DC electrical System?

[CANbus]

I had a guy come around who had a decent fluke multimeter with him, we tested the voltage and I have a constant 10vdc.

[Monty]

I had a guy come around who had a decent fluke multimeter with him, we tested the voltage and I have a constant 10vdc.

CANbus thats 3 volts more than me but still low, not enough for a battery, I was thinking is it because I don't have the battery?
I was going to try it off bike and put a headlight bulb on the output and work from that point, good luck and don't give in

[soulsurfer]

Some rectifiers are energised and don't let current flow properly until a charged battery is connected, the one that I use is like that...

These units are identical to the PODtronics units and are a regulator, rectifier and zener diode conversion. I have this working perfectly on two bikes with and without battery and have tried a capacitor in there too, they are all around a steady 13.5v, there is definitely something amiss with this one

[Monty]

Just an update on this, After getting some PM's from Soulsurfer and Firedkp, I have metered out the diodes in the rectifier and they are OK, I disconnected it fully from my loom and put a 12 v lamp only on the output and got 6.5 v DC
Found an old 2200mf Capacitor and put the across the black and red then the lamp and bingo 13.7 -14.3 VDC
More work required as I need to go back to using the chassis for the ground and loose the Cap in a safe dry place
Work in progress but getting somewhere, Thanks to both of the above

[soulsurfer]

Hurrah, I'm glad you got a result Monty, That's the kind of reading I have from mine, strange that yours requires the cap to acheive it though

Regarding fitting the cap safely, you may find a different capacitor with the tails at the same end easier. The type used with these systems is known a a Lucas 2MC. I got one from here...
http://www.trialsbits.co.uk/advanced_se ... a183bf3036
I then wrapped it with draught excluder and placed in a round plastic container (I think it had vitamins in it before) and cut a small hole in the lid to pass the wires through. You could then seal the hole with silicon and Hey Presto! shock resistant and waterproof

[firekdp]

Monty, I hope I'm wrong, but you still may have a problem with the reg/rec, but the capacitor is doing its job and hiding it. If your reg was only putting out half wave then this is when the capacitor would charge, the missing half wave pulse would be partly filled by the capacitor discharging. At low loads the system will cope but it may suffer as the load increases.
Do the lights seem brighter with the cap fitted? As soulsurfer said earlier it shouldn't make much difference, because the gaps between full wave peaks are obviously much smaller.
On old bikes, the caps were only fitted, in place of the battery, to ease the work of the reg by keeping a load on the system when the lights were off.

[Monty]

Monty, I hope I'm wrong, but you still may have a problem with the reg/rec, but the capacitor is doing its job and hiding it. If your reg was only putting out half wave then this is when the capacitor would charge, the missing half wave pulse would be partly filled by the capacitor discharging. At low loads the system will cope but it may suffer as the load increases.
Do the lights seem brighter with the cap fitted? As soulsurfer said earlier it shouldn't make much difference, because the gaps between full wave peaks are obviously much smaller.
On old bikes, the caps were only fitted, in place of the battery, to ease the work of the reg by keeping a load on the system when the lights were off.

Well thanks, you have just peed in my cornflakes... I thought I had cracked it. at work in Sunny MK for the rest of the week so all tests are off till the weekend.

At the moment I only have the one stop and tail light soldered direct to the output 35W? obviously its a lot brighter at 14V than it is at 7V
I will Keep you all posted
Thanks

[Monty]

I know I bored you all to death with this last weekend but just a quick update.
Found a smaller (size) capacitor and wired it across the output and ground, To protect it I found a bit of rubber tube that was a good fit and used silicon rubber to seal the ends.
[img][IMG]http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp44 ... C00646.jpg[/img][/img]
[img][[IMG]http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp44 ... C00649.jpg[/img]/img]
With the wires exiting on the top it all tucks up out of the way and plugs in.
I have done 70 mils today and Have a pretty constant 13.5 -14 VDC together with a loud V*** PX DC horn and bright lights I am a happy man.
I will keep both regulator on the scooter for now and if I get any problems I can just swap plugs over and go back to AC.
[img][IMG]http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/pp44 ... C00629.jpg[/img][/img]
Thanks to Soulsurfer and Firedkp for the PM and all their help.

[Lazarus]

Well done Monty so when you pull into the pub car park tonight you will look like a vespa in the dark and sound like one when you pip your horn
BTW the pics are not showing up you may need to re post sorry. :shocking:

I really do like this idea as I want to run one extra pathfinder and a plug for sat nav/mobile phone charger etc

[soulsurfer]

Nice job Monty, glad you got there in the end
Here's the pics (you don't need to use "Img" on here if using the Photobucket link)

I know I bored you all to death with this last weekend but just a quick update.
Found a smaller (size) capacitor and wired it across the output and ground, To protect it I found a bit of rubber tube that was a good fit and used silicon rubber to seal the ends.


With the wires exiting on the top it all tucks up out of the way and plugs in.
I have done 70 mils today and Have a pretty constant 13.5 -14 VDC together with a loud V*** PX DC horn and bright lights I am a happy man.
I will keep both regulator on the scooter for now and if I get any problems I can just swap plugs over and go back to AC.

Thanks to Soulsurfer and Firedkp for the PM and all their help.