View Full Version : Higher wattage bulbs and standard wiring?
Fraser1200
19-12-12, 09:05 PM
Evening people
so i found this HID style bulb kicking about the garage and altho the wattage is a fair bit higher than stock im wanting to put it in.
11911
will i need to re-wire the headlights and if so whats the best course of action?
im chucking on led indicators all round and they come with resistors but ive got a relay so is there point wiring in the ones had came with the indicators?
11912 11910
im pretty sure the relay will do its job just wanting 100% clarity
ta
if the relay is one that is designed for LED indicators then yes just use that.
i would not trust the suzuki wiring to run those bulbs.
For the bulbs, you don't need to rewire them, just a straight forward remove current H4 bulbs and plug in "HID style" bulbs.
Also, no need to worry about the higher wattage. I know it's not recommended you go over the stock wattage, but when I replaced my stock with 100w H4 bulbs they were fine and worked without any problems.
i would not trust the suzuki wiring to run those bulbs.
Why not? :eek:
It's not an actual HID bulb, but rather a HID "style" standard H4 Bulb. It should work just fine.
Fraser1200
20-12-12, 11:16 AM
ok thanks guys, will get it all hooked up in the next few weeks. oh and musne if my headlight cover and bits start melting ill be coming for u...beijing o damn! lol
ok thanks guys, will get it all hooked up in the next few weeks. oh and musne if my headlight cover and bits start melting ill be coming for u...beijing o damn! lol
Hahaha! Trust me dude, nothing will start melting.
I fitted proper HID bulbs to my (ex) SV and nothing melted, a small H4 bulb will do no damage. Like I said, I had the 100w H4 before customising the bike, it was a standard plug and play job.
Fraser1200
20-12-12, 11:55 AM
My go to guy for sparky/wiring stuff is away chasing tail in Oz so i appreciate the help. some people are so selfish!
No problem, PM me if you need any help :)
Fraser where in scotland are you?
Fraser1200
20-12-12, 03:23 PM
Fraser where in scotland are you?
im in aberdeen bibio. if the bulbs arent suitable will they just not work from the off or will they destroy their surroundings over time?
they will work but you run the risk of possibly burning wires. the extra heat generated by the lamps can cause crazing on the glass (plastic). it's a risk and not one i would take if i were going to keep the bike for a good while.
it might be fine it might not and it's up to you whether you want to take the risk. i have run 100/80's in the past in cars and everything has been fine.
i think the standard wiring on the SV is 1mm thin wall which is rated to about 16amp continuous so 100w at 12v is about 9amp for each lamp which would be 18amp on high beam and 80w at 12v is about 7amp so 14amp on low beam for both lamps. if you have a naked with just 1 lamp then bash on :-)
Sid Squid
20-12-12, 06:26 PM
Why not? :eek:
It's not an actual HID bulb, but rather a HID "style" standard H4 Bulb. It should work just fine.
Other way round - an actual HID should draw less current than a incandescent bulb, (note should, depends on design and quality of make), the incandescent bulb in question is of a higher wattage, which equals less resistance and therefore higher current draw.
If it were my bike I would run a suitable cable to the bulb via a relay, (and I'd consider a larger CSA than than typically rated so as to avoid volt drop), and use the original headlight supply to fire the relay. This is the best of both worlds - a lesser load on the bike's wiring and a direct supply with the least amount of resistance prone connections along its length, giving the best possible performance from whatever the lamp is. Which is of course the reason for wanting better bulbs in the first place.
Other way round - an actual HID should draw less current than a incandescent bulb, (note should, depends on design and quality of make), the incandescent bulb in question is of a higher wattage, which equals less resistance and therefore higher current draw.
If it were my bike I would run a suitable cable to the bulb via a relay, (and I'd consider a larger CSA than than typically rated so as to avoid volt drop), and use the original headlight supply to fire the relay. This is the best of both worlds - a lesser load on the bike's wiring and a direct supply with the least amount of resistance prone connections along its length, giving the best possible performance from whatever the lamp is. Which is of course the reason for wanting better bulbs in the first place.
I was actually just talking about the shape of the 'H4' plug :)
But thanks for the info, I didn't know that :p
I guess I'm lucky that my bulbs worked well for so long before I replaced them with the projectors.
Fraser1200
21-12-12, 09:32 PM
this is a couple pics i took earlier:
11928 top being the side light, middle is indicators and bottom headlight.
11929 im dont sure what this capped is?
wat would the wiring for dummies book tell me to do? (get someone who knows what their doing!)
yup.. pointy twin lamp loom. biggest problem i have seen with suzuki wiring is the return paths. it's ok feeding something with nice big thick wires but if the neutral is still weedy then something is going to burn. that connector with all the white/black wires going into it is the return path (neutral) so everything shares the same path, stupid dumb idea if you ask me. as Sid says better and safer fitting a relay with decent gauge wire. the gizmo i done is an advanced form of what your looking at doing but you use a changover relay and the original lamp holders as the trigger for the coil or tap into the fuse box.
