Electronics guys, a little help?

You guys suck ;P

But that's okay because I've found the schematics for the bike. I'm going to more than likely play with it tomorrow and let you know what the answer is!

Also, I've created myself a youtube a/c so I'll make a little documentry about it too for those who care.

Glad you got sorted

LOLOLOL

I have spent the last few hours researching and reading and learning. This electronics business is almost as complicated as IT!

In principle, it's fairly easy to achieve. What is a little more complicated is the longlivity of the lights and also, stopping them (and the other bits and bobs) from catching fire :)

I should have something working in the next couple of days / weeks that we can use as a base though.

I'll keep you guys updated.

longevity**

"This electronics business is almost as complicated as IT!"

Should be real simple then

haha, ja ja jaaaa..

A little update: I built a nice LAB power supply yesterday and have managed to get some LEDs to turn on. Very exciting ;)

I'll start a new thread somewhere with experiments etc. and show you guys the progress!

Hi

I am no fundi on this but remember that the charge voltage of a battery is more than 12 Volt. (that is the discharge voltage) 

see this

Charging Information For Lead Acid Batteries – Battery University

The problem with a standard bike 'alternator' is that it tends to overcharge at higher RPM. This is then 'boiling' the battery.  The only 'real' (easy) way to solve this is to add load to the system (spots etc) and increas the Amps to reduce the Volts. (or complex electronics)

enjoy

Adie

Adie, nowadays the device to rectify the AC from the alternator includes a voltage regulator, so you do not overcharge the battery.  The electronics is simple (zener diode and transistor).

Thanks gents :)

Adie, that's actually perfect, as I was a little worried about the dropout voltage! I'm really loving this electronics stuff!

"zener diode and transistor" < that is pretty much what I'm looking at! Some N Channel Mosffets!

Some progress: (sorry if I'm using this as a bit of a blog-style.. but it works!)

I have managed to find a suitable 360 degree LED headlight replacement. The only issue is that the housing is completely incorrect. Also, the actual LED unit has no 'high beam' option - obviously.

This concerns me a little.. while I can physically "fashion" a housing for it so that it stays where it's meant to be, there is a very real possibility that there will be a perminant high beam.(the way it works is, there are 2 elements in the original bulb. 3 wires. 1 ground and 2 live. 1 live for the 'normal light' and one for the 'high beam'. What makes the 'high beam', high is the angle at which the light is pitched at the reflector. I'm worried that my super cool (cool white, excuse the pun) 360 degree LED is going to have light perminantly pointing at the area that manages the 'high beam'.

Worst case senario, I'll buy a normal light bulb again :/

I'm not an expert on this but apperantly the Dakkie 'overgharge' the battery at high rpm (see my prev post) I read on one of the forums that you mut INCREASE the load (Watts), a LED bulb will DECREASE the load and could cause overcharging earlier.

Secondly, I'm not sure if the LED will give a usable beam due to the position of the original bulb filament with respect to the focal point of the reflector. These things are accurately designed and tested to give optimum light spread.  I also read somewhere that the dim light is designed for left hand or right hand countries.  This is to direct more light the the side of the road and less to oncoming traffic. 

Lastly, what is the purpose of the mod you are working on? 

Read this to see what other people did... Voltmeter etc etc

http://tacostyringtravels.blogspot.com/2008/10/bike-modification-part-1.html

Adie

Also check on the wilddog forum website. Lots of techincal help there as it's a national thing.

http://www.wilddog.za.net/forum/index.php

Hi again Adie (I still need your cell number )!

I have built a little regulator that takes the 12- 14.5V (up to 22V just to make sure that I have all bases covered) and outputs a nice clean 12V so that should take care of any overcharging issues for both the amps and V :)

I agree with you that the LED is more than likely not going to work with the headlight, going back to what I said earlier in the thread. I'm going to play with it anyway though and see what the results are. Worst case senario, I'll have a cool torch for the bike haha..

Those links are very cool - given me some good ideas!

Charging will not happen for voltages below 12.9V in a 6 cell lead-acid battery.  And the gassing voltage for such a battery (when fully charged) is 14V.  So, I would set the regulator to 13.5V, not 12V.

The bikes have worked wonderfully well the way they were built for decades - be careful you don't bugger it up.  You need to check battery water levels every now and again anyway, as it evaporates or leaks out in a fall etc.

Howzit Charles! I think we may have missed each other here boet.

My reguator(s) - I've got 2 now, one for 12V as well as 5V so that I can power my cellphone and GPS too ;P - come into play after the battery/altinator/charging. So they will not bugger around with the voltage of the battery or how much power it supplies to the sparkplug / lights etc.

It is a seperate circut, just using the battery as a power supply. My only real worry that I have to take into consideration is the draw in amps that my circut takes, as I run the risk of taking more than the alternator can give. ie the poor battery goes pap!

I'm busy with the final design of my little lights' circut and will hopefully get the parts today for a demo tomorrow :)

So you are not using the regulator to 'fix' the boiling battery problem as reported by Adie - you are using it to give a steady 12V voltage to your gadgets.  Fair enough.

Unless you are running a kettle off the electrics, you should be fine regarding the draw on the system.  You can always test it with everything connected, idling in the garage, with a voltmeter on the battery.  See what happens when you turn on the brights and the indicators and all your goodies.  Then rev up to cruising revs and see.

Exactly :)

I've done the math and I should* be okay for the draw! We will see this weekend as I plan to test it out on the ride this weekend!

That's a rad idea though, testing it in the garage!