Battery not charging after headlight swap?!?

[JetSwing]

Hey all, I have an electrical problem. I had swapped out the stock headlight with an aftermarket twin headlights. It was fairly easy swap (plug & play). But couple of days later my bike wouldn't start. Looked to be a dead battery. So I had recharged the battery rode it for a while till it died again. Well, I even tried using a newer battery from my other GS...the problem did not go away. Finally I took everything back to stock. I have been riding it for a while since then. It has not died on me yet.

What is going on? What am I doing wrong? I also had both set of turn signal lights taken out along with the headlight swap. Could that have anything to do with the problem? Any insight would be appriciate!

[mrblink]

Sounds like a short in the wiring somewhere.  Retrace everything you re-wired and see if there's any obvious crossed wires.  You could also check continuity/voltage with a volt meter.

[se7enty7]

goats...... gooats...... goooaaattsss...... (I really hope not!!)

[JetSwing]

Retrace everything you re-wired and see if there's any obvious crossed wires

I've double checked the wiring. all of the wires were factory socket to factory socket installation (including the aftermarket headlights). i don't think there were much i could have done wrong...  :dunno:

again, the problem is gone after going back to stock setup...

[mrblink]

It's very possible that the wiring on the new headlight connector is wrong.  Do they have some sort of a pinout diagram?

[JetSwing]

it did not come with any diagrams. and i didn't bother to open it up either but...it was pretty simple setup. the twin headlight had one 3-prong plug for the two main bulbs which plugs right in to the factory female socket. it also two loose wires for the secondary bulbs. i had left them unconnected (and the bulbs didn't come on).

[mrblink]

Geez.  I never actually looked at the wiring, but it does sound pretty simple.  I was mostly thinking out loud.  Maybe the issue is within the actual headlights?  Maybe you could do a continuity test on the stock connector, then the aftermarket one just to compare?  There's gotta be a short in there somewhere...

[JetSwing]

could there be a short in the headlight assembly and still work?

[mrblink]

Dude, the left turn signal on my Land Rover has a short somewhere.  Sometimes it comes on, and doesn't blink, sometimes it blinks randomly, sometimes normally, and sometimes really really fast.  

Maybe it's just enough to drain the battery slowly.  It doesn't take much on those little GS batteries.  I accidentally left the headlights on for like 5 minutes once and the bike wouldn't start.

[John Bates]

.......... aftermarket twin headlights.

The standard headlight is 60 watts high/55 watts low, what is the twin headlight rating?  If you've added significant drain and your charging ckt was marginal to begin with,  :dunno:

.......... Finally I took everything back to stock. I have been riding it for a while since then. It has not died on me yet..

Don't mess with Mother Suzuki. :guns:

.......... I also had both set of turn signal lights taken out along with the headlight swap. Could that have anything to do with the problem? Any insight would be appriciate!

Don't think so.  Is it legal in your local to go without?

[sprint_9]

The standard headlight is 60 watts high/55 watts low, what is the twin headlight rating?  If you've added significant drain and your charging ckt was marginal to begin with

John has a good point, the GS does not put out a huge amount of charging power, especially at idle, atleast thats what Ive heard.  You could be over taxing your charging system with the new light.  Just a guess but maybe the new light has two 50 watt bulbs instead of one 55.  It would probley be enough to drain out the battery.  Check your bulbs, if there too big try some 30 watt ones and see if that cures the problem.  Just an idea.

[The Buddha]

OK when I ran extra lights on the GS ... I would turn the extras off (yes have a switch and separate wiring for it ... with separate fuse ) when I was 10 mins to home, and when it was light out ... and when it rained and ... whatever ...
Cool.
Srinath.

[JetSwing]

...what is the twin headlight rating? If you've added significant drain...

hmm...that's a possiblity. the twin headlight has two h4 55/60w halogen bulbs plus 2 separate parking light bulbs (which weren't in use). here's the actual light. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=25628&item=7935197654

i know for fact that i'm not the only one running this same setup so what gives?  :dunno:

Don't mess with Mother Suzuki.

i've learned my lessons...

Is it legal in your local to go without?

not sure about the legality...i've heard that if you take all of them off, you're ok. i haven't yet met a cop on the street to test that theory though.

I would turn the extras off (yes have a switch and separate wiring for it ... with separate fuse ) when I was 10 mins to home, and when it was light out

i guess i could try running just one bulb...but like i had said before i know a handful of people running same setup on gs...