Fraser1200
21-12-12, 11:28 PM
so what your recommending is instead of having that thick loom taking the power from lights and indys as one i should seperate them all or put in relays for each?
so with ur gizmo would i feed my lights and indys into it? and id have it in the nose cone somehwere?
no my gizmo will not work as its not a changeover relay.
how i wired my hids (same principle) was to strip the lighting wires from the noes-cone loom and replace with 2mm thinwall and using originals as the trigger wires to the relay coil. i then run a +/- feed of 2mm thinwall from my battery up to the nose-cone and connected it to a relay which then fed the lighting wires on the loom. i also went one stage further and replaced the OEM connector for the front loom with one that had 2 more terminals which if i remember is 8. this was for ease of taking the nose-cone on/off as it was only one connector to deal with. the problem with replacing the connector is you have to pick out and replace the terminals to the new connectors.
the other way and easiest is just to add a second connector but this can be a PITA when taking the nose-cone on and off.
side lights and indicator wiring remains the same.
TBH your wiring is on the borderline for the wattage of lamps you want to use so will work but as said you do run a risk.
If you want more light, stick with standard high brightness 55W lamps and add the relay wiring harness made by Eastern Beaver. The voltage drop in the wiring is quite high even running standard bulbs, and fixing this will give a surprising increase in light output.
The voltage drop in the wiring will be even worse with 100W lamps, and you are putting a LOT of extra load on the battery (100W*2 @ 12v is nearly 17 Amps). It's certainly not a solution I would ever consider.
If you want more light, stick with standard high brightness 55W lamps and add the relay wiring harness made by Eastern Beaver. The voltage drop in the wiring is quite high even running standard bulbs, and fixing this will give a surprising increase in light output.
The voltage drop in the wiring will be even worse with 100W lamps, and you are putting a LOT of extra load on the battery (100W*2 @ 12v is nearly 17 Amps). It's certainly not a solution I would ever consider.
no need to go to eastern beaver :rolleyes:
yorkie_chris
23-12-12, 11:54 AM
Hahaha! Trust me dude, nothing will start melting.
I fitted proper HID bulbs to my (ex) SV and nothing melted, a small H4 bulb will do no damage. Like I said, I had the 100w H4 before customising the bike, it was a standard plug and play job.
Did you actually look at the picture?
It's a 100/80W bulb. Considerably higher constant current than stock.
HIDs draw a bit more on startup then settle down to a reasonably lower constant current. This is opposite.
no need to go to eastern beaver :rolleyes:
No need for rolleyes
yorkie_chris
23-12-12, 01:18 PM
Just make a relay harness it's no harder than plugging in an off the shelf one. They do have some dead shiny mini relays though.
Ideal would be some little solid state relays, just a case of getting them in robust packaging.
Did you actually look at the picture?
It's a 100/80W bulb. Considerably higher constant current than stock.
HIDs draw a bit more on startup then settle down to a reasonably lower constant current. This is opposite.
Yea I looked at the picture.
I apologise if I was giving misleading/wrong information, but I was only saying it because I fitted the same bulb to my bike and it worked perfectly.
I guess I was lucky nothing melted then? :O
Here is a picture of what it looked like (pre-customisation). Stock vs 100watt bulb, no extra wiring.
http://s7.postimage.org/5mkgxqcxl/Standard_v_Xenon.jpg
Fraser1200
26-12-12, 10:06 PM
right guys thanks for all the advice thus far, but i was speaking to a mate on xmas eve and he recommended osram nightbreakers (id never heard of them) and he said these would improve what i have heaps for 10 quid. ordered a pair, really surprised as i normally buy halfords at lyk £20 a bulb - wat a tool.
so will see how they go and if im not happy i can upgrade the wiring and bulbs early next year
yorkie_chris
26-12-12, 11:07 PM
Halfords take the complete p*ss with bulbs.
Stuff like tail light bulbs that actually cost like 19p they'll sell for a fiver.
richwill68
28-12-12, 07:35 PM
Just my tuppence worth...
I've run 100/80 bulbs for the last 6 years. No hot wiring, no fried connectors and no damaged lamp lenses. You pays your money...
Regards
Rich
BoltonSte
29-12-12, 10:59 PM
Halfords take the complete p*ss with bulbs.
Stuff like tail light bulbs that actually cost like 19p they'll sell for a fiver.
Now I normally wouldn't correct you Chris, but, you're bang out of order with that statement ...I know someone who suplies some of their bulbs and wiper blades ('else did not checked for a while) and that mark up is way too conservative.:)
Fraser1200
20-02-13, 09:05 PM
*new problem*
all the indicators are now leds and instead of the lights on the dash going on off on off its stuttering. the light never goes out just fades. the indicators themselves are fine as i have a relay so thats not a problem.
Any ideas?
vBulletin® , Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.