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Headlight Bulb keeps blowing out

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claynz
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Joined: 26 May 2022
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PostPosted: 00:34 - 26 May 2022    Post subject: Headlight Bulb keeps blowing out Reply with quote
I have a 2006 Suzuki GN250E and had to replace the RH Switch Block becuase of a broken starter switch.
I ordered a new one from IMPEX JAPAN and had it installed by a qualified mechanic and it keeps blowing out the headlight bulb, for memory I think he said when you rev the engine.
the part number I order was a Suzuki Genuine Part 37200-41E00-000
But searching this part refers to GN125 and GN250
The only difference between the old one and new one is that the new one has a extra light icon so it can be switched to main or park, the old one was just switch from off to main.
In my Owners Manual it does show reference to the new RH switch block.
The mechanic also mentioned the the new one had some sort of relay in it
Can anyone help me out here?
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stinkwheel
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Joined: 12 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: 02:12 - 26 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's probably not the switch, that can't be supplying more power than the charging system can provide and the bulb wouldn't blow even if you connected it directly to the battery if it's all working normally.

Couple of possabilities that spring to mind.

1) Charging system fault leading to excessive voltage supply, usually a regulator rectifier failure. So one of the first things I'd do is check the voltage across the battery as the engine revs up. If it's going over 15V, this is the problem.

2) Intertmittant contact making the bulb flicker on and off, potentially in the switch or more likely the bulb holder.

3) Vibration from a loose bulb fitting, headlamp or just bad luck breaking the filament.

4) Wrong bulb. Like if you had a 6v bulb instead of a 12v.

I'd go with a charging system fault as the number 1 suspect.
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I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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claynz
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PostPosted: 02:38 - 26 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks so much for the advice, I will report back soon.
Apparently the regulator rectifier was replaced a few months ago due to battery charging problems.
He had to cut the old plug off and join up the wires, maybe wrong rectifier or cable termination?
Correct Part number for rectifier Suzuki is 32800-29B00-000, not sure what was installed!!
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Nobby the Bastard
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Joined: 16 Aug 2013
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PostPosted: 07:27 - 26 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
Repeatedly blowing bulbs are usually caused by a bad earth.
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stinkwheel
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Joined: 12 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: 12:11 - 26 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
claynz wrote:
Thanks so much for the advice, I will report back soon.
Apparently the regulator rectifier was replaced a few months ago due to battery charging problems.
He had to cut the old plug off and join up the wires, maybe wrong rectifier or cable termination?
Correct Part number for rectifier Suzuki is 32800-29B00-000, not sure what was installed!!


Within a fairly broad definition, one 3-phase 12V reg/rec is much the same as another, they all do the same thing, some are more prone to failure than others but the only really model specific features are the position of the mounting holes and the connectors on the end. Some have 5 wires, some have 6 and you can fit either to most bikes if you know what you're doing. For example, I have a ZX6R rec/rec on my enfield bullet.

If it popped a reg/rec, you have to wonder if there is another fault in the charging system too, either one that cause the reg/rec to fail or that was caused by the failure. There are some fairly simple testing procedures to check this if you have access to a multimeter. As Nobby correctly says, poor earth connections can be a factor in this.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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MCN
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PostPosted: 19:09 - 26 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
The brightness of the lamp should remain steady as you rev the engine.
If it gets brighter as you increase the engine rpm then the voltage regulator is not regulating. The alternator will pump out 100s of volts unless regulated. (Could be ecplained in another lesson.)
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 19:16 - 26 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
MCN wrote:
The brightness of the lamp should remain steady as you rev the engine.
If it gets brighter as you increase the engine rpm then the voltage regulator is not regulating. The alternator will pump out 100s of volts unless regulated. (Could be ecplained in another lesson.)


On a bike that age with a small battery I'm not sure thats strictly true. If you are talking reving from idle I'm pretty sure you will see an increase in brightness. Of course if it keeps increasing across the rev range then there is an issue but I wouldn't use that as a diagnostic tool unless I was sure of what I was doing/seeing.

Put a multi meter across the battery and rev the bike. As log as it tops out 14.5ish volts you should be OK.
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claynz
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Joined: 26 May 2022
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PostPosted: 22:58 - 26 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
This is what was replaced 6 months ago (attached)
Could this be faulty or incorrect part supplied?
The original RH block switch is working fine other than a broken switch
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stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



Joined: 12 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: 23:45 - 26 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
claynz wrote:
This is what was replaced 6 months ago (attached)
Could this be faulty or incorrect part supplied?


No, that'll work on pretty much any Japanese bike (with a few exceptions). The alternator or the wiring could be faulty. A charging fault could even have killed that new one (or the old one failing could have caused a charging fault).

Worth noting it's actually quite old-tech now, the SH prefix on the part number denotes it's based on something called a zennor diode. More modern ones are prefixed FH and use something called a MOSFET to regulate the voltage. Either should work perfectly well on most bikes though. If it was me I'd be fitting a MOSFET unit off a more modern bike rather than using the one it was designed for. However, even if it has gone, don't go replacing it unltil you've found what the issue is and ifg it hasn't failed, just keep using it, could well last another 20 years.

