New PIAA lights and modulator stopped working

[tz89]

The PO installed some kind of modulator that worked but I seldom used it.

 

I put in a new PIAA bulb today and it seems the modulator has stopped working. I guess that's fine if it isn't a problem.

 

Is it? Any idea why the stock bulb worked and PIAA not?

 

Thanks!

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Is the PIAA bulb the same wattage as the stock bulb?

 

 

 

 

 

[tz89]

Yes - same wattage.

 

I just took it into a dark parking structure. It looks like the low beam with wide dispersal switches off when high beam goes on. I guess I really don't know how these are supposed to work.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Ok...depending on how its wired, it will either modulate the high beam (usually) OR the low beam, and only during daylight...in a dark garage, tunnel, or at night there is supposed to be an optical sensor that will cease the 'modulating'...

 

Modulating headlights are legal in all 50 states...but only during daylight hours.

You will find many users who swear by them...I tried one and it failed a few times at night (headlight went dark!)...I unplugged it and threw it in the garbage.

 

Edited August 17, 2014 by tx2sturgis

[tz89]

Yes I think I will remove it.

 

But I have to get to it. I think one of the bezel/trim ring screw/nut clips is stripped.

 

I've tried prying the screw head as I turn it but nothing. It just spins but won't come out either. Not sure what I'll do.

 

sigh -- it's always something with old bikes.

[tz89]

So - does low beam stay on when high beam is on?

 

Could it be an optical illusion to think that low is off when high beam is on?

[djh3]

Usually the modulator is wired to the high beam. So you have to turn the high beam on via the handlebar before it will even work. also there is sometimes an optical "eye" to automatically turn the modulator on in daylight and off in darkness. I have had one on a couple bike and I just used a toggle switch so I never had to worry about the optical part not working. Switch is pretty easy, when it get dark turn the modulator off (straight thru)

[tz89]

Yes I get that. What I'm wondering if some problem is happening that is interfering with lighting the low beam when high beam is on. The modulator is not working in daylight for the high beam.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

What I'm wondering if some problem is happening that is interfering with lighting the low beam when high beam is on.

 

Um....what?

 

 

Are you having some other problem with the headlight?

 

If so, you should probably remove the modulator and then proceed with troubleshooting the system.

 

The 1st gen has some electronics that monitor the headlamp bulb and apparently switch it automatically to the other beam is one fails...I'm not very familiar with it so someone else will have to chime in...

 

Good luck.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 18, 2014 by tx2sturgis

[tz89]

Starting over....

 

Is it normal on these bulbs for the low beam to stay on when high beam is on? Or only one at time. This part I don't know - how headlight bulbs are supposed to work.

 

If the low is supposed to be on, is it possible it appears not to be in some way? I just took a night ride and I don't appear to be getting low beam coverage when the high is on.

 

If it is supposed to be on, and it's not an optical illusion, then could my modulator be causing the problem?

 

The modulator is designed to modulate the high beam in daylight but it is not doing so since I installed this new bulb. Issue with the new bulb? Issue with the modulator triggered by botched installation? Other?

 

I will uninstall the modulator if I can get to it. One of the trim bezel screws is stripped so I can't get the trim bezel off so I can get to my headlight asembly. I think I will have to drill the head off that screw unless someone has a better idea.

 

Hopefully this is clear now since previous posts were effectively garbled.

[Neil86]

When you run on high beam only that filament is used, when you run on low beam only that filament is used.

[tz89]

Thank you!

 

So, for some reason my modulator isn't working (fine).

 

But if I take a night journey I'm not half lit. Now getting back into there isn't quite so urgent once I figure out how to get that screw off.

 

Thanks again.

[djh3]

I have several different types of e-z outs. But I ran across a job a month or so back I could not get any of mine to work on. So I was in Home Depot and ran across these called speed out. they work pretty good. Has the required size drill bit on one end and the extractor on the other. Go easy on the reverse part so as to not strip it out

[tz89]

Thanks.

 

The trick with this is the screw just spins in place. The head is fine. If the screw on the other side is an indication - the middle part of the threaded shaft is worn but not the tip.

 

Of course this location is tight in a scalloped recesses so I can't get a nipper in there to cut it off without damaging the plastic fairing.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Thanks.

 

The trick with this is the screw just spins in place. The head is fine. If the screw on the other side is an indication - the middle part of the threaded shaft is worn but not the tip.

 

 

Use something to pull on it from under the head of the screw while you turn it...a piece of wire might work....a very small precision screwdriver used as a miniature prybar...

 

Pry or pull on it while unscrewing it.

 

[Prairiehammer]

Thanks.

 

The trick with this is the screw just spins in place. The head is fine. If the screw on the other side is an indication - the middle part of the threaded shaft is worn but not the tip.

 

Of course this location is tight in a scalloped recesses so I can't get a nipper in there to cut it off without damaging the plastic fairing.

 

The two bezel screws are sheet metal screws that thread into a 'spring nut'. The spring nut slips onto the upper fairing. One likely scenario is that someone put in a machine screw instead of a self tapping screw, with a resulting misfit. Another possibility is the spring nut is just spinning, especially if the original spring nut was lost and someone installed a 'non-U' spring nut (Tinnerman nut).

Take off the center fairing air intake (four 'Phillips' machine screws) and you should be able to see up in there and see the back side of the headlight bezel screws. Determine the problem (inappropriate screw or nut) and using a pliers, either squeeze the tab on the OEM spring nut to engage the screw threads or hold the Tinnerman nut with the pliers to keep it from spinning.

[djh3]

++ on Tx idea there. Possibly the item your trying to remove, give a outward pull once all other hardware is out. Something to pull screw out so it starts to grip. I was thinking the head was gone.