[Nixie]

So, On my recently rebuilt fireball (more on this later) I noticed that my AC regulator has leaked, all the factory smoke has escaped! This meaning that it no longer works.

Firstly, what could have caused this? Is my alternator no good now? when putting it back, im pretty sure i made sure there was a gap between the rotor ect, the violet wires went to the REG/REC units below the seat with the others going to the blue multilink ac regulator box.

Secondly, I would like to tidy the wiring with as few connections as possible. I have removed the electric starter and fitted a tidy Trispark electronic ignition and smaller coil. My idea was to have everything run from DC and so somehow put all the alternator wires into a Boyer powerbox or other such similar device then run power to as few places as possible. Since removing the electric start im using a 7Ah gel battery.

other things to note is I will keep the battery, the trispark unit doesnt flip out if theres low charge but obviously i dont want to blow it up. Will running all LEDs be a problem? with such a low load and full Alternator power going to the powerbox, will my battery fry?

So I wonder if anyone has done something similar and can guide me, I must admit that Electrics really arent my bag!

Chris

[ace.cafe]

I haven't done any of this myself. Can't really help.
Hopefully, there are some people here who have.

[ERC]

Get rid of your original regulators Ac-Dc set up and wire a Podtronics regulator on there it will be all Dc then.  ERC

[Nixie]

Thanks ERC, I will look into the podronics device. I presume I need the single phase one, MAX 120w?

and if i wind my old ac wired into the existing dc ones, will I be putting too much current to the battery? its only a small one designed for fire alarms ect. (Yuaza NP7-12)



Do you know why the AC regulator melted? the battery is charging ok, so I presume the alternator is ok?

Chris

[Vince]

     The alternator produces alternating current. The battery provides direct current. Alternator current is rectified to direct current to charge the battery. To avoid over charging the battery the regulator shunts of excess voltage as heat. That is why regulators are finned or have a heat sink. Some times the regulator and rectifier are combined into one unit. There must be air flow over these components or heat will cause them to fail. You can't charge your battery with just the alternating current from the alternator. You must use a properly ventilated reg/rect assembly or it just won't work.
     Since it doesn't matter to lights if they are run on ac or dc, some bikes will dedicate an alternator phase to lighting. Every other electrical component either requires DC, or will work better and last longer with DC. DC is used because the battery acts as a reservoir that provides stable output even under momentary high loads.
    For proper, dependable  wiring, run alternator output to a reg/rect properly mounted for cooling air flow. Run that to the battery as per the instruction that come with the reg/rect. I recommend a Rick's Electrics part # 10-515. On a large bike with large loads run a lead from the battery to a fuse box through the ignition switch, with a separate fuse to the ignition switch.  Run everything from the fuse box, through the load (lights, ignition, etc.), then to ground. On a bike like the RE you probably don't need the second fuse box. One 20 amp should be enough for the loads you are likely be generating. You can run multiple loads off a circuit as long as you do not exceed the capacity of the wire to carry the load. You must calculate usage.
     Run no more than a 20 amp fuse. Load should be at least 25% less than max. So a circuit with a 20A fuse should not be using more than 15 amps in normal use. A 10 amp circuit would have no more than a 7 1/2 amp load. The stock wiring is good for these ranges, but the wiring from the battery through the ignition switch to the fuse box must be able to take the load from ALL circuits. So it will usually be heavier duty than the rest of the wiring.
     OOPS! If you have an early bike you will only use one phase, the two violet wires. The Rick's unit is wired for three phase. Just ignore one of the yellow wires on the Rick's unit.

[Nixie]

Vince, thats a great write up! and although dumb I do understand that I need to convert the AC to DC before touching the battery!

One thing im struggling with however is, since im running everything through DC, or will be, do i combine the previous AC headlight circuit with the other two (violet) into the Regulator/Rectifier or just 'delete' them?

Chris

[Kevin Mahoney]

Vince - That is the best write up I have ever read on that subject. Bravo!!
You can wire both parts of the alternator together if you want to make the bike all DC. It was turned into an AC/DC system because the previous models did not have a big enough alternator to run the headlight full time for the US. I always thought the answer was just a bigger alternator - but the engineers didn't ask me.

[Blltrdr]

Vince, thats a great write up! and although dumb I do understand that I need to convert the AC to DC before touching the battery!

One thing im struggling with however is, since im running everything through DC, or will be, do i combine the previous AC headlight circuit with the other two (violet) into the Regulator/Rectifier or just 'delete' them?

Chris

Check this out Chris.

http://www.enfieldmotorcycles.com/forum/index.php/topic,3064.msg34215.html#msg34215

[Nixie]

I merged the AC and DC alternator coils successfully. Two analogue multi-meters, set on their 0-2 volts scales, and a few presses of the kick-start quickly showed up the phasing of the two sets of windings. On my stator, red and orange wires are now commoned together to form one AC output and yellow and black form the other. In this configuration the reg/rec showed a healthy DC output following further presses on the kick-start. I wouldn't assume any other Bullets use consistent colours for the 4-wire alternator. I think if you commoned the outputs the wrong way you would either get no output, or the stator would overheat very quickly. Electrical knowledge and appropriate meter tests are essential here.

I will check this with a meter then, for sure my wires arent the same colour! (sadly)

Thanks for the help guys, I'm gonna go ahead and order the Podtronics item, if only because its alot cheaper and must be as good or better than the OEM units. I think the boyer powerbox is probably unessesary and larger too.

Chris

[Kevin Mahoney]

BTW a 7 ah battery is what we used to use before the ES so you have picked the correct battery

[Nixie]

Awesome! It also mounted nicely in front of the rear wheel, I made up a tray for it. Was even thinking of going smaller, but lets see how this goes for now...

[Nixie]

ok, took me some time to find in the UK, but got this one on the way:
http://www.classicbikepartscheshire.com/electrical-c3/regulators-reflectors-c20/podtronics-podtronics-12v-rectifier-regulator-p68#68

I will let you know how it all goes, Thanks guys.

Chris

[ERC]

I've got five bikes with the Podtronic they all work great, simple no problems.  ERC

[Nixie]

ERC, are any of those bikes early 4 wire alternator models with two violet and two yellow/yellow amber?

 

[ERC]

No mine have either 3 wires or 2. I looked up your wiring the 2 violet are to DC part of your regulator. The yellow are for the AC headlight set up. You may want to email Podtronics to see how they would wire a 4 wire set up. Everything coming out of the alternator is AC. Maybe you could just combine the yellow and violets together then to the regulator.  ERC