New Headlight Blew

[EsrTek]

So after spending $50 on new Sylvannia Sliverstar Ultra's today for my bike, they both (low/high) worked for a quick test.
Went to go for a ride a few hours ago to meet a buddy, and while the bike was warming up, about 2-3 mins. I heard a pop, took me a sec to realize it was the low beam headlight.
It literally exploded and there's tiny bits of glass inside my housing now, and it looks to have damaged the reflector in very small sections (nothing major I would think).

I'm pretty sure that at no point my skin touched the light so I am wondering if I got the wiring backwards or something, cause like a genius I didn't make note of which color wire went where. Figured it would only fit 1 way

Hooking it back up...I' finally found the diagram I needed, but I'm not versed in these, but to me it looks like the black/yellow is supposed to be the bottom wire.
Headlight wiring diagram: http://www.mickeywebpages.com/users/...e_Dia_v1.1.gif

I took a pic of the way the are right now, blown light still in haven't touched anything yet.
In the pic it's kinda hard to tell which wire goes where, because I am laying on my back and at an angle to get both in 1 pic.
So I will explain it also:

Low beam:
Blue/Yellow is on top post (nearest windscreen)
Black/Yellow is on bottom post

High beam:
Red/Black is on top post
black/yellow is on bottom post
PIC: (thumbnail, click to get full 720p size)



So I hate to ask anyone, but I was wondering if someone can tell me how their working lights are connected? Both Black/Yellow wires on bottom??

If so, any ideas other then just a bad light it could be.
I am wanting to replace the new low beam w the high beam light, but I don't want this other new light to blow in >3mins too.

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

[A7xschecter6661]

You pull the whole plug out, pull the boot off, unspring the clip that holds the bulb in, put a new one in, reclip the bulb, boot it and plug the pigtail in.

Did you disconnect the wires out of the pigtail?

Check your fuses, does your headlight for example call for a 10a fuse and there's a 15 or 20 in there?

It wouldn't be touching the bulb, finger oil would make a hot spot on the bulb which would make the bulb fail sooner, not within a few hours.

Good luck!

[Skippii]

Originally Posted by EsrTek

I'm pretty sure that at no point my skin touched the light so I am wondering if I got the wiring backwards or something, cause like a genius I didn't make note of which color wire went where.

It literally exploded and there's tiny bits of glass inside my housing now

Nah, they all do that.
Slyvannia makes good vacuum tubes, but their lightbulbs are very overpriced.

I was going to point you towards a good thread discussing the merits of halogen bulbs vs HID on another forum, but then I just looked at your username and noticed you're the guy from that forum advocating the reliability of the Halogens....



On a serious note, I've had reliability issues with both HID and Halogens. Paying more for HID seems to improve reliability. Paying more for Halogens doesn't always seem improve reliability.

[noche_caliente]

if you check out the HID DIY thread you can see great pictures of what the wiring looks like

[EsrTek]

Thanks Kim.. I looked in there originally, but only the OP's pics.
I found this on page 5 http://www.ninjette.org/forums/attac...0&d=1240260459
Which looks like I have them backwards, the black/yellow in that pic is on top post.

[greatwhiteninja]

i would think if there wired wrong they wouldnt of worked at all??

[EsrTek]

That's what I would've thought too Ed, but you can try yours if you like, just very short burst. It apparently does work either way.

I changed them to black/yellow on top post on both and had bike running about 10mins both beams w/o any lights blowing.

Side note, from looking at the front I don't see the difference in light colors at all. Between the new ultra bright (low beam) and stock (high beam). Waiting for a bit to darken up outside to test em at night and make adjustments before buttoning her backup.

Second side note, I am now going to have to take the entire front/side fairings back off to get headlight out completely to clean the inside of the glass. The explosion created a film all over the inside
Yes, I stupidly took them off and nose off to change the lights in first place. When putting it back together I realized all I had to remove was the black plastic under the light, which is how I got it apart now :O

[greatwhiteninja]

$50 you could of bought HID's!! im thinking you either got a bad bulb or what is the wattage on those bulbs?

[greatwhiteninja]

Originally Posted by EsrTek

That's what I would've thought too Ed, but you can try yours if you like, just very short burst. It apparently does work either way.

no thank you plus i have HID's and they been going strong since i installed them, my luck ill reverse them and blow something..haha!

[EsrTek]

Wattage is same as stock 55W
HID's I'm not doing.. I may next season, if I don't get a bigger engine bike...really thinking 650R (but whatever bike I may get, it will have to be white or blue).

[greatwhiteninja]

yeah.. i bought the 250 to see if i wanna jump back into bikes again and im already thinking there will be something new next to the 250 come next spring but ill keep modding the 250 until then.. whatever is left to mod anyway..lol!

[greatwhiteninja]

but back on topic my only guess is its just a bad bulb..?? i know guys that had bad experiences with those silverstars in cars burning out prematurely. you still have the stock bulbs?

[EsrTek]

Yeah, 1 stock in in High beam and the other is in tail as a spare.

[Skippii]

Filament light bulbs don't have a + or a -. They work equally well the the current going in either direction, or both as in AC. Otherwise, household lights wouldn't work.

HID *BULBS* also work in any direction, but the ballast contains an oscillator which needs the correct polarity.

[Skippii]

Oh, I should mention that there isn't an even distribution of heat dissipation on the electrodes of arc discharges on direct current (it's about 67/33, not 50/50 as it is for alternating current), so some bulbs might be optimized to run one polarity better than another to avoild overheating. This is completely irrelevant unless you are designing your own ballast--since those often use voltage multiplying rectifiers after the transformer, you'll be using DC rather than AC and it might be better hooking it up one way