Does using the headlight in full beam drains the battery

[dfgdfhbfgnf]

Hi

My bike is a 2015 ybr125. Does using the headlight in full beam drains the battery more than using the normal low beam?

[Pete.]

No, the charging system will keep the battery charged either way. Usually headlights are 55watt on dip and 60watt on main so there's less than half an amp difference in the current draw.
____________________
a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[pinkyfloyd]

The question is, are you using the full beam or dipped beam as your main light? If you are riding around with the dipped beam then you are a decent member of society if you are riding around with the full beam then you are a cnut.

But as said above, no battery drain will occur.
____________________
illuminateTHEmind wrote: I am just more evolved than most of you guys... this allows me to pick of things quickly which would have normally taken the common man years to master
Hockeystorm65:.well there are childish arguments...there are very childish arguments.....there are really stupid childish arguments and now there are......Pinkfloyd arguments!
Teflon-Mike:I think I agree with just about all Pinky has said.

[Teflon-Mike]

There will be about 10W difference between 'Main' and 'dipped'.

Neither should 'drain' the battery; that should be being charged by the generator on the engine.

Your battery, if new and in good condition, should have a charge capacity in the order of 9Ah or Amp-Hours... that means it has enough electric in it to provde one amp for 9 hours or 9 amps for one hour.

Watts is Amps times Volts, and its 'nominally' a 12v battery, so ought to be ale to delver around 120W and hour or 12W for 9 hours...

Headlamp ought to be about 35W or so, so IF you left the ignition and head-lamp on, without the engine charging the battery, it should stay lit for about two-three hours... give that the tail lamp and other lights will be taking watts too. 10W difference between Main and dipped, then would make a few minutes difference over them couple of hours.

Which is an over elaborate 'Yes and No' sort of on-answer that might help you.

IF you are asking because your battery is going flat.. and common this time of year.. well, in all likelihood, that will be because the battery isn't new and in good condition. An old 'tired' battery, will still work at 12v, but it wont hold the same amount of 'charge', and a 9Ah battery can easily loose 2/3 of its Amp-Hours and only hold perhaps 3Ah if that..

And its only a 'reservoir'. Engine should be making the electric all the other devices he bike has uses; all the battery does is store any 'excess' the engine makes and saves it up until the equipment on the bike wants more electric then the engine is making....

Like when the engine is not running at all, and you turn on a very hefty electric motor to turn the engine over and get t to start ruining on petrol.

That starter motor, will typically draw something in the order of 30A on a little bike like yours; its a lot more current than the electrical system generally carries, so they usually have their own circuit fed straight from the battery on really thick cable, and are turned on by a 'solenoid'.

But, 30A or around 300W, a starter should drain a fully charged 9Ah battery in about 6 minutes... except it probably wont... trying to deliver that much 'over' the 9A 'nominal rating, the battery will struggle to convert the chemicals inside it back into electric quicly enough, and the voltage will start to fall, and the starter will slow down and stop before the battery is fully discharged... maybe after a 30 seconds of 'cranking'. But, if you leave it a few moments, for the battery to catch back up, might deliver a few ore seconds of crankig after, then again, but after a few crankings the battery will be fully discharged. AND its that 'Deep-Discharge' stress put on batteries that is a main cause of them getting 'tired' breaking down and loosing their charge holding capacity.

And winter, when its cold; the acid inside the battery is less 'excitable' so the charge capacity is down a bit to start with, and oil i the engine is thicker, so cranking the engine harder, putting more 'load' o the starter, while petrol less eager to catch fire, and starting usually 'harder', and the sum result is that the cold weather sees a slightly tired battery 'killed' in double time as it all conspires against it.

Other issue is less hours of day-light; and returning to your head-lamp issue; you are more likely to use the lights in winter; and that is using electric that the generator would otherwise have to top up the battery, so likely the battery is not fully charged to start with.

Another issue, is that the generator makes more electricity the faster the engine spins; if you only ever use high gears and low revs, you might not get as much electric out of the generator to keep the battery charged, and in winter, you are less likely to thrash the engine so much; again, aggravating the problem.

Generators on little bikes are actually quite 'marginal', and it is possible, very easily, if the head-lamps are permanently 'on' with the ignition, or you habitually leave them constantly 'on' as day-time-running-lights, and then don't use higher revs very much, and do a lot of 'short-hop' rides, never really putting back as much electric into the battery when you ride, as you took out when you used the starter motor to get it running, to 'flatten' the battery ad think there is a major fault.. there might not be, it could just be this.

Which brings us back to the headlamp question; oughtn't make bugger all odds practically one way or the other; BUT, if you are 'in the margin' using lots of electric from frequent starting short hops; Day-Time-Runnng-Lights, and have a weak or tired old battery, and its winter... then yeah.. can be a contributory factor!

