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Post by ruppluver on Mar 3, 2013 8:43:21 GMT -6
On some of my sleds,the lights work great,others not so good. The Sprint 34 I just built,the lights were bright up until I grounded the voltage regulator to the engine via the handle bar support. What am I doing wrong on this sled? Lights have never been an issue,because I don't drive at night,so I never really got excited about it! Now it seems,when I sell a sled with the lights not working,it becomes an issue. What do I have to do to get the lights to work properly  It looks like there is a ground wire in the wiring harness that grounds to the voltage regulator,do I really have to ground anything else? The ground wire goes to headlite & tail lites! Thanks. |
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Post by seacoastrupp on Mar 3, 2013 12:13:19 GMT -6
Try improving the ground between the motor and chassis.The rubber motor mounts tend to isolate the motor a bit from the chassis.
Riding at night is some of the best late yr. riding you may do as the snow tightens up a bit and temps are cooler.
We used to ride more at night back in the day, especially when the season got late.Just watch your speed and remember not to overdrive your lights. Hope this helps ,, Joe
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Post by snosnake on Mar 3, 2013 13:53:30 GMT -6
Try improving the ground between the motor and chassis.The rubber motor mounts tend to isolate the motor a bit from the chassis. Riding at night is some of the best late yr. riding you may do as the snow tightens up a bit and temps are cooler. We used to ride more at night back in the day, especially when the season got late.Just watch your speed and remember not to overdrive your lights. Hope this helps ,, Joe We used to do all of are riding at night way back when. Now days it's in day light hours only. The older I get the less I can see at night. Like you said don't over drive your lights. I can't handle going 10-15 miles an hour. |
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Post by dankubista on Mar 3, 2013 15:10:26 GMT -6
I have seen voltage regulators go bad in both ways......no regulation (blowing bulbs) and too much regulation (dim as a candle). Try taking the regulator off of a good sled and see what happens. You can also ohm the lighting coil, but I don't know what the specs would be. Would have to get that from a service manual. Also, if there is a run test to check the voltage coming out of the stator at certain RPMs??
If the stator is good and the regulator is good, I would start looking at the harness, connections, bulb sockets etc. Sleds are A/C systems and that means they are a closed system. There really isn't a ground on a A/C system per se. Sleds don't put out much power to begin with so any type of "leak" in power or having a small short is very noticeable. I have also seen bad rear tail light sockets cause this too. There is really a lot of things that can cause this and the only way to find it is to try and isolate the problem.
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Post by ruppluver on Mar 3, 2013 15:52:14 GMT -6
Thanks Dan,I'll try a new one next.
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Post by mrmotors on Mar 4, 2013 0:47:11 GMT -6
So does this mean the voltage regulator is also a full wave bridge rectifier as the bulbs are DC??
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Post by seacoastrupp on Mar 4, 2013 6:15:15 GMT -6
Good stuff DC I hate electric stuff. chasing something you cant see.
As much as I may think I am good with it is helpfull to get the 101 course over again. And over, and over, and ... A.D.D Thanks
Rick, I know what you mean "getting older 10-15 mph, " like going out to the shop droping the flashlight, crashed the rascal in the driveway, fell and could'nt get up.med alert wrapped around throat, batteries dead in that anyway would not work. Alzhiemers could not remember how to get back to house...LOL So looked over to nitro went for a ride, feel much better now...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2013 6:47:17 GMT -6
So does this mean the voltage regulator is also a full wave bridge rectifier as the bulbs are DC?? it seams weird but the bulbs will work ac |
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Post by gargar84 on Mar 4, 2013 18:56:00 GMT -6
I'm not looking forward to the lighting on mine, but I'm glad you guys know your stuff!
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Post by dankubista on Mar 4, 2013 19:44:08 GMT -6
MrMotors,
The answer to your question in most cases is no. The only sleds that will have a full bridge rectifier is the EFI ones. Even though the EFI sleds have a full bridge rectifier, the lights, gauges, hand warmers and such are still running on A/C power. Only the computer and fuel pump use DC power. EFI sleds have a rectifer/regulator with 2 sides, one is A/C the other D/C. That being said, yes the bulbs say D/C but they also work with A/C. Many guys like to find the dual rectifiers so they can run their GPS, charge their cell phones, or run any other electronic device with 12vdc.
I learned a lot of this when I was installing digital water and air temp gauges in my ZRT.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2013 20:02:57 GMT -6
generally if you have battery for electric start you need a rectifier for DC
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Post by mrmotors on Mar 4, 2013 23:17:52 GMT -6
MrMotors,
The answer to your question in most cases is no. The only sleds that will have a full bridge rectifier is the EFI ones. Even though the EFI sleds have a full bridge rectifier, the lights, gauges, hand warmers and such are still running on A/C power. Only the computer and fuel pump use DC power. EFI sleds have a rectifer/regulator with 2 sides, one is A/C the other D/C. That being said, yes the bulbs say D/C but they also work with A/C. Many guys like to find the dual rectifiers so they can run their GPS, charge their cell phones, or run any other electronic device with 12vdc.
I learned a lot of this when I was installing digital water and air temp gauges in my ZRT.
Thanks for that, however can you tell me how AC is generated in this system?..... I'm not quite gettin that. How does it work with the CDI system, aren't they DC?? Been my experience DC bulbs blow up rapidly when exposed to AC power. I understand the regulator controling the voltage when the engines are up to speed and high output. My Xenoah has 4 magnet's in the flywheel and a pick up coil which looks to me like a DC generator system. This is where I'm getting lost.
Thanks----
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Post by dankubista on Mar 5, 2013 0:08:19 GMT -6
4 magnets and its a 4 pulse ignition system. Thats usually the rule of thumb. Now, does a Kohler have 12 magnets?? Don't know.....
Exactly how it generates A/C power is above my head though. Heres what I do know, there is always 2 sides to a stator, the ignition side, and the lighting coil side. Looking at an Arctic Cat schematic, the CDI runs off the ignition side and has diodes inside the CDI to convert the power. The stator works much like an alternator. However the coils on an alternator are stationary and the magnets spin internally on a shaft (brushless system). The alternator on your car also puts out A/C power, but it goes through a diode pack (regulator) that converts it to DC before going into the system.
I can see where DC bulbs will blow quickly with high voltage but a sled is between 10-14 volts regulated. However, without the regulator, they can pump out 18-24 volts and blow bulbs very quickly.
I can understand why sleds are A/C throughout. They have tons of wiring problems and always have, D/C would be just downright scary. I think its bad enough if you have an old sled with a metal gas tank, power generator (stator flywheel) spinning and emitting a huge electrical field. How these things don't build static and blow the gas tank has always been a head scratcher...
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Post by mrmotors on Mar 5, 2013 0:35:09 GMT -6
Thats were good bonding/grounding come it. Give it a path to run to earth and go away. In the big liquid cooled aircraft engines I work on, I have seen holes bored through cylinder blocks, mag's being killed and various kinds of electrolytic corrosion. Yes, the alternator makes AC which is where the full wave bridge rectifier comes in and changes it to DC. Can you send me a copy of your electric diagram? I'd like to have a look at it for grins. Thanks.
Send me a PM for the address.
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Post by ruppluver on Mar 5, 2013 14:03:43 GMT -6
Ok, I went out today & took off the voltage regulator & replaced it with a NOS regulator. It seems ok now, I have a good headlite & 2 tailites. I mounted it in the same place as the old one,grounded it the same way also.BUT I do have an extra ground from engine to the handle bar support. Time will tell. I'm running 60 watt bulbs.
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