Angel Eyes- solder diode??

[ATLRIDER]

Hey guys,

In the process of installing Angel Eyes.  Does the diode need to be soldered in?

Thanks.

[Fry]

I would, and will be doing so when I wire in my Angle Eyes.

[ATLRIDER]

Ok, so it looks like I'll solder it in.  Can you tell me which way the current flows? There's a band around the diode where the blue pen cap is.

Edit: Can the leads be cut to shorten?
The BLUE pen cap is showing the Cathode side.



Thanks.

[ben2go]

There shouldn't be a flow direction.You can place it it the positive feed or negative ground.I prefer the positive.I wouldn't shorten the leads,that may change the resistance.

[ATLRIDER]

I thought the purpose of the diode was to allow current to flow in only one direction.
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Upgrades/DualHeadlights

Think I just found my answer here under "Understanding Diodes"
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/fbody/alarm.htm

From the pictures I'm gonna try installing the anode end towards the positive side.

Thanks for the feedback.  Will post results when I finalize the install.

[ben2go]

I thought the purpose of the diode was to allow current to flow in only one direction.
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Upgrades/DualHeadlights

Think I just found my answer here under "Understanding Diodes"
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/fbody/alarm.htm

From the pictures I'm gonna try installing the anode end towards the positive side.

Thanks for the feedback.  Will post results when I finalize the install.

AHHHH!!!!!You are right.I am wrong.I was thinking resistor in an L.E.D. set up.I do apologize for any confusion.

[starwalt]

"Anode towards the positive..."   is the correct answer. (The band, as you probably have found out, is the Cathode.  Both names are carry-overs from the days of vacuum tubes.)  Yes, current flows from the anode to the cathode (unless you subscribe to the hole theory of current flow - a topic for another day.)

Cut it to the best fit because you would need an engineering lab to measure the difference in resistance of lead length. If the "eyes" use LEDs in them, we are only talking about 15 to 40 mA at best. (That is .015 to .040 Amps for the non-unit oriented folks.)

In this application it does not matter a bit. You need to make a good mechanical connection before globbing on the solder. Use a lower wattage iron, 35W is OK. This is where you will introduce resistance into the circuit if the job is botched up. Google "solder joint" for examples of what looks correct for the solder you use.

You may consider sliding some appropriate heat shrink over the leads - far away from the heat source until it is time to shrink. Once the joint is made, slide the heat shrink over the exposed leads and use a hot air gun to shrink to fit. An alternative is a lighter flame from afar though this technique requires some practice to keep from burning the plastics.  Practice outside your bike first.

It would be nice to see a schematic of the circuit your lights use. I may look over the net for the instructions for these "eyes".

No schematic here but a nice video about making an "eye". It later uses heatshrink with a lighter as part of the process.

[ATLRIDER]

Hey guys,

Here's some pics of the progress thus far.  I ended up cutting and using what I could from the wiring in the box.

Wire harness- BLACK= GROUND, WHITE= LO BEAM, BLUE= HI BEAM.  Spade connectors for each wire plug directly into headlight connector.


Diode- Soldered together & shrink wrapped. Also testing resistance reading through HI BEAM wire to make sure the connections are good.


Resistance reading from BLUE HI BEAM connector through DIODE to WHITE LO BEAM connector. 
Compared to the above pic this reading looks high.  Is this normal due to the diode?



Starwalt,

Here's the schematic I think you're looking for.  It's on the back of the Hella box.


Thanks guys.  Will post more pics as I progess.

[starwalt]

Nice pics, thank you. 

I need to take a step back and ask what are the conditions you want the lights and "eyes" to be in with what switches you plan to use?

For example:

GS keyswitch ON------"eyes" on & headlight low
GS keyswitch PARK--------"eyes" and tail only
GS High Beam----------"eyes" on & HL high
GS turn signals------no afffect
etc.

In other words, what are your expectations on how this should operate?

Looking at the Hella diagram you posted it is obvious they use a relay to switch between either the eye or the headlamp (headlamp via a relay). Are you wanting the "eyes" to be on while the headlights are on?  Again, a chart of your expectations will help.

Regarding your reading, make sure the meter is set to a diode scale (if there is one). I have no experience with that particular Fluke though I will look up the settings after this post.

[ATLRIDER]

Glad you liked the pics

The way I was thinking to wire the Eyes are:

1) GS Keyswitch On= Low Beam headlight on, both Eyes on.
2) GS Keyswitch PARK Position= Eyes on.
3) GS Keyswitch OFF= Operate Eyes On/Off with a manual switch.

Was thinking of tapping into the extra accessory connector (Brown wire) that was in the headlight bucket for #1 & 2 as it's hot in ON and PARK positions.  For #3 was gonna tap directly to the positive battery post.   Not sure the most efficient way to wire this and am open to any suggestions.

Going out of town tomorrow and will continue when I get back next week.

Thanks for the feedback.

[starwalt]

...
Was thinking of tapping into the extra accessory connector (Brown wire) that was in the headlight bucket for #1 & 2 as it's hot in ON and PARK positions.  For #3 was gonna tap directly to the positive battery post...

Sounds correct to me after looking over the GS schematics. In this case I don't think the diode was needed. What took you down that path anyway?  It is not on the Hella diagram. 

[ATLRIDER]

Sounds correct to me after looking over the GS schematics. In this case I don't think the diode was needed. What took you down that path anyway?  It is not on the Hella diagram. 

