bulbs a blowin

[b717doc]

Got my 1982 GS1100gl(z) running today after replacing rings, and all seals.....as she was idling, I noticed the lighting inside the speedo and tach was extremely bright, sorta like a light saber.....As I accelerated, the bulbs just blew out, (headlight was already blown).....Checked voltage across battery at idle, 13.8 vdc at idle, and increases to 14.2 at or around 5000 rpm. Alternator producing 74 vac at same rpm.....All appears normal as far as charging system. Perhaps someone installed incorrect bulbs or something.....probably should check to make sure AC voltage is not escaping into system some how....Hard to believe all these bulbs are incorrect,,,,,anybody seen this before????

[LW_Icarus]

when I bought my 850, it had a dead battery and the guy jump started it from a car charger. all the bulbs blew. headlight, signals, tails, running lights, everything.

Ive replaced the battery and regulator and all seems well now. I would say you almost had to have had a voltage spike of some type to blow em.

[jimcor]

Re: bulbs a blowin

Got my 1982 GS1100gl(z) running today after replacing rings, and all seals.....as she was idling, I noticed the lighting inside the speedo and tach was extremely bright, sorta like a light saber.....As I accelerated, the bulbs just blew out, (headlight was already blown).....Checked voltage across battery at idle, 13.8 vdc at idle, and increases to 14.2 at or around 5000 rpm. Alternator producing 74 vac at same rpm.....All appears normal as far as charging system. Perhaps someone installed incorrect bulbs or something.....probably should check to make sure AC voltage is not escaping into system some how....Hard to believe all these bulbs are incorrect,,,,,anybody seen this before????

Yes, on the road in Montana. Any bulb that was lit got very bright and popped, except the fuel guage lamp. Managed to get the bike back to KY. R/R, stator and battery were all fried.

You must check your voltage regulator/rectifier.

And did you test the stator for shorting to ground? They have been known to be shorted and still give a good output reading.

Billy Ricks has the procedure here: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum...=383353#383353

[duaneage]

A bad ground on a RR will unload the regulator circuit and cause high output with lots of AC ripple. The ground is used as a reference for the zener diode that controls the output.

As they say "unpredictable results will result"

[Anonymous]

Try changing the regulator first and see if the problem goes away. If not, then probably a short of some description.

[jimcor]

Try changing the regulator first and see if the problem goes away. If not, then probably a short of some description.

Sorry captain, the R/R is one unit on an '82. R/R were separate pre '80.