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Ground points

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:06 pm
by wannesd
Fired her up today, had a great ride, all went smoothly!

But when I got home, I saw that the halogen bulbs had blown. (HID was fine)

I suspect a bad earth, as I have no overvoltage.

Anyone know where the earth points are located? (I found one point on LHS, is this maybe the only one?)

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:50 pm
by flatlander
sorry but to be honest the only ones I am sure of tend to be under your feet or in my case elbows back head :smt001

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:51 pm
by zoidberg
maybe the bulb just blew? it happens ??

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 9:56 pm
by wannesd
zoidberg wrote:maybe the bulb just blew? it happens ??
Yep,

but I have a history with this bike :smt003

Before (last season), my headlights always blew. First dipped beam, so I had to drive with high beam. Which then also blew. This was sometimes in one day.

Now, I've fitted HID which is more forgiving to over-under voltage.

My standlight never ever blew before.

Now, my dipped beam is HID, high beam is halogen and standlight is standard.

However, they now all share the same ground wire (before the standlight had a separate ground)

Now after the first ride, both high beam and standlight are blown...
It really all points to a faulty earth wire, which has a bad connection while driving. (both bulbs were brand new btw)

Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2013 10:12 pm
by zoidberg
oh right, good luck, electrics do my napper in.

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 1:42 am
by Falcopops
Can you explain how would a dodgy earth blow the bulbs?

I thought it would only be an over voltage issue that would blow them, so keen to understand if this isn't the only case.

Anyway, the main earth point is where you found it on the left side of the block.

I had a problem with my lights going off every now and then and it turned out to be the earth wire to the left switch block. Here's a link to that thread, might help.

While I think about it, I did have another wiring problem that mentions the earth point, might give you some assistance. Here

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 9:54 am
by wannesd
Sure:

a dodgy earth gives many on-off connections. Sometimes with miniscule sparks, sometimes no sparks at all. However, every time the connection is re-established, a current surge is the result. This surge is what kills bulbs.

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 9:56 am
by wannesd
Falcopops wrote:I had a problem with my lights going off every now and then and it turned out to be the earth wire to the left switch block. Here's a link to that thread, might help.
Actually, no earth whatsoever goes to the left handlebar switch. Only 12V, which then gets divided into the different signals. The green wire is the 12V feed.

Posted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 5:34 pm
by fatboy
As you are now using a shared earth, is the earthing connector a sufficient size ? Do you need to run an additional earth lead ?
Only guessing here as in my eyes, electricity is witchcraft, therefore pure evil and never to be under estimated,but......
have got things to work again running a new or secondary earth....
witchcraft... evil goings on