Weird electrical failure
 

Hi all,

I have a Chinese LB150-12, 150cc. I had noticed that the battery was beginning to not hold a charge. I opened the battery and found that there was almost no acid in it anymore. In an effort to save the battery, I added distilled water - really, just to see what would happen. The battery momentarily started taking a charge, but then died completely. I decided to replace the battery.

After installing the new battery, I noticed some other odd things. First, both my low-beam headlights were burned out but the high-beams still worked. Also, the horn stopped working. I had a spare regulator, so I tested the charging system at the battery with the old regulator and found that the battery was getting about 13 volts at idle and about 14.1 when revved. I installed a new regulator and did the same test. This time, I got about 13.4 volts at idle and 14.5 revved up.

It seems to me that the second regulator is working better than the first one, and obviously the charging system is doing its job. IT also seems that the old regulator had some kind of issue, but could it have caused the headlights to blow out?

Also, some testing revealed that the horn problem was with the horn switch...odd coincidence I suppose because I imagine a power surge could fry the battery and blow the headlights, but a switch?

Otherwise, the scooter runs fine. Any ideas? Thanks!

You have a Chinese scooter. Move along, nothing to see here.

Thanks, that's very helpful. I've seen responses to Chinese scooter questions elsewhere in the forums, so I'm assuming not everyone here is an elitist. If I'm mistaken, I'll go quietly.

I have to agree with you about post number 2. Don't know what his problem is.

I think you've probably fixed the problem by replacing the R/R. It not only coverts AC to DC current, for most of bike's electrics, but also regulates AC voltage before sending it on to the headlights and tail light.(not the stop/brake light, that's DC) So, unregulated AC voltage from the stator to the headlight, would certainly blow a 12 volt bulb.

You didn't say how old the battery was, fluid levels do drop with age.....did it maybe freeze last winter, and develope a crack? Doesn't really matter...a dry battery is toast. Scooter batteries aren't known for their longevity anyway. My original lasted only 2 years and 3 months.