H4 LED + other LED lighting

[docc]

Shoooot! That ain't good . . .

[swooshdave]

I can't believe that will fit.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[swooshdave]

You can get those from most auto parts stores.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[docc]

I can't believe that will fit.

 

Yeah, I'm jazzed about the fit and that there will be no special wiring.

 

You can get those from most auto parts stores.

Well, outside of wiring in a new headlight connector . . .

 

I suppose I should be happy I found it before it made itself otherwise known.

[swooshdave]

And what caused it?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[docc]

That is not the factory connector, but I added it with the hi/lo relays in 2004. I ran hi-watt bulbs for a few years, but they weren't reliable. This normal H4 has been in there 8 1/2 years, untouched.

 

So . . . I suppose the connections simply degraded over time and the heat is the result? Maybe it would have been better to have burned out a few more bulbs so the connector got reseated more?

[Chuck]

I fully realize I'm anal about this, but every year I give a bike an "annual inspection" just like an airplane. Every 2 or 3 years, I take *every* electrical connection apart, spray it with Caig DeOxit, put it back together and wiggle it around. Guzzis almost never fail mechanically, but the electrical systems need some help.

When I was going through the Monza's electrical system last Winter, I found 3 connectors that were ready to fail from corrosion. Back in another lifetime when I was an engineering modelmaker, I worked with the reliability lab making test fixtures for the salt spray booth occasionally. That's 40 hours of salty water sprayed at a harness. I've never seen a Guzzi harness that would pass that one.

[docc]

I totally neglected this connector for 8 1/2 years. Plus, it looks to be a cheap aftermarket connector, and I didn't know about DeOxit back then. Be it known I run the hi-beam 99% of the time.

 

There is no sign of overt corrosion. I'll service all those (relay) connections that I put in the bucket and solder in a good connector today. Hoping to have H4 vs LED comparison pictures up tonight.

[docc]

Fit looks decent with my relays and extra wiring with the driver :

[swooshdave]

60w or so of high beam all the time generates a lot of heat.

[Chuck]

[swooshdave]

Fit looks decent with my relays and extra wiring with the driver :

After seeing so many headlights stuffed with stuff it's amazing how empty the V11 ones are. I'd be tempted to put two sided tape or Velcro on the relays to keep them from bounding around.

[docc]

I think it's hard to take photos and represent the changes to the light, but here we have the incandescent H4 followed by the 4000 lumen LED unit, both on hi-beam:

[docc]

 

I'm thinking this is not the 4300 Kelvin I was expecting. Looks "hotter" to me . . .

[docc]

I'd be tempted to put two sided tape or Velcro on the relays to keep them from bounding around.

I like that idea. 

 

It occurred to me that the main connector is now off to the side and not attached directly to the heat source.