Looking at a wiring diagram (not sure if it's the exact right one), it's got that odd thing suzuki used to do of charging on two phases and adding in the third when the headlamp is on. It's possible if someone didn't know what they were doing, they might have wired up your switch incorrectly.

What colour wires attach to the reg/rec wires?
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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MCN
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Joined: 22 Jul 2015
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PostPosted: 18:12 - 27 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
Polarbear wrote:
MCN wrote:
The brightness of the lamp should remain steady as you rev the engine.
If it gets brighter as you increase the engine rpm then the voltage regulator is not regulating. The alternator will pump out 100s of volts unless regulated. (Could be ecplained in another lesson.)


On a bike that age with a small battery I'm not sure thats strictly true. If you are talking reving from idle I'm pretty sure you will see an increase in brightness. Of course if it keeps increasing across the rev range then there is an issue but I wouldn't use that as a diagnostic tool unless I was sure of what I was doing/seeing.

Put a multi meter across the battery and rev the bike. As log as it tops out 14.5ish volts you should be OK.


That was only a rough drafted engineering flowchart on the back-side of a Woodbine packet.
Of course its more complex and obviously a multimeter is vital. (Who the fuk bothers to own a motor cycle and not own a multimeter? Do they even bike on rainy days?)

But how many fag packets do we need?

My auld 2002 Thundercat never had a chamge in light output when reved. The reg keeps the volts to not much more than 15.

Something blowing bulbs means too much juice is going to it.

Regulation would be a good place to start.

Other point that I read about, donkey's years ago, is engine starting voltage. Auld bikes could blow lamps when being started if the headlamp switch was on.
I had switched lamps on bikes and that was never an issue. Im sure i started many times with the lamp switch on.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.
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MCN
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Joined: 22 Jul 2015
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PostPosted: 18:19 - 27 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
stinkwheel wrote:
claynz wrote:
This is what was replaced 6 months ago (attached)
Could this be faulty or incorrect part supplied?


No, that'll work on pretty much any Japanese bike (with a few exceptions). The alternator or the wiring could be faulty. A charging fault could even have killed that new one (or the old one failing could have caused a charging fault).

Worth noting it's actually quite old-tech now, the SH prefix on the part number denotes it's based on something called a zennor diode. More modern ones are prefixed FH and use something called a MOSFET to regulate the voltage. Either should work perfectly well on most bikes though. If it was me I'd be fitting a MOSFET unit off a more modern bike rather than using the one it was designed for. However, even if it has gone, don't go replacing it unltil you've found what the issue is and ifg it hasn't failed, just keep using it, could well last another 20 years.

Looking at a wiring diagram (not sure if it's the exact right one), it's got that odd thing suzuki used to do of charging on two phases and adding in the third when the headlamp is on. It's possible if someone didn't know what they were doing, they might have wired up your switch incorrectly.

What colour wires attach to the reg/rec wires?


Either Dr. Who or Scotty (out of Startrek) saved the day once when the MOFSET chucked-it and they had fit the spare they had in a drawer of the toolbox.
Got things going again in no time (Well at least for Dr. Who it was no time.)
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.
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stinkwheel
Bovine Proctologist



Joined: 12 Jul 2004
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PostPosted: 19:23 - 27 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
stinkwheel wrote:



Looking at a wiring diagram (not sure if it's the exact right one), it's got that odd thing suzuki used to do of charging on two phases and adding in the third when the headlamp is on. It's possible if someone didn't know what they were doing, they might have wired up your switch incorrectly.

What colour wires attach to the reg/rec wires?


To elaborate further, some older Suzukis (and from googling wiring diagrams, certainly some of the GN models) have one of the charging phases wired through the headlamp switch. So when it's turned on, as well as feeding power to the lights, it also connects the third phase from the alternator to the reg/rec (the other two phases being hard-wired).

If the headlamp switch was mis-wired, it would be possible to be feeding unrectified, unregulated AC to the headlamp and 12V DC to one of the phases of the reg/rec when in the on position. This would stand a good chance of popping the bulb as revs increase.

If this had been done, it would not be possible to turn the headlamp on with the engine off.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.
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claynz
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Joined: 26 May 2022
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PostPosted: 00:07 - 29 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
I did get a replacment RH Switch Block off AliExpress and it connects fine without blowing bulbs, but the headlight switch on it was touch and go and kind of loose (poor quality) so ordered another one from IMPEX in Japan and was very good quality and the headlight switch was stable, the only difference it had an extra blubl to switch too but once connected it started blowing the blub, I have taken the bike back with all this imormation printed off so he can look into it for me.
Other wise I am back to the one out of China, I guess if the light switch stays on all the time, I don't need to use the switch that much, since we have to ride with the lights on at all times in New Zealand
No sure if this would help but awhile ago I tried replacing the headlight bulb with a LED but it was flickering and replace the bulb back and i notice the wiring harness had a black or white wire going nowhere!!
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bikenut
World Chat Champion



Joined: 21 Nov 2011
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PostPosted: 09:37 - 29 May 2022    Post subject: T Reply with quote
Get the correct wiring diagram for your bike, it may show you something...
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claynz
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Joined: 26 May 2022
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PostPosted: 21:42 - 29 May 2022    Post subject: Reply with quote
Good news, phone call this morning to stay everything working ok now, he said he had to rewire the RH switch block.
Thanks guys for your input
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