This afternoon while I was assembling a Deadlight adapter, I was trying to think of an easier way to attach the power wire than the standard fuse tap on the orange wire next to the ignition switch, which is a really tight space to get your hands into and often requires the removal of some tape and protective sleeving from the wiring harness to make enough room for the wire tap.
I pulled off the front cover of my wife's 2014 Buddy 170i and started looking around for a better place to pull the power from when I noticed 4 fuses in the bottom right corner. Here is a photo of the fuses I am talking about:
Does anyone know if these fuses are present in all models and years of Buddy scooters? If they are, it will offer a much easier place to pull the switched 12V power and will also result in a shorter harness that is less likely to get damaged over time.
If a few people wouldn't mind popping the front cover off their scoot's and having a look it would be very helpful. As a thank you, I would be happy to offer $5.00 off the price of a deadlight running light harness to the first five people who respond.
Thanks!
Jay
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
Well, it appears that there are a minimum of 3 different versions of wiring I can confirm so far.
Other than the 2014 Buddy 170i, no other year seems to have the 4 additional fuses under the front cover. Hopefully some updated wiring diagrams will be released to document these changes. I would guess that one fuse is for the fuel pump and one for the ECU. Past that, the others remain a mystery for now.
Since the wiring harness from the ignition is so different for the new Buddy 170i, it might be best to tap the power for the deadlights from the protected (load) side of one of the fuses. This method would avoid having to pull on the wires and unwrap the harness from the ignition and will allow better access in general.
For the Buddy 125/150, the standard 3M T-Tap or a Posi-Tap should work fine. Access to the orange ignition wire is not too difficult and this makes for a clean and simple install.
On my wife's old 2009 Buddy 50, the horn wire was tied to the ignition and had 12V present only when the key was in the on position or the scooter was running. This allowed the deadlights to be connected to the positive terminal of the horn with a 1/4" piggyback connector and required no tapping into the factory wires. This is the ideal situation for adding simple accessories and it is really unfortunate that this same wiring strategy wasn't used throughout all years and models of Genuine Scooters.
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
thatvwbusguy wrote:Well, it appears that there are a minimum of 3 different versions of wiring I can confirm so far....
...For the Buddy 125/150, the standard 3M T-Tap or a Posi-Tap should work fine. Access to the orange ignition wire is not too difficult and this makes for a clean and simple install.
On my wife's old 2009 Buddy 50, the horn wire was tied to the ignition and had 12V present only when the key was in the on position or the scooter was running. This allowed the deadlights to be connected to the positive terminal of the horn with a 1/4" piggyback connector and required no tapping into the factory wires. This is the ideal situation for adding simple accessories and it is really unfortunate that this same wiring strategy wasn't used throughout all years and models of Genuine Scooters.
As you and I figured out late last year the 2006 Buddy 125s share the relevant wiring with the later year model Buddy 50s. I was able to hook up the deadlights on our 2006 125 using the horn adapter as you originally envisioned.
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To account for the known variables in wiring, I am planning to make my version of the Deadlight Running Light Harness with a pair of insulated male/female terminals near the center to allow the two most common installation possibilities to be served by a single harness design.
This will allow people with horn wiring that is live when the ignition is switched on to make the connection at the male horn terminal.
For Buddy's that only have power to the horn when the horn button is pressed, the 12V+ for the Deadlights would be pulled from the orange ignition wire with a 3M T-Tap as usual.
A separate version of the harness for the 2014 Buddy 170i would be the best way to go, since the ignition wiring is not as easily accessed as it is on earlier models.
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
