Looks like I found my dim lighting issue..... By mapbike (Read 25,836 times)

[mapbike]

I took the front nose off my scooter which all of the lights are in and felt of the voltage regulator/rectifier and it had got extremely HOT within just a few seconds of starting the scooter, the head lights were very dim and I had no working instrument lights in the gauges.

Then I decided to unplug the voltage reg. and restart scooter, when I did I had instrument lights again but as soon as I pluged the reg back in no lights and it started getting very HOT again in just seconds.

It seems to me that I must have a bad votage Reg.

Oh and I think I created another problem....ooooops!

I unplugged the reg. to see if my dash lights were still working and then reved the engine up, the lights got real bright and then poof... no dash lights and I smelt hot plastic or something just for a second, I think I may have blown out all my dash llight bulbs or maybe a fuse.

I rigged up a switch that has my headlights wired direct from the battery power now, it works real good because I used a 3 way switch that way I still have my dim & bright lights on command and when I'm just out riding the back roads around here and dont need a light I can just turn the lights off and take that drain off the battery and charging system.

I have included a pic of the reg. that is on my scooter, I looked on scrappydogs site but he doesn't show the one I have so I will be digging around looking for the best deal I can find on a new one.

Give me your experienced opinions please......
Thanks

Peace

Attachments:

[mapbike]

Well I was wrong, Scrappydog does have the reg I need, he just had it listed under common parts instead of under the GY6 150cc section, so I will order one of these right now.........

Peace

[Cruiser]

Pulling the regulator probably allowed the full unregulated output of the stator to hit the lights. The regulator will run warm, but this one does sound like it's putting too much of the stator output to ground. Since you originally said you couldn't find this R/R at scrappydog, I found one here:

allchineseparts.com/product_info.php?products_id=12810561&osCsid=a18ec01e2eab377ad15e27da68d108da

It's good for a backup source anyway.

[mapbike]

Yeah I figured when I reved the engine up like I did the voltage hit the bulbs way to high and burned them out, as to the reg running warm, yeah I figured it would get warm after a minute or two but mine gets so hot you cant hold your finger on it for more than a couple of seconds after only maybe 15-25 seconds of the scooter running, I know that cant be right surely....

Thanks for that link, I have never seen that site before, are they in the US?

And have you purchased from them before?

Peace

Jul 14, 2011 20:15:18 GMT -6 Cruiser said:

Pulling the regulator probably allowed the full unregulated output of the stator to hit the lights. The regulator will run warm, but this one does sound like it's putting too much of the stator output to ground. Since you originally said you couldn't find this R/R at scrappydog, I found one here:

allchineseparts.com/product_info.php?products_id=12810561&osCsid=a18ec01e2eab377ad15e27da68d108da

It's good for a backup source anyway.

[Cruiser]

They must be in the U.S. They use FedEx and shipping is done with reference to Central time. They accept all major credit cards. I have not done business with them.

[mapbike]

Just checked out the shipping on that reg. from them and it is over $11.00 and it ships from the same state I'm in (Texas)

Scrappydog is in Las Vegas and he will ship to me for just over $5.00 & the Reg. is about $1 less from him, I did look around and found that allchineseparts.com does have a bunch of good stuff at pretty good prices but I think I'm gonna save myself some shipping charges and go with scrappydog on this Reg. plus I have purchased from him sveral times and always got great service and quick shipping....

Thanks again for the link, I have it saved for the future....

Peace

[Cruiser]

Yea, on a part in that price bracket, the shipping cost can be the deciding factor. I have the site saved and use them a lot to look for hard to find parts and for price comparisons.

[nalrac]

mapbike,

I'm having a similar issue. Can you tell me this; does your tail light work although the headlights and dash don't?

[Bashan]

Jul 15, 2011 4:53:34 GMT -6 nalrac said:

I'm having a similar issue. Can you tell me this; does your tail light work although the headlights and dash don't?

