Buddy 50 deadlight wiring

Wilmette john · Post by **Wilmette john** » Sun Jul 26, 2015 2:44 pm

Has anyone activated the deadlights on their buddy 50 without cutting into the wires? Would like to make it so they are always on (with replacement LEDs).

Thanks,

John

thatvwbusguy · Post by **thatvwbusguy** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 4:51 am

What year is your Buddy 50?

I am sure that there is a simple way to connect a deadlight adapter to all model years of the Buddy 50 that doesn't require cutting or tapping into wires, but I can tell you from experience that they are not all wired the same, so it is going to take some testing to see which way will work best for yours.

On my wife's old Buddy 50, the positive horn wire was only hot when the ignition was turned on, so it was as simple as installing a piggyback terminal on the horn terminal to power the deadlights.

Do you have access to a 12V test light or electrical multimeter? It should be only take a small amount of testing to find a circuit that turns on and off with the ignition key.

If you can open up the front of your scooter and take a few pics, we might be able to sort out a way to get you a plug and play harness pretty easily. There is a 4-circuit plug that should have at least one connection that is only live when the key is turned to the on position. This is link will bring you to a couple photos of the plug you are looking for:

https://sites.google.com/site/vanagonhe ... g-location

Once you have found that plug, check each wire with the test light to see if it has power (12V+) the best way to do this is to ground the clip on the test light to something like the horn bracket bolt and then push the probe into the back side of the connector until it makes contact with the brass terminal.

Check all four wires in the white connector with the key off, then check them all again with the key on. If you find a wire that only has power when the key is on, that is the one we will use to power the deadlights.

Wilmette john · Post by **Wilmette john** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 1:19 am

Here's what it looks like

thatvwbusguy · Post by **thatvwbusguy** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 5:20 am

Okay, looks like there is no 4-way plug from your ignition wiring. Did you check to see if there is always power at the horn?

The horn can be wired so that it always has power present at the positive (+) terminal when the key is turned to the ON position. This means that the horn button is completing the circuit by applying ground when the horn button is pushed.

If this is the case with your Buddy 50 (as it was on my wife's 2009 Buddy 50), I can make you a deadlight adapter that will connect to the horn terminal for the power source.

mojospapi · Post by **mojospapi** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:53 pm

Jay, would be the one that can help you out. His patience and wisdom got me lit up no problemos.

compgeek 1979 · Post by **compgeek 1979** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 8:43 pm

Jay, How much would a harness for a 2015 buddy 50 cost?

thatvwbusguy · Post by **thatvwbusguy** » Sun Jan 15, 2017 10:25 pm

Does the 2015 Buddy 50 have the 4-circuit plug? You can check out the plug location on my website: https://sites.google.com/site/vanagonhe ... g-location

cummingsjc · Post by **cummingsjc** » Tue Jan 17, 2017 1:52 am

compgeek 1979 wrote:Jay, How much would a harness for a 2015 buddy 50 cost?

Why do you want a new Buddy 50 wiring harness? If it is for using the deadlights as running lights, check out Voodoo Scooter parts and they have an appropriate wiring adapter for just that purpose.

compgeek 1979 · Post by **compgeek 1979** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 6:46 pm

thatvwbusguy wrote:Does the 2015 Buddy 50 have the 4-circuit plug? You can check out the plug location on my website: https://sites.google.com/site/vanagonhe ... g-location

@thatvwbusguy
I ordered Yesterday can you confirm?

thatvwbusguy · Post by **thatvwbusguy** » Tue Mar 14, 2017 10:10 pm

Got it. Thanks!

Modern Buddy