I was following the instructions here:
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Upgrades/DualHeadlights

The Angel Eyes use single filament H3 bulbs so wiring it this way allows one light to come on in LO setting and both in HI setting.  Not sure if that answers your question.  I'm learning as I go, so if you have a better way I'm definetly open to suggestions.

Thanks.

[ATLRIDER]

Hey guys,

Reviving this thread.  Been out of town and work has kept me busy.

Decided to scrap the original harness in the WIKI.  Not knockin it, just didn't work well for me.  Problem I had was that on LO, the one side would light up fine (bright, whitish beam) but when I turned to HI to activate both lights at the same time, the output seemed to dim a lot (yellowish, weak beams).  I believe the cause was the diode which created a lot of resistance and voltage drop.  It may also be because I did a cruddy job at soldering the diode joints, but regardless, after doing some more research,  I've come to the conclusion that a relay is the answer. The relay will allow direct, 100% power from the battery to the headlights, instead of decreased overall power through the handlebar switch. This might seem obvious to those who are familiar with electrics, but I'm a real noob at this so please bear with me.

So rethinking the setup, this is what was accomplished:

Key on: Both angel eye led's on at all times for simplicity and LO beam headlight on. Tapped into BROWN power accessory wire from headlight bucket.

Key On/Hi: Both lights on at same time.
Key On/Parking Lights: Problem.  Lo headlight turns on with angel eyes because BROWN wire is hot with key on.  Just want to have angel eyes and tailight illuminated. Will have to run a separate switch for this.

The idea on how to wire this setup with relays came from here and these guys definetly deserve some credit.
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=35284.0

So here goes the HOW-TO

Disconnect the GROUND from the battery

Mark Relays
-       I'm assuming you have all the wires and such that come with the lights.  If not you'll need to get a set of relays at any autoparts store.  The NAPA part # is AR143 and runs about $11
-   Mark the relays so you know which one is for HI & LO and don't get mixed up later.


Accessory wires in headlight bucket
-   For the LO beam the BROWN  wire is HOT with key on and was used to power the two led's for the eyes and terminal #86 of  LO beam relay.
-   Negative WHT/BLK wire provides ground to terminals #85 of both relays. The relays were taped side by side and made a short jumper wire to do this.

From Battery
-   Red power wire with inline fuse to terminals #30 of both relays using a jumper wire as before.

H4 Headlight Connector
-   Connect wire into the YELLOW lead from the H4 headlight connector to terminal#86 on HI beam relay.  This activates the relay when the HI beam is switched on.
-   Connect wire into the BLACK ground lead from the H4 connector to the BLACK leads coming from both headlight bulbs and led's.

Relay Terminal #87
-   Terminal #87a (the middle terminal) isn't used.  Don't hook anything up to it.
-   Run 2 separate wires from terminal #87 of both relays to the white leads coming from the headlight bulbs.

That should be it.  Now hook up the ground and test it out.


Wish I had taken pics but it was hard enough for me to figure this whole thing out.  I'll have to take it the front end apart eventually and will post pics then.

Hope this helps somone.  Good luck!

[Copperhed51]

I just ordered my Angel Eyes and I'm glad you're doing the guinea pig work.   Let us know how your new setup works out so I can decide which one to go with.

[starwalt]

I looked over the Wiki site and now understand where you got the diode.   

Because the Hella does not have a dual filament (low/high) the idea is to use two lamps for high and one lamp for low. Got it. The diode would have done that.

I now do not understand how the "eyes" part of the lamp works.
I understand the theory of LED operation, it is just the internals of the lamp wiring to make the LED glow I need to complete my understanding.

Keep at it and you will answer all our questions. 

[ATLRIDER]

I just ordered my Angel Eyes and I'm glad you're doing the guinea pig work.   Let us know how your new setup works out so I can decide which one to go with.

After all the help I get it's good to give back whenever I can. Glad you'll make use of it.

The lights work great.  Waay brighter than before with the diode in place.  Still left to do is a flyscreen to hide all the wiring and also aiming the lights so I don't blind oncoming traffic.  

[ATLRIDER]

I looked over the Wiki site and now understand where you got the diode.   

Because the Hella does not have a dual filament (low/high) the idea is to use two lamps for high and one lamp for low. Got it. The diode would have done that.

I now do not understand how the "eyes" part of the lamp works.
I understand the theory of LED operation, it is just the internals of the lamp wiring to make the LED glow I need to complete my understanding.

Keep at it and you will answer all our questions. 

Starwalt,

It's actually simple if you saw it.(wish I had a pic). The way the lights come, the wiring for the H3 bulbs is separate from the LED's.  So there's 2 wires (+/-) for the H3 bulb and 2 (+/-) for the LED for each light.  So each light assembly has 4 wires total coming from it.

Thanks for your enthusiasm.  Learning electrical is like putting together a puzzle.

[Coredump]

Sorry for the stupid question but does anyone have a link to these angel eye's so I can see what you guys are talking about?  Thanks.

[ATLRIDER]

Try typing in Angel Eyes in the search bar.  Much more will come up.

http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Upgrades/DualHeadlights

[starwalt]

It's actually simple ....and 2 (+/-) for the LED for each light.  So each light assembly has 4 wires total coming from it.
... Learning electrical is like putting together a puzzle.

I knew it had to be something like that. The Hella box diagram didn't really show the 4th wire. The current for the Halogen lamps would vaporize the LEDs so I knew they had to be isolated in some way.

Even with 30 years of electronics under my belt, there are always variations to learn about.
Glad to hear things finally worked out.