Obviously, not all scooters are going to be wired the same. However, a couple generalizations can be made here regarding this issue. A lot of GY6 scooters are wired with the headlights and many of the other "up front" lights wired into the yellow wire of the stator. That wire is AC and regulated to 12v through the regulator/rectifier (R/R). The yellow lights up with power when the stator starts spinning and then the headlights come on; my 1500cc motorcycle operates in the same fashion. If you unhook the yellow from the R/R the voltage will escalate way past 12v and probably blow some lights or melt something. If your R/R is not doing it's job the same thing can happen. The tail lights are DC and run off of the battery through the ignition switch 100% of the time as far as I know. This is part of the circuit that activates the starter and why you must pull in a brake handle. When you turn on your ignition switch the tail lights come on and are not dependant on the engine starting like the headlights. So in answer to the last question, yes, the headlights and tail lights can be two seperate systems and operate independantly. Rich

[mapbike]

Yes my tail lights and turn signals work just fine, and now I know why after bashan explained how they are wired to the battery instead of relying on the stator for their power source.

You may need Regulator/Rectifier just like me, sounds like a good possiblity anyway.

Good luck and wish me the same on this end.......

Peace

Jul 15, 2011 4:53:34 GMT -6 nalrac said:

mapbike,

I'm having a similar issue. Can you tell me this; does your tail light work although the headlights and dash don't?

[mapbike]

I'm glad you informed me about the yellow wire likely being the power source wire from the stator, now maybe I understand even more that it is bound to be my R/R that is the problem, I could start the scoot and as lond as the R/R was plugged in I had NO dash lights but I could start unplugging it to the point that the yellow wire was no longer making contact with the R/R and I had good dash lights, but as soon as the yellow wire made contact with the Reg. terminal the dash lights would go out, only thing that has me a bit puzzled though is where in the heck was I getting power to the dash lights from..........

Is the yellow wire from the Reg. responsible for controling the voltage to the dash lights even though I was getting power to them from another source? Now I'm confused again just a tad......

Peace

Jul 15, 2011 9:31:07 GMT -6 Bashan said:

Jul 15, 2011 4:53:34 GMT -6 nalrac said:

I'm having a similar issue. Can you tell me this; does your tail light work although the headlights and dash don't?

Obviously, not all scooters are going to be wired the same. However, a couple generalizations can be made here regarding this issue. A lot of GY6 scooters are wired with the headlights and many of the other "up front" lights wired into the yellow wire of the stator. That wire is AC and regulated to 12v through the regulator/rectifier (R/R). The yellow lights up with power when the stator starts spinning and then the headlights come on; my 1500cc motorcycle operates in the same fashion. If you unhook the yellow from the R/R the voltage will escalate way past 12v and probably blow some lights or melt something. If your R/R is not doing it's job the same thing can happen. The tail lights are DC and run off of the battery through the ignition switch 100% of the time as far as I know. This is part of the circuit that activates the starter and why you must pull in a brake handle. When you turn on your ignition switch the tail lights come on and are not dependant on the engine starting like the headlights. So in answer to the last question, yes, the headlights and tail lights can be two seperate systems and operate independantly. Rich

[sprocket]

If you turn the ignition key before you start the engine and the dash lights come on they are powered from the battery...this includes the running lights etc...

[mapbike]

The only lights that have ever worked without the engine running on my scoot are the brake lights & tutn signals, headlights and dash lights only come on after engine is running on mine.

Jul 16, 2011 11:11:40 GMT -6 sprocket said:

If you turn the ignition key before you start the engine and the dash lights come on they are powered from the battery...this includes the running lights etc...

[Bashan]

Jul 15, 2011 20:14:36 GMT -6 mapbike said:

Is the yellow wire from the Reg. responsible for controling the voltage to the dash lights even though I was getting power to them from another source?

Shan, whaddup Bud? Here's the deal, your yellow wire is hot when the stator is spinning whether it's plugged into the R/R or not. Also, the circuits that the yellow runs to will also be getting juice whether it's plugged in or not but it's not regulated to 12v when it's not connected. I'm not sure what weird thing is happening when you unplug the R/R and you get dash lights, but considering the fact that your R/R may be malfunctioning it's hard to say. However, the electricity is not coming from any other source than the yellow wire. Rich

[mapbike]

Hello, Bashan

I got my new reg. today and am fixing to go install it, with the reg completely off my scoot I had dash lights until I reved it up pretty high and zap, a bit of a burnt smell and no more dash lifghts.............I will try to address this as soon as I get the new reg. installed by pulling the dash panel and checking the bulbs whick I'm sure need to all be replaced if hopefully that is all I screwed up when I ran without the reg plugged in......wish me good fortune here, I'm hoping I didnt create another problem when I pulled that now realized stupid stunt......LOL!

Thank you bashan and I will be back in a bit with an update on what I get doen and how thinking work......

Peace