gp lighting

[stephena]

The lights on my gp are still running on a standard 6volt system they seem very dim and hardly look as if they are on at tick over. At the moment I dont want to swap to 12 volt so any tips to improve them.I don't remember them being that poor 40 years ago but maybe the years are starting to tell on my eyes and possibly my memory. Thanks Stephen.

[ToBoldlyGo]

Your flywheel may need remagnetising. You should also overhaul your stator and get it checked out. In fact go through all the electrics because these things do deteriorate.

[Adam_Winstone]

Remagnetize flywheel and consider the easy/cheap 12V conversion that simply uses a Vespa 12V regulator to allow your existing 6V system to produce 12V lights. This is a really easy way of being able to see at night!

[Meds]

Try cleaning up all of the connectors both male and female all through the system.
Make sure they have good mechanical connections
Clean the lamp connection tangs and Earthing in the lamp holders
The earth wire from the headlamp holder to the rim is there clean and in good condition.
new lamps
Good clean earth connection from the frame to the engine.
If the head lamp is really bad check the state of the reflector.( don't rub it or you might take the silvering off)

[Adam_Winstone]

Another thing to consider is fitting an LED rear bulb (you can buy LED cluster bulbs that are a straight fit into your normal bulb holder) and/or try to run a lower wattage headlight bulb. Frequently people fit a 12V rear to stop bulb blowing, which takes too much power away from the headlight and/or fit a 35/35W headlight under the false impression that going for a higher wattage will give more light, whereas the reality is that a 25/25W bulb that has sufficient power to light correctly will give more light than a 35/35W that does not have sufficient power to light correctly.

Adam

[stephena]

Thanks all for the info it gives me somewhere to start. I had been looking for a 6volt led rear bulb but the only ones I have found say for dc only will that matter?

[Adam_Winstone]

I've used them AC without issue, unfortunately, I can't now remember where I bought them from but I'm pretty sure that I ordered them online from a scooter shop.

Good luck.

Adam

[citydaz]

I think that if you try and use leds with AC they will tend to flicker.

[Knowledge]

They won't flicker as such, but they will only be illuminated by half of the wave of the AC current, so they will be a little dimmer than when used on a full DC system.

I use LED rear light lamps: the type that has the LED's built on layers of circuit boards. I fill the layers of LED's and boards with clear silicon so they survive the vibration of a Lambretta. I must say, I don't find these types of LED very good as there isn't enough difference between the stop light and the tail light. I now build my tail lights with three lamps; one tail and two stop. Now that really works, but probably not what the OP wanted to know.