Personally, I don't advocate habitually using 'dipped beam' as a 'conspicuity aid' as often advised on CBT... there are reasons they tell you that....

One of them being an irony of law; it s not illegal to not use your headlamp; even after dark in some cases; specifically on a street lit 30mph road. Yet it was (and may still be, haven't checked lately) to use 'only' the 'Parking-Light', even in day-light.... which opens up a can of worms over what may or may not be deemed a 'parking-light', and discussion over 'accessory lights', like spot or fog-lamps or 'marker' lamps....

And CBT advice to use Dipped in the Day, avoids the whole matter... and leaves newbs to go get flat-batteries!

That debate mentioned; then; I leave it to you whether to use side or 'parking' lamp as a Day-Time-Ruining-Light or conspicuty aid, is a good idea. Saves around 30W or electric to keep your battery topped up, AND, in my opinion, at least, does a good, or better job as a conspicuity aid, lighting up the head-lamp bowl, ad showing you are there, but without creatig such a 'bright spot' ad glare aroud your profile so that inside the light they can see what is actually making it.. but that remains just my opinion.

Remains that it saves some electric from the genny to keep your battery topped up, which was I think the point of the question.... perhaps!
____________________
My Webby'Tef's-tQ, loads of stuff about my bikes, my Land-Rovers, and the stuff I do with them!
Current Bikes:'Honda VF1000F' ;'CB750F2N' ;'CB125TD ( 6 3 of em!)'; 'Montesa Cota 248'. Learner FAQ's:= 'U want to Ride a Motorbike! Where Do U start?'

[grr666]

^^^
So no then?
____________________
Currently enjoying products from Ford, Mazda and Yamaha
Ste wrote: Avatars are fine, it's signatures that need turning off.

[arry]

[Fisty]

[Going]

Yes, because hight beam requires more power than low beam.
Will it affect you, No, unless you charging system is broken then lights will be the least of you're worries

[Copycat73]

[Kickstart]

Hi

Another vote for it not making a relevant difference.

However it might make a difference if you are riding around using the headlight flash button for full beam. On many bikes this illuminates both the dip and main filaments of the bulb and does provide a bit more light, but is also using ~ twice the power.

All the best

Katy
____________________
Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[Andy_Pagin]

[MCN]

[talkToTheHat]

Is is actually possible to thrn the dip beam off on a modern ybr? I thought most european and japanese bikes sold after about 2004ish hace dip beam permanently on. I recall it being the difference between my 02 (had off/side/main switch on rhs) and 06 (blanking plate on rhs switches, main/dip as always on lhs, pathetic side light bulb came on if i put ignition into 'park') GZ125s. I dont recall how the lights worked on either of the YBRs i rode. I do recall trainer suggesting turning headlight off if sun behind you if the bike would allow you to do so bedore launching into an mini anti europe rant.

Use dip beam most of the time. Use main beam only when there is no oncoming traffic and you need to illuminate more of the road ahead.

Do not confuse pathetic side/parking light that barely glows with dip beam.

If you can turn lights off, do so when you start bike and whilst it sits idling/warming up as you faff about with last bits of gear. Lights on and away. Diesigned to be run all the time with a 55/60w bulb on. The difference between 55w and 60w is somewhere between fuck and all.

You battery may struggle if you do runs of less than a few miles whilst it is very cold, or only use bike occaisonally in winter. This is normal. Consider a maintanance charger and/or bring battery inside when not using bike for a long time over winter.
____________________
Bandit. does. everything.

[kovy]

you can drain your battery only if your alternator is not working...

[orac]

I didn't read all of teffs essay. But I am gonna throw this out there, it will if the engine isn't kept above charging rpm. Otherwise no, it well not.

At this time of year I spend the better part of 70% of my ride on main beam and no adverse affects
____________________
Current rides - 2016 Triumph Street Triple Rx, 1994 Suzuki Bandit 400 VM, TGB 204 Classic 125cc
"with nothing left to lose, there is everything to gain. It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog"

[bigdom86]

maybe bollocks but i was told that if not above 6000rpm then it would not keep charging, ie if you were tiddling around at 3-4k all day then eventually the light would flicker off

[mentalboy]

[bigdom86]

sorry this was in relation to a 125, again probably a load of bollocks

[Rogerborg]

Can't speak to 125s, but my Enfield produces sufficient power for the side, head and tail lights and the heated grips from about 2,000 rpm upwards according to the ammeter. In the future I reckon all bikes will have these.
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[MCN]

[arry]

[Rogerborg]

Well, I don't have a rev counter, so it balances out. 2,000 rpm is an estimate of "more than idle but not yet uncouth".
____________________
Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[mentalboy]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]