Auxillary Driving Lights

[100rider]

I had the dealer install a set of Clearwater Darla lights on my 1200ST.
They were wired to come on when the bike is started, and go to "High" when either the horn or high beam switch is activated.
They ran fine for about a month and then just randomly flickering. The only way I found out as I was behind a car and I could see them flicker.
Tried to do some simple checks and thought I had it corrected. Well no!!! Was exiting the Interstate at night, had 4 cars in front of me in a right turn and
the lights decided to go full bright and then started randomly flickering. Needless to say it looked a police scene. Those people were not happy.
I pulled over and and put tape over the lenses.

There is no "off" switch, only a potentiometer to adjust the brightness in the normal mode

Anyway, it is back at the shop for troubleshooting.

Is there a legal requirement that the driver be able to turn them off in case something like this happens?

 

[pauls1150]

Can't speak for where you are (WA), but the CA Vehicle Code expressly states that forward-facing lights must be selectable, and that lights shall not be "modulated" at nighttime.

 

[paul_f]

Each of the three pairs of auxiliary lights on my two bikes have their own on/off switches. I figure if a LEO were to object to any of my auxiliary lights, especially at night, it would be a simpler way of turning them off rather fiddling with wires in the dark.

One bike has 2 sets of LED lights (one set being illegal) and yet in six years, not one LEO has pulled me over. At night with other vehicles on the road, one set is always off; daytime, all are on.

I believe having switches gives one more control with additional lights.

 

[omega man]

I might check for a “bad” potentiometer.
OM

 

[CaptCF]

I have Darlas on one of my XRs and I used a Hex ezCAN to hook them up. I can turn them off and on and adjust the brightness using the turn signal controls and the wonderwheel.

Video of functionality -

AFAIK, the Clearwater CAN7 has the same features as the ezCAN. I wonder if they hooked them up some other way or, shoot, now that I think of it...is your ST canbus?

 

[toter]

On newer Clearwater systems with a Canopener, no dimmer control is required. Is it possible they did not install a Canopener? That would explain having the dimmer control. Anyway, my Darlas were flickering on my 14 GS. I turned the dimmer knob back and forth multiple times and they stopped flickering.

 

[robsryder]

If the ClearWater LED lights worked well and then began not working so well I would suggest a couple of things. I just went through this exercise on my bike and here is what I did and what worked. I re-checked all connections and re-applied Di-electric grease and re-tightened the Posi-Lock connectors (after making sure that bare wires were still securely in place. I checked fuses for continuity and found one not working. I removed the fuse and visually inspected it and could see no break - a subsequent continuity check showed a "good" fuse. This fuse was re-installed but the ClearWater LEDs still acted weird, e.g., flickering or not coming on. I got a new 20 amp fuse and replaced the one that was intermittently showing continuity. Success!! The ClearWater LEDs resumed their normal operation, no flickering and BRIGHT! lights on hi-beam.

It seems that the old fuse developed a hairline break that would open in the fuse holder but close (and allow continuity) when removed. Best to have some extra fuses and replace questionable items. A Volt-Ohm meter is handy also.

 

[100rider]

Thanks for the info. The bike is at the dealership and they haven't advised me of anything. Ill pass that on.

The only real issue with what you stated is I can drive one day and no flickering. Drive the next day (same road - same conditions) and it would look like I had a strobe lights.

 

[PGlaves]

Thanks for the info. The bike is at the dealership and they haven't advised me of anything. Ill pass that on.

The only real issue with what you stated is I can drive one day and no flickering. Drive the next day (same road - same conditions) and it would look like I had a strobe lights.

That type of electrical breakage can be very sensitive to temperature. Might that account for some of the differences??

 

[100rider]

It may

 

[100rider]

I did not get to talk to the tech that worked on it, but the dealership said they checked all connections and they have been unable to duplicate this problem.

I mentioned what you said. Since there is no canbus on this bike it had to be wired directly to a 12v source.

Since I have owned the bike, I have had to replace the headlamp bulbs 4 times. (2 each) The first time was when I was chasing a turn signal issue. The last 2 times is after the Darla's were installed. The dealer doesn't think that is related to installing the Darla lights. The bottom one failed first about 3 months after the install and the top about a month later.

Digging through a bunch of stuff I discovered a "note" in the installation manual. Stating, "If you have an H4 headlight bulb or a ground switched horn, you may need a diode pack or isolation relay respectively, otherwise the lightswill not function as intended." Not sure what that diode pack looks like, nor how big it is, nor where it would be installed. But every place that I looked, I did not see anything that could possibly be a diode pack.

Called the dealer back and mentioned it. Will go to the dealership on Sat. Keep you posted

 

[pauls1150]

Clearwater has a p/n B719 "diode pack" for $8 (presently sold out); their description says "High/low or high/horn diode pack". I would infer that this helps "steer" the electrons in certain installations, but if yours worked fine for a month, I don't see this as "the" problem. Or, it may be a transient (voltage spike) protector, which "could be" the problem.
The parts fiche shows that you do have an H4; if you have (or can dig up) a schematic, find out if the horn is ground-switched (vs. +12V switched).

 

[100rider]

The way I read that is if you have the H4 lights you need the diode pack and if you have the grounded horn you need the isolation relay.

 

[100rider]

Picked up the bike, took it on a test drive and could not duplicate. So brought the bike home. Will talk to Clearwater about what the diode pack is actually for. Hopefully them taking the connectors apart and putting them back together will work.

The horn switch is not ground according to the servie department.

Guess Ill have to do more driving to see if the problem is fixed or not.