Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

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ucandoit
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Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

Post by ucandoit »

Headlight bulb on my 125 Buddy burned out after 8 yrs and 10,000 miles. I replaced it with an original type bulb I got on Ebay: A Phillips HS1 12V 35/35 W Px43t-38. It lasted less than 500 miles. Am disappointed it failed so soon. I was careful to not touch the bulb glass. Mitch's scooter, on YouTube, recommended the Hella H4 12V 60W/55W halogen on Amazon. But that wattage is higher than the suggested bulb in my Buddy manual. Would someone recommend a bulb they like which isn't complicated to install, regarding heatsinks, etc. Just looking for a long lasting simple bulb. Thank you for any help.
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eggsalad
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Re: Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

Post by eggsalad »

Your first HS1 lasted 8 years. Then within the span of 500 miles you blew out that bulb, replaced it, and blew another. You say you're disappointed that it failed so soon, but have you stopped to consider why you had 2 bulbs fail within 500 miles?

Headlight bulbs fail for one of three reasons:

1) excessive vibration. I doubt anything changed in 500 miles to increase the vibration, so let's rule that out.

b) Contamination of the glass. You say you were careful, but next time, wear latex/vinyl gloves for the job. But that wouldn't explain why your original bulb blew, so let's rule that out, too.

III) excessive voltage, continuous or spikes. Too many volts are the best way to blow a bulb. What is your measured voltage at the headlight when the scoot is running? I'm guessing that's the culprit.

I guess there's a 4th possibility, that your original bulb died of old age, and the replacement was just bum out of the box. It happens.
ucandoit
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Re: Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

Post by ucandoit »

Eggsalad--you must be psychic. I stated I had only one bulb burn out. I assumed the short lived bulb was defective. But today, I bought and installed a new Genuine Scooter bulb replacement and it promptly burned out too, on a fairly short ride to the grocery store. It's kind of concerning to be riding along in the evening thinking things are fine and then getting home and realizing the headlight was probably out most of the ride.
So, I feel some guilt for blaming the first bulb.
I absolutely did not touch the glass part of the bulb I installed today. Honestly, I dread electrical issues because I'm so ignorant about them, but I won't whine and will get down to work.

I can't totally rule out excessive vibration, for reasons I'll explain later, but I, too, am wondering about excessive voltage and feel that is the best place to start. Can you tell me how I can test the voltage of the headlight while the scooter is running? I do have a simple Harbor Freight multimeter. Thank you for any help.
Therealslimshaggy
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Re: Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

Post by Therealslimshaggy »

This works and quite well. I have been installing it on all my rides from roughhouse to motorcycles
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eggsalad
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Re: Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

Post by eggsalad »

Well you have to meter the voltage while the bike is running, obviously. And also while a good bulb is connected. Take the head cover off and slide the bulb connector back just far enough that you can get your meter contacts in there while the bulb is still connected.
ucandoit
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Re: Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

Post by ucandoit »

Am trying to learn how the scooter electrical system works. I read that the headlights are run by AC and not DC. Does that mean the headlight receives AC directly from the stator and that it doesn't pass through the CDI or the voltage regulator? I thought the current directly from the stator would be too powerful for the lights to handle. Where is the current from the stator converted into DC and then regulated to charge the battery?
Does the voltage regulator no longer also rectify the current, changing it into DC? I don't know where to find out all this info. Am watching a lot of videos, but it's pretty piecemeal so far.

If I measure the voltage going to the headlight, I would measure AC voltage, right? Instead of needing to use the bulb, couldn't I just measure the voltage at the 3 port clip that connects to the headlight? I have no idea how much AC voltage the lights should be getting, and how much would be too much. Haven't yet found a source where I can learn this information.
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tenders
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Re: Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

Post by tenders »

The bulb on the 50 is connected to AC from the stator - I’m not sure that the bulb in the 125 is.

You do not need to measure voltage to the headlight harness with a good bulb installed. You can measure it with NO bulb installed. See what you get with the AC setting on the meter, if it’s very low or zero then try the DC setting.
ucandoit
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Re: Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

Post by ucandoit »

Thank you, tenders. I had assumed the headlight received DC power but read somewhere on this forum that it was AC, but it could have been the 50 cc they were talking about.
I started the scooter and on AC volts I got a reading of 12.4 for both the hi and low beams when I rev'd the engine. I was afraid to rev the scooter up too high. On DC I got a reading of like 1.5, so I'm assuming it runs on AC.
I checked the battery while running and it read 14.5 with engine running and some reving. Again, am a little nervous about really reving up the engine.
Since the headlight runs on AC, is that coming directly from the stator and if that is the case is the voltage regulator even involved in how much voltage the headlights get? Is there any point in testing the voltage regulator? I get the impression many folks think that the bulb is burning out because of a faulty regulator. The bulb actually does not looked burned. Just the filament is broken. I feel pretty sure the scooter is not vibrating too much. I'll look into testing the regulator. Is it safe to rev the engine way up while it's on the center stand?
scootERIK
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Re: Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

Post by scootERIK »

I believe I have run the same bulb as you and one or two of them lasted a long time but I also have two of them that failed fairly quickly. I can't remember exactly how many miles but the high beam stopped working within 3-7k, but the low beam has been working for well over 10k. I was starting to think it might be my voltage regulator. But maybe there is a chance Philips made some crappy bulbs or we got some fake Philips bulbs that are junk.
ucandoit
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Re: Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

Post by ucandoit »

Well, the latest bulb lasted less than 4 miles and perhaps died even sooner. I'm guessing they are okay at idle, but as soon as the rpms get higher, they burn out. If the rectifier/regulator is not the problem, I don't know what else it could be. I don't see any obvious wiring problems.
Am thinking of buying a new R/R and seeing if that clears up the problem. Could I just order a 4 pin one on ebay that supposedly fits a 125 GY6 engine or do I need to go through Genuine? I'd hate to make things worse by putting in the "wrong" R/R. thanks for any help.
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tenders
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Re: Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

Post by tenders »

When my friend’s Buddy 50 was blowing bulbs like this, I replaced the regulator and then the stator to no effect. The problem was a disconnected ground wire, so very high voltage was coursing through the DC wiring. The disconnected wire was behind a bunch of stuff so took a very long time to see. The regulator is pretty inexpensive so not a crazy thing to replace, but be alert for other disconnected wires.
ucandoit
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Re: Short life of Buddy 125 headlight bulb

Post by ucandoit »

To hopefully wrap this thread up, I replaced the rectifier/voltage regulator with a fairly cheap one on Ebay. Took the scooter for a ride and got it up to 50 mph, which is the fastest I ever go, and the high beam bulb did not burn out (the low beam had burned out in this bulb when using the previous r/r). Hopefully, this has solved the problem. Thank you to all that gave me help. A positive aspect about scooter problems is that I'm required to learn more in order to solve them.
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