Fog lights or driving lights???

[brianmacza]

There is apparently a slight delay as the ballast energises - dunno how long the delay is tho. On high beam you have both bulbs lit, so there would be no time where you don't have light. It would make flashing oncoming traffic a problem, potentially.

The regulator on my bike appears to be working fine - no burn marks at all, and the charge appears to be within spec. The battery is a Huasa [sp?] japanes thang - might be a shit product, so I'll take a look at replacing it with a different make.

The carb models have a smaller alternator output than the FI birds - the cause for my concern.

[pug]

The battery is a Huasa [sp?] japanes thang - might be a shit product

If it is a Yuasa you really don't want to replace it, it's the best around.

If it is a Huasa (never heard that before, if it exists probably is Chinese), then you really want to replace it.

[bonox]

the lamps take a little while to warm up - you get a brief pop flash, then they are dim with building brightness to maximum in a few seconds. (Automotive ballast/igniter assemblies use much higher arc strike voltages than general HID units like mercury vapour so they don't take 15minutes to warm up and you can also hot start them unlike general units)

When hot (ie if you turn off high beam for passing traffic) they warm up very quickly but still give a little pop flash, which, although not particularly good for the life of the unit, will give you a brief period of high vis, just like flashing ordinary highs.

Personally, I have mine wired direct to the battery with relay triggers and don't notice any flicker at all, and I use my driving lights as high beam flashers instead of the HID high.

The '97 birds also have a 390W alternator; the EFI birds have a 460W. Should mean an equivalent level of available extra amps for accesories though, as the fuel pump and injectors reputedly draw about 75watts or more together.

[brianmacza]

I had never considered the load of the injectors and fuel pump... sounds reasonable in that case.

I'm fetching my kit tonite - hope to put it in on saturday (will leave my high beam on halogen for a while and see the effectiveness of that combo - if it still needs help I can use the HID for high beam also)

B

[PlasticxxHead]

So, As long as one is cruising on the highway, with rpm's up. one should have no problem with excessive farkles disturbing the wattage flow?

I know at some point i'll hit the limit.. I replaced my reg/rec last season.. so that is in good order..Gps. Ipod. Soon fogs.

Would bumping the bulbs from a set of fog lights up to 100 -115 w make a huge difference in the draw? compard to the 55w stockers?

[Guest rockmeupto125]

Two fogs at 55 watts = 110 watts. Raise that to two 115 watt bulbs and that's 230 watts of draw....more than half the output of your alternator.

Running the engine takes about 20 watts.

Both stock headlamps at 55 watts = 110 watts.

Brake light = 20 watts

blinkers = 15 watts

running lights =10 watts

That's 175 watts. 25% cushion seems reasonable safe.....so 3/4th of 390 is roughly 400. That leaves you 125 watts to play with.....approximately the electrical cost of your two high powered fog lights.

Running slow in the rain will drain that battery in no time.

[jcrich]

.....so 3/4th of 390 is roughly 400.  

Huh???? No coffee yet this morning, Joe?

[Guest rockmeupto125]

I said roughly, bitch. You folks in Florida know how to round numbers off, don't you?

No coffee yet, Rich. How did you know?

:oops: :oops: :oops:

Thanks.

[PlasticxxHead]

Joe Help me out..

What is the total output of our alternators?

I have a 97" I heard the Fi birds are diff"

So. it takes about 175 watts to runn the bike...

If I am dropping 2 (115) watts bulbs in thats... 230...

plus the 175 it takes to runn the bike

175

+230

----------

405 total watts with just the bike and the "high powered(2x115w) fogs"

Add gps and a radar and we bump that up even more...

Subtract for HID though right?, they take an initial spike of juice , BUT settle down and draw less current once they are on .. Correct?

[brianmacza]

about 35w per lamp I believe...

[Guest rockmeupto125]

390 for carbed, 460 for fuellies is what Bonox said...that sounds right to me.

175 watts is your maximum draw under normal stock conditions. Both lights on, brakes on, turn signal on. Take 10 more watts if you are blowing the horn. And no, I have no idea what the starter draws.

Your killer fog lights will put that up to 405....you are running off the battery.

But you wouldn't want fog lights on AND high beam...subtract 55 and you are back to 350.

BUT your HID's only pull 35 watts each...making your max total 135, not 175.

135 plus the 230 from your fog lights is 365. Add 5 watts for each electrical farkle. Heated grips take 25-50 watts, heated gear takes 35 for gloves, and 50 for jacket or pants.

I wouldn't run a carbed bike over 300 on a regular basis, or a fuelie over 375. There's too many variables, too much involved with being stranded, and too much to replace if the whole thing goes tits up. If you need that much light, slow down.

BTW, LED taillight and turnsignals will drop your power draw.

Remember, the numbers I posted earlier are off the top of my head....and may be wrong. I counted up all the wattages at one point, but my memory may not be what it used to be, Kevin.

[bonox]

there's a whole swag of stuff involved in it, but I generally regard the bike as needing about 200watts to run before you start adding accessories.

55 low beam

10 watt taillights (5Wx2. brake is inly intermittent)

fuel pump ~50 watts if filter not blocked

ecu 25W

injectors 25W

instruments etc 5W

is about 170W

Not sure about you lot, but I can't run more than a pair of 55W each driving lights on top of everything else (both headlights, cruise control, heated grips) at less than 4000rpm and keep voltage above 13V, meaning a happy not overloaded stator. (max output is 5000rpm but you only get another 30 or so watts from 4000rpm).

HID automotive uses a 35W lamp, but ballast generally draws about 7w, so you are looking at about 42w for each HID lamp you are burning. (ie saving of 13w per standard halogen lamp)

The best advice I can give you if you plan to use this much stuff is to do what I and all the other LD freaks do - get yourself a voltmeter and keep an eye on it.

Voltages below 12 don't matter for HID - they'll still keep giving out the same number of lumens until it all falls over at about 9V. Standard halogen on the other hand has a very sharp fall off below12.5-13V according to danielsternlighting.com, meaning that there is not much point lighting up all of your christmas tree if you are not actually able to give them enough juice (ie you are probably better off using 55W lamps in the fog/driving lamps instead of 100+ lamps.

My 2c here is that your are better off running good quality freeform reflector lamps (unless you have HID driving lamps) with plus30, plus50 etc premium 55watters instead of 110w lamps.

[bonox]

just something a litttle independant of the above post, items that are not in general use, ie

indicators, brake lights, horn (stock or magnum etc) etc

aren't worth counting in your total - and you are unlikely to be using a pair of 110w fogs in urban conditions either where you'll be pulling a low engine speed. The battery will make up for any shortfall the stator can't provide and the stator will not be overloaded for long. (hopefully).

little farkles like mobile phones, radar units and gps things generally ar enot worth worrying about in your total because you could run all three for less than 10watts. ymmv, but check what they require. Many will say they draw 3 amps etc, but this is a worst case full load or startup condition - look for the average draw.

[SBBXX]

Even driving at 295 kp/h there was no problems with this. Hard thunder storms and pleanty of water has also not affected the lights. It did however dull them a bit due to road debris and dirt being picked up by the front tyre.

How about 295 Km/h, at night, in a hard thunderstorm?

Check it out and get back to us ok?

[arcticflipper]

How about 295 Km/h, at night, in a hard thunderstorm?

Check it out and get back to us ok?

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

This is South Africa, thundersowers normally means really heavy lightning....

Now that could be fun......