Custom Brakelights

[NEWHD74FAN]

I use the Adjures Beacon 2 brake lights and clear turn signal lights up front. And yes being they are Halogen, they are BRIGHT...I have had motorcylist comments that they like 'em and easy to see day or night. Think Projector lamps here. Thing is you have both on the one side which makes them "twice" as bright to use as single brake light.

The Reds are 35W, the Ambers 25W and the Clears 50W...divide Watts/Volts and that is how many Amps draw...the Halogens draw similar energy to the stockers only MUCH brighter. Try putting them in Series (daisy chain the wiring) rather than parallel and they should dim by 1/2. I did not check if the case is ground, if it is you have to insulate them to get them in series. Light and current draw is not necessarily "linear" as light is more logarithmic...i.e. twice the distance brightness is actually the square visually.

 

[jettblack]

only one is on all the time as the running light. the other is the break light. I like that they are bright, the more visable I am the better, plus im not the one that has to look at em haha. the problem is they are so bright that it is hard to tell when the breaklight comes on. So i want to dim the running light and leave the breaklight bright.

Went on a ride yesterday and a guy said they burnt his retina's hahahah

 

[Hoople]

I have not forgotten you. Hang in there with me for a few more days. My local J&P did not have the #330-972 replacement bulb in stock but I will have it in a couple of days. I can't wait to get to the bottom of this. Anxious to see what the current demands of this bulb really are.

 

[jettblack]

Whenever you get to it is fine, I've been riding it for 4 months like this so no hurry.

 

[Hoople]

J&P said I should have bulb by Friday. I am curious to see what the specs on the bench are. Even if it turns out to be a current hungry bulb, I have a plan that will make it work...

Your setup looks just too trick not to have it work perfect and just the way you want it.! We will get it.

 

[jettblack]

I agree! I love the way it looks.

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

They do look trick...bright red 35W projector beams like yours outback or 50W bright turn signals up front (don't have a good pix of my tail lights from the rear).

 

[Hoople]

I received the #330-972 bulb and did some testing. I tested the bulbs current draw with a 12.6 volt source and it draws exactly 3.10 amps which falls exactly where it should be. The problem is not the bulb.

The reason why the 6 amp Radio Shack diodes were getting hot is because I did not read the fine print on the diode data sheet. Those 6 amp diodes are rated at an Average current draw of 6 amps and not a continuous current draw of 6 amps.
Those diodes were designed to be used primarily in A/C power supply rectification. When used in the fashion they were designed for, 50% of the time the diode is not conducting at all and the other 50% of the time the current load varies from 0-100%. Therefore there is plenty of "off" time and the diodes will not get hot. But since we are using these diodes in a DC circuit, the "OFF" time is zero and the "ON" time is 100%. Therefore the current demand is continuous and not average.

Until I had the bulb in my hand and measured the current draw, my mind was focused on the Bulb being miss rated and had nothing to do with my selection of diode. I am very sorry about that. My mistake & I made you go to the Shack to buy useless parts.

Ok. So in order to fix your problem, all we need are some diodes wired exactly the same way but this time ones with the correct CONTINUOUS current rating instead of the AVERAGE current rating.

I have a ton of parts like this in the shop collecting dust that I will never use. I would be Happy to send you some for nothing. Just PM me a mailing address where you would like them sent.

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

What Hoople is trying to say in more layman terms is a diode acts like a one way valve, if you use your digital multimeter (DMM) in ohms Rx1 range...the black probe - and the red + the diode can be used as a on or off device depending on the polarity when used in the circuit.

What he did not tell you is that each diode when conducting in the forward direction introduces about 0.6 to 0.8V drop, so putting several in series (daisy chain with stripe facing away) : --|- --|- (2 in line will drop 1.2V or so, put 2 more in line and another 1.2V drop, and so which would drop the brightness of the lamp in series by 1/8 or more available volts...you get the picture.

So using more diodes in series will also lower the power disispated to diodes and at the same time lower the brightness of those lamps. Using the higher rated current diodes as he suggests will make the diodes run cooler and increase their life and off course in series with resistors (which are made to dissipate heat based on watt rating should do the deed nicely.

 

[Hoople]

I don't know what beacon 2 marker lights are.

There is no bulb number on the base of the lamp.? If there is I can look up the specs on the bulb. There has got to be some identification numbers in order to re-order a new bulb.

BTW, Projection bulbs commonly use 3 Letters to designate a particular bulb.
If you look closely at the bulb you will see the letters FMV written on the envelope. That tells you everything you want to know about this bulb. That defines it as a projection bulb and with what specs. If you shop for a replacement bulb in the future using that code, you can buy them for $2 instead of the J&P price.
No biggie,, just so you will know.