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[Mermaid]

A few years back I fitted our Host's Pilot Light Assembly (Pair) to my 2008 Electra and two or three years ago swapped the original 'bumpy' LED bulbs for the new 'smooth' ones. (Forgive the technical terms! )
On a recent ride, with sidelights on for visibility, the lights died mid ride for no obvious reason. The two LED pilot lights, 'bumpy' LED side light (within the headlight assembly) and standard filament bulbs in the speedo and ammeter have all blown. The headlight, tail light and indicators are all fine.
The lights work if I refit the original pilot light assemblies and replace the filament bulbs in the clocks - so (from my very basic understanding!) the wiring and fuses must all be OK.
Any ideas what caused the problem and how to fix it ..... ideally I'd like to keep the LED pilot lights for their increased visibility. Thank you.

[Haggis]

I would hazard a guess that your voltage has gone a bit on the high side and taken out the lights thar were on?
Regulator/Rectifier is what controls your voltage level.
Check with a multimeter, across the battery, with the engine running and you should see no more than 13.5 volts.
If it goes much above this the r/r needs changing.

[Wheaters]

13.5 volts is quite low . My 350 charges at 14.8 volts and always has and I’ve had very few problems with bulbs blowing or the battery losing electrolyte. It might be different for LEDs but the point being that changing the reg/rec might not result in a charge voltage as low as 13.5 volts.

[Daiwiskers]

Sounds like one of the LED's developed a internal fault (short to earth)
LED's can be great but there's a lot of rubbish out there
I either get them from our hosts or from Paul Gough (Fecked)
Please don't buy the cheap Chinese ones you will just be asking for trouble
Despite what some people say even good one's don't last forever

[Mermaid]

Thank you for your help.
I tested the regulator/rectifier and it was putting out 18-19V .... I guess that's a bit high!! Blowing all the lights that were on makes sense .... although the tail light was also on and that didn't blow. Maybe something to do with it being further down the loom ....?
Working on the theory that the regulator/rectifier is the problem, I'll run it past our hosts tomorrow to check the theory and make sure I get the correct replacement.

All the LEDs were supplied by Hitchcocks. The 'lumpy' one in the headlight assembly is still their original from a few years back and doesn't seem as good quality as the new 'smooth' ones they supply. As I have to buy a full set now at least they should all be good!

[Wheaters]

A voltage like that is certainly far too high. The filament bulbs are probably more tolerant so have survived. Probably not for long, though. Your battery is also vulnerable so it’s not advisable to run the bike until sorted.

[Daiwiskers]

Totally agree with Paul above
Think you have a regularfryer there

Cheer's Dai

[Mermaid]

Thank you for your help. Reg/rec changed - although theoretically a straight swap it's a bit bigger and took a bit of fiddling to mount it. Output now measures about 14.8V and up to around 15.2V at higher revs - hopefully this is OK?
I've fitted standard filament bulbs for now and will run it for while to be sure the issue really is resolved before fitting the LEDs again.

[Wheaters]

That sounds more like it.

I used to own an old Chrysler Avenger as my daily driver and one night noticed the headlights seemed very bright. Shortly afterwards there was a loud bang and the top blew off the maintenance free battery. The regulator on the alternator had failed and it was putting out 16-17 volts.

The engine bay was covered in battery acid! So I’m glad you’ve got it sorted.