Headlight Melting..... what could cause it - attach photos

[syafi]

What could be the reason?
battery? ground wire?

nothing else seems to give problem, all other light work fine.

I tried H3 H4 and now the normal 16w light all same. fuse dont h
first the case melt then wire behind it..






ave problem.

[Guy]

Are you having it for dinner??

[redliner1973]

Get rid of that 100W halogen bulb!

[Anonymous]

headlight melting

Hello from Australia,mate. 8)

Buddy,you either have to stop trying to barbecue your headlight fitting (they taste like sh-- anyway) or use a smaller wattage bulb,as I have been reliably informed through a auto electrician that using high wattage halogen bulbs in a bike headlight can cause exactly the damage you have experienced. 8O

If you use a 60/55 watt high performance bulb in conjunction with a set of 55 watt "white fog" (as averse to yellow fog lights)) lamps that you will get extremely good light ,I tell you this from experience as that is the set-up I have on my GS. (I use a set of small "dress-up" type lights made by NARVA)

The main headlight bulb I use is called an "ARCTIC BLUE" type and is made by NARVA ,but I do not know if you can buy them in your area as I do not know where you live, but I am sure your local car parts or bike parts store will have something similar, but a word of warning !!, be careful about the type of bulb you purchase as some of them are not what they say they are,the "ARCTIC BLUE" bulbs I use are actually tinted glass as averse to some on the market that are only standard halogen bulbs with a blue dye on the glas which burns off after a while and you are back to where you were.

Not knowing what type or size of machine you ride is also making it difficult to give you suggestions matey, so next time you ask for help on the forum it might be an idea if you include some more info on your bike.

See ya mate.

[syafi]

I used 16W normal bulp for the same result. all toast.

my mechanic say maybe because the fitting use plastic instead of fible in the socket, and i was lucky to find the fibre socket in Thai.

all other shop here have only plastic fitted socket.


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waaaa. I use GS450L as in my signature .......

[syafi]

Are you having it for dinner??

hehehe you got my message a toast....

[syafi]

Get rid of that 100W halogen bulb!

that happens with a 16w normal bulb. previously I used 35w hallogen, then , it happens so i change to 16w normal bulb so it wont be too hot. but same thing happens.

[redliner1973]

16W ? For a headlight? Okay, I would look for a serious short. plastic headlight plugs are what a majority of bikes use, including ours. They should not melt under normal use.

[syafi]

yes i had to use 16w because i thought 35W hallogen was too much for it to handle,

I never ride at night, the headlight is ON just because the law requires all bike to have its headlight & taillight on all the times.

I will try a better socket before posting more help request.

[DaveDanger]

I'll bet that excess current flow is causing your heat. Check and make sure you have a very good ground circuit to that lamp receptacle. A weak ground will increase resistance which can increase the current flow in a circuit.

[duaneage]

Actually excessive RESISTANCE causes heat. In a connector with 0 ohms you would have 0 watts of heat dissapated. All connectors have resistance.

If a connector has .2 ohms of resistance and we put current at 14.4 volts through it we would not see a signicant amount of heat generated. According to Ohms law, increased resistance decreases current flow but resistance generates heat as a result of power dissapation, Applying Kirkoff's law we get a voltage drop across the connector resistances in series with the bulb


If the resistance is greater, say 1 ohms then you get 1.25 watts of power and a voltage loss of around 1.5 volts. The connector costs you 10 percent of the total voltage. The applied voltage is around 14.4 volts. Any resistance in the connector gets turned into heat and with a lightbulb that draws a lot of current by itself it is just like running a small resistor right to the frame. The resistance in the connector can generate a lot of heat.

Clean the bulb contacts real good and don't let any grease or dirt get in there.

[syafi]

Okay, I bought a ceramic base socket. Ride 400 Mile in a day with 35W Hallogen bulp & nothing happens to it.

Base = the place it contact the bulb, with 2 contact point

The socket cover are still plastic.