Help! not sure if my wiring is wrong or its that the connections arent permanently secured

vegetable

Active Member
#1
I have a minibike and ive been wanting to put some lights on it dor a while now. once i did get all of the parts (except for fuse block, still being shipped) i wired it up to teo pigtails and they seemed to work on their own. now when i touch the wires to each terminal (two separate ground wites back into the negative terminal, one positive going to switch), the lights dont turn on. im sorry if my pictures are kinda crappy but its the best i could get for now
 

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#2
Pretty hard to tell from your pics but I don't think you have a complete circuit. DC circuits are simple. You have a hot wire from the power source which feeds your load (light) and returns to via your ground to the power source. If your power source is a battery then just logically follow the current path and look for opens. Don't forget to check your light as it might have blown on your first try and that would open the circuit.
 

vegetable

Active Member
#3
Pretty hard to tell from your pics but I don't think you have a complete circuit. DC circuits are simple. You have a hot wire from the power source which feeds your load (light) and returns to via your ground to the power source. If your power source is a battery then just logically follow the current path and look for opens. Don't forget to check your light as it might have blown on your first try and that would open the circuit.
I think I just got the light but wasnt able to properly test it with a battery bc the pigtail wires were so close to each other i couldnt connect them
also, my switch has an led in the middle with another prong for that, would that cause an open circuit? if not, I soldered 3 wires together to have it split off, one to my headlight and one to my taillight
 

vegetable

Active Member
#4
Pretty hard to tell from your pics but I don't think you have a complete circuit. DC circuits are simple. You have a hot wire from the power source which feeds your load (light) and returns to via your ground to the power source. If your power source is a battery then just logically follow the current path and look for opens. Don't forget to check your light as it might have blown on your first try and that would open the circuit.
here, i got some better pictures for you
 

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#5
Sorry but I still can't envision the circuit. If you draw out a line diagram of all your wires and label the components, I could probably help. Honestly, from your pics it appears you have the hot side going directly to ground. Is the first pic your power source? If so, start from there with your schematic drawing.
 

vegetable

Active Member
#6
Sorry but I still can't envision the circuit. If you draw out a line diagram of all your wires and label the components, I could probably help. Honestly, from your pics it appears you have the hot side going directly to ground. Is the first pic your power source? If so, start from there with your schematic drawing.
ill get my schematic drawn-out soon, but the first pic is my power source. i havent connected the ring terminal yet to ground it out to the frame. i dont know the if the middle prong on the switch is causing it not to work
 

vegetable

Active Member
#7
Sorry but I still can't envision the circuit. If you draw out a line diagram of all your wires and label the components, I could probably help. Honestly, from your pics it appears you have the hot side going directly to ground. Is the first pic your power source? If so, start from there with your schematic drawing.
i drew two, one without a fuse to symbolize what i have right now, and one with the fuse block to show my end goal. hope this helps you understand a bit better
 

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#8
Time to get out your multimeter and start checking for voltage and continuity to ground. The red wire blade connector is not on all the way and it appears to be going to a ground (is that a switch). The black ground may not be grounding due to paint. Both connector and frame need to be shiny clean. Your accessory switch isn't making sense because it is hot all the time. Are you thinking the closed switch will complete the circuit to ground? If so it needs to be downstream from switch. If that accessory is on its own ground then you have a short to ground and that is why your lights aren't working. (Path of least resistance as they say)
 
#9
Does the light work when connected to power/ground without the switch? The switch might be an issue. You say there are 3 prongs on the switch, i would test the switch with a dvom and see what positions are on/off.
 
#10
Hi there,
I have a small tractor (that frequently breaks down), and one time the ground to the frame had rusted over.
Are you positive that the ground is working?
I re sanded the ground plate and wire, and it worked fine after that.
Good luck!
 
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