Lighting on scooter

[broon]

Hi,

Please excuse my ignorance first of all, I am very much a beginner and amateur.

I currently have 5 lights wired to 12v motorcycle battery but there is either an issue with the alternator, or the lights themselves are drawing too much power and draining the battery very quickly.

Anyway, I've decided to disconnect these automotive halogen lights (which are separate from the main headlight) from the battery and was going to make a separate battery for these lights to run off. The solution I require needs to be small and I couldn't fit another 12v battery in, so that's not an option.

I had thought about wiring up 10 AA batteries so that they were 12v and power the lights that way, keeping in mind that these lights aren't on all the time, only when they are really needed and would be controlled by a separate switch so would be independent from the main vehicle electronics.

My question is, how long would 10 AA batteries run these 5 halogen lights for? Again, I apologise for my lack of knowledge here, if it turns out that they will only run these lights for a few minutes or whatever that's obviously very silly of me, but I'd appreciate any input or alternative solutions...

Many thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Broon

 

[Sintra]

I wouldn't immagine that 10AA bateries would power the lights for very long. To know for sure you would need to tell us the wattage of these lamps.

 

[Marvo]

I think it would be a few minutes. Halogen lamps are very inefficient and would drain AA batteries very quickly. If the lights are draining the scooter battery then the alternator is possibly not working so I'd suggest you focus your efforts and money on fixing that rather. Were these lights aftermarket add-on's or were they originally come fitted to the scooter from new?

 

[ruston]

Just to keep it simple -the output of the alternator needs to exceed the consumption of the power being used to keep the battery charging. if it isn't the battery will drain.

 

[ifindoubtdont]

Is this a petrol engined 2 wheel scooter or an electric mobility scooter. If a 2 wheeled scooter then the charging system is only designed for the amount of lights that are factory fitted. If a mobility scooter then have a look at the stuff pedal cyclists use, they have some seriously bright LED lights. Our favourite national cycle store stock plenty of them.

 

[ruston]

Is this a petrol engined 2 wheel scooter or an electric mobility scooter. If a 2 wheeled scooter then the charging system is only designed for the amount of lights that are factory fitted. If a mobility scooter then have a look at the stuff pedal cyclists use, they have some seriously bright LED lights. Our favourite national cycle store stock plenty of them.

You are right there, there is one comes along our road needs a dipped beam , I first though it was a motorbike.