Headlight Problems

[exeric]

Perhaps someone can help me with the headlight problem I am having with my 40' Cheif. I am going through bulbs like Nascar goes through tires. The system is completely stock and 6 volt. The generator has been rebuilt and uses the stock cut-out relay.
The system seems to keep the battery in good charge as I rode the bike 2-3 times a week with no trouble.

My routine is to get the bike running, look left and right, then go. I turn the headlight on when I'm moving, unless it's dark then the light goes on just before I put it in gear. The bulb has been blowing at this point. The last one did a super nova thing, getting real bright then poof, it died.

I have a spare Motolamp set-up for a sealed beam light and wondered if that would handle power surges better than a bulb.

If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them but bear in mind, you are talking to an electrically challenged Panhead guy so you may have to dumb it down a bit. Thanks

[AdminGuy]

Hummm... so the current supplied to your 6V bulb exceeds it's capacity. So I guess check the current output from the reg (in line- test for current on pos.), adjust reg to lower it. Is the gen brush adjustable on this? Perry , Frank?

If not, I guess you could put a capacitor or resistor inline.

[Perry Ruiter]

Humm - sounds like the classic bad ground. Does the tail light bulb blow too? If not it could be the headlight is having difficulty grounding through the neck bearings. As a test try running a jumper from the generator through screw to the headlight stem screw and see if that makes a difference ... Perry

[INLINE4NUT]

Perry,I being challenged with wires, would you please explain this a little more? Thanks and by explain I mean the how is pretty clear,now Id like to know the why thankyou1

[exeric]

Perry,

Your suggestion regarding the effectiveness of my gound. . . is sound, (hmmm, poetry). And now that I think of it I have had to replace the tail-light bulb once as well. In my mind I can think of a lot of obstacles in the path of a good ground ( paint build-up, corrosion, poor solder joints, etc. ) You have given me a logical coarse of action to pursue. This forum is worth a million bucks. Thanks Perry.

[Perry Ruiter]

Chiefs are notorious for bad grounds. The generator is painted, the mounting bracket often painted and then the seat post it clamps to is painted. Potentially several layers of insulating paint. Some folks are big on powder coating which just exacerbates the problem. On Chiefs especially it's always a good idea to run a ground wire from the generator.
Now - I'm a computer geek by trade and don't claim to understand all the nuances (actually, I don't claim to understand any of the nuances) but one way I've heard it explained is with a water hose analogy. You put water in one end of a garden hose and it flows through the hose and out the other end. Likewise electricity wants to flow from one end of the wire (positive) to the other (negative). Now if you kink the garden hose impeding the flow, pressure builds up from the kink on back and a weak spot in the hose can bulge or even split. The kink is like a bad ground. The electricity wants a path to ground and if it doesn't have a good path "pressure" builds up trying to force it's way through. The "weak spot that bulges or splits" are always the bulb filaments ... Perry

[AdminGuy]

Current overload. And the flow of electrons pos to neg. Or neg to pos. spills over into a nasty religious debate believe it or not. But I degress.

Thanks Perry.