PMA HID light issue

I have a 75 XS650. My problem is I have an HID headlight and it flickers at idle, as well as my LED tail light. I've been around the block with the charging system on this thing and read a lot of forums about about it. I started with a battery and stock charging system but now it has a Hughs PMA on it with a Sparx cap. Recently I had an issue with the stator being too wide, so I sent all of my stuff to Hugh to be checked and he sent a one of his skinnier stators and checked the system for me so I don't believe my issue is there. However, tonight I did put a very cheap multimeter on it and at idle the voltage was all over the place, anywhere from 5V to 14V. I'm going to check again tomorrow with a much better quality one. As for the only problem I'm having at the moment is my HID headlight is flickering a low idle. This is the second ballast I've had. The strange part is that it'll flicker and once it goes out for a second it'll stay out but once I switch the key off and immediately right back on, it comes back on. I've checked my grounds and rechecked my grounds but nothing seems to help it. I am just looking for any advice on what I could check next to try to fix this.
PS: I do know that the cap is supposed to buffer the AC out of the system but I can see in the rear LED light where it is still pulsing. Just wondering if its normal for it to flicker slightly.

Do you have a relay on your headlight. So guys i ride quads with that have switched to HID installed one because their lights were flickering.

No I do not have anything in the system except for the cap and the key switch. I am thinking that maybe another cap will clear it up but I'll see what I can find about putting a relay in there.

No I do not have anything in the system except for the cap and the key switch. I am thinking that maybe another cap will clear it up but I'll see what I can find about putting a relay in there.

You could run a small 12v battery maybe.

I had an HID setup and had the same problems. Went through 3 or 4 ballasts before I ditched the idea and switched to LED. I don't think that the HID ballasts perform well with the PMA's fluctuating current.

This is about thread number 200 this year about caps and voltage fluctuations taking out electronic components. I know diddly squat about electronics, but; Caps make crappy dampers or to be clear BATTERIES make good dampers. You need some big ole tough load in the system to help smooth things out. Incandescent bulbs actually make decent dampers, so you don't have a battery, then nix the 45 watt headlight too. Voltage goes rattling around like a marble in a coffee can, and expensive parts go poof. Where's the mystery here? Only way I can think of to win here is find a top notch voltage regulator that can clamp voltage swings (spikes) lightning fast don't know where to suggest you find it but a small battery just seems SO simple to me..... And it's proven to work for millions of motorcycles decade after decade.

gggGary said:

... I know diddly squat about electronics, but; Caps make crappy dampers or to be clear BATTERIES make good dampers...

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Ah, venerable grasshopper, you know more than you let on.

(Apologies to EE's and techs, please indulge as we slide into 'street speak'.)

One way to perceive this is to understand that as you shove current into, or pull current from, a capacitor, there's a direct correlation to the voltage across the capacitor.

But, a battery is indeed quite different. The typical bike battery can have over 100,000 times the storage capacity of these Sparx-type capacitors. AND, batteries react differently to varying line voltages.

As current is shoved into a battery, it induces a chemical reaction, and the nature of a battery's cell composition defines (and limits) the voltage across the cell. The energy of the current inrush produces bubbles and heat. The input of current does not produce a matching/complementary voltage rise.

As current is pulled from the battery, the chemical nature of the battery replenishes the battery's voltage. The extraction of current does not produce a matching/complementary voltage drop.

So, in a way, a capacitor acts like a spring.

And a battery acts like a bank account with overdraft protection.

(*indulgement mode off*)

Well spoken Gary and TwoMany.

These bikes use alternators (stock type or PMA) that don't produce much voltage/current at the idle of 1200 rpm. Guess what..................that's not a problem, so long as you have a battery. The battery is a second source of current, so it provides current to the bike's loads, during the idling period when the alternator cannot provide the current.

If you have a capacitor, the alternator is the only source of current when idling. The capacitor is not a source of current. Capacitors are voltage devices, and are good at filtering variable voltages, but they cannot replace a battery in the role of supplying current.

So the bottom line is; if you want to have flickering lights at idle, keep using capacitors, but if you prefer to have steady lights, then buy yourself a battery.

Hey, RG! Good to hear from you!

Ridin' weather down here went 'plooey.

Didja leave the refrigerator door open?

TwoManyXS1Bs said:

Hey, RG! Good to hear from you!

Ridin' weather down here went 'plooey.

Didja leave the refrigerator door open?

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Oh yeah, I did hear something about a Polar Vortex sending a ton of cold weather way down into the USA. I guess you Texas lads aren't used to those temps below freezing. We've got snow and cold, but that's just normal for us.

Actually they claim this cold is due to a big storm that originated over across the Pacific near Japan.

I've been doing my research and hoping that I could maybe put another bigger cap along with the SPARX one in hope to store power long enough but I think that's wishful thinking at this point. I talked to a guy from LowBrow and they sell a really small lithium battery that should work. He said he emailed Hugh about hooking it up and he said that should work as well so it looks like I'm going to probably go that route. Thanks for the input guys.