Electrical question....not TORS related.

[Coralkong]

I am new, so let me say thanks (again) for this great site before I ask my question.


Anyway, I bought a 2006 Blaster for my son for Christmas.

It is in pretty good shape, no real problems.....however:

Someone had flipped it, and ripped the back grab bar and taillight assembly off.

I bought a cheapie, Chinese tallight off of Ebay and am in the process of hooking it up. It is LED. 3 wire.

Believe it or not, I actually got the wires correct on the first shot. Yellow, Blue, Black, translate to Yellow, Brown, Green.....in that order.

Brake light works fine. Nice and strong.

The "running light" mode, however, is very dim and sort of "sporadic". It flickers.....the headlight on the quad is strong, no change in brightness, etc...during idle, which to me means it is getting strong "juice" (output) from the engine.

Can you put some kind of "capacitor" or voltage regulator in-line to fix this? Or should I just live with it.

If it is a $2 fix, I would do it. If it is a $50 fix, forget it and I will live with it.

Again, the brake light part of the light is strong, it's just the running light (when you turn the headlight on) that is weak........
I know LEDs require little to no electricity to run, so this one has me kind of stumped.

Thanks again (in advance) for ideas and comments.

 

[slickerthanyou]

Since we have no battery on our quads you will have that. always dims at idle do to little output , increase RPM's and it'll be bright all day.. Only way i know of is to add a battery to the mix.

 

[quadsrus1]

Yea i would just leave it be

 

[Blaaster]

Could try dropping a diode in series. Could be suffering a shot of AC voltage.

 

[rideyamaha09]

An LED tail light shouldn't be dimming due to idling or low rpm's, I have an LED tail light on mine and it is at full brightness whether the quad is at idle or higher rpm's. It might be something internal on the replacement light you got such as a resistor or other component which is causing it to dim at idle.

 

[Blaaster]

An LED tail light shouldn't be dimming due to idling or low rpm's, I have an LED tail light on mine and it is at full brightness whether the quad is at idle or higher rpm's. It might be something internal on the replacement light you got such as a resistor or other component which is causing it to dim at idle.

Thats what me thinks, a faulty rectifying diode, try one in series in the wire, it may fix the problem for a few cents.

The diode will only work one way, and no damage will be done if you get it wrong the first time around.

 

[Coralkong]

Well, it was a POS $12 Chinese LED taillight off of Ebay.

Any links to a rectifying diode?

Radio Shack sell such a beast?

 

[Blaaster]

Well, it was a POS $12 Chinese LED taillight off of Ebay.

Any links to a rectifying diode?

Radio Shack sell such a beast?

Sure do just tell em what you want to do, wont cost more than a few cents.

I take no responsibility if it dont work.

 

[Coralkong]

Sure do just tell em what you want to do, wont cost more than a few cents.

I take no responsibility if it dont work.

No expressed or implied responsibility meant.


Hell, its only 12 v, what could happen?



Nah, no worries. It was the brake light I was most concerned with.....this thing is totally cheesey.
It actually blinks when the headlight is turned on....switching between green and red.

My son (16) hasn't seen it yet......
Probably won't stay hooked up, anyway, if you know what I mean......

 

[Blaaster]

No expressed or implied responsibility meant.


Hell, its only 12 v, what could happen?



Nah, no worries. It was the brake light I was most concerned with.....this thing is totally cheesey.
It actually blinks when the headlight is turned on....switching between green and red.

My son (16) hasn't seen it yet......
Probably won't stay hooked up, anyway, if you know what I mean......

Sounds like you have a faulty unit.

 

[Blaner]

have you measures the output voltage? is it 12V? the rectifier modules are prone to blowing, but then again, if it was you would be popping headlight bulbs

 

[Coralkong]

Eh, I don't really care that much about it.

I just want to make sure he's safe.

 

[Blaner]

just plug in a multi meter into the wires and read it. at least then you will know if its actually pushing 12v or not.

 

[Coralkong]

No, I don't have a multi-meter.....I just moved up to NH and somehow it didn't make it in the move.......probably left it on the boat.

Along with my socket set, liquid electrical tape and a bunch of other stuff I am currently looking for.

Could also be buried in the bottom of a box.....unsure at this point.

 

[79xs]

I'm all for fixing electrical problems.. but in this case I would spend the 30 bucks for a used OEM one off ebay. You will be looking for the larger style light. Not the thin bar one.