "Amps" in a range that covers 30A to start with.
Connect the red multimeter lead to the battery and the black to the bike red lead.
You should have a zero reading.
Turn the multimeter onto increasingly sensitive ranges until you are at the most sensitive (this approach stops you overloading the meter)
If it still reads zero you have no leak.
If it reads anything else, remove and replace the fuses one at a time until you get a zero. That identifies the circuit that is leaking.
Now you just have to find out where.
Regarding the wiring mods by the mechanic. Remove the 4 screws holding the screen to the cowl, remove the black plastic mounting the indicators (3 screws each) remove the four screws holding the cowl in place. Remove the cowl (put it somewhere safe, they are VERY expensive). Look at the lighting wiring behind the lights; my guess is - if he did anything at all - he modified it using Scotchlocks in which case undoing his work will be easy. In any case, thee should be no wiring joining the two lights together. If there is, you probably need to remove that.
Another thing I'm trying to determine is the best spot behind the fairing to tap into for my signal dynamics voltage meter.
any recommendations?
Any +ve will do but, ideally, you should run a pair back to the battery terminals.
That's what I was thinking. I'll just have to extend the wires, I guess.
Trying not to be off topic but regarding the type B relay, I'm have to replace a relay for the fuel pump on my '99. The stock Hella has a diode from what I'm seeing on the plastic cover. These seem to be impossible to find locally. Can I safely use the same type B relay but without the diode?
Thanks for any help
Another way out of it is to fit a main and side light switch just like in the earlier models. That way you can ride with head or side lights or none at all. It will mean a replacement right handlebar switch, availiable on fleabay and your local breakers yard £25 to £35 should do it. The only problem is, where the hell do you connect it all to? Can anyone help on this?
I have 2 plugs that appear to be unused. Did I miss something or are they for something else?
I'm going to take a picture of what I have and post it on here to see whether it looks like what everyone else has. I went and ran my voltage meter back to the battery and from there, all appears to be fine. Getting plenty of juice throughout an entire ride and even after I got her home and parker her for a week.
Perhaps it's something else. I haven't had the opportunity to check for leaks with a meter, as was suggested earlier. I'll be doing that soon to see whether I do have any problems.
Thanks for all the comments. This forum makes troubleshooting much easier than fumbling around without any feedback.
Quote from: Boo on February 09, 2014, 09:53:28 PM
That way you can ride with head or side lights or none at all.
You might want to check the construction and use regs. I can't at the moment and can't recall what year the dipped beam on all the time came into force.
Other countries vary, I have heard it even varies between US states :icon_scratch:
OT - In Cambodia you have to actually physically cover your front lights during daylight hours, switching them off is not enough :violent1 weird or what?
Dipped beam running lights came in 2005. Although in theory you could get a fixed penalty for converting to a switch, it would be a clever and pedantic copper to give you one. It's not an MOT check or fail. Driving light are though. They have to dip or extinguish when the main beams do and they must have an independent switch. Converting to both on, main or dip, is more down to your MOTer. If he spots the beam pattern is wrong it's a fail. So far, mine hasn't. To best of my knowledge of course disclaimer etc etc....