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Post by userix on Aug 5, 2015 11:15:25 GMT -5
Is it normal for AC fired GY6 ignition system to have the tail lights dim with dips in the RPM? I have a turtlehead LED tailight and I noticed recently that whenever my idle RPM dips, the tail light and my license LED lights dim. Is this normal? I thought the rectifier/regulator is supposed to keep a constant voltage output for the electrical components on the scooter. The R/R is functioning normally, as my voltage meter is indicating a voltage range that varies between 13-14.4 volts.
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Post by rcq92130 on Aug 5, 2015 13:10:14 GMT -5
That's not what the RR does. It maintains a constant voltage to CHARGE THE BATTERY. The RR tops voltage out at 14.5v; the battery, when fully charged, is at about 12.5v. It's the job of the battery to supply current for the needs of the vehicle.
There can be 3 problems that could be causing what you noticed (and I presume your headlight also dims):
1. The RR is pumping out far MORE than 14.5v, over charging the system. When the engine slows the voltage drops back to normal, and the dimming is the lights going down to normal. This is the bad scenario because it means you are gradually frying electrical components with too much voltage.
2. The battery is weak. When the engine rpm is up the RR supplies enough to keep everything running OK, but when the rpm goes down, and the stator puts out less (and thus the voltage out of the RR drops), the battery cannot keep up with demand and everything dims.
3. You are overly sensitive to normal fluctuations.
Most likely --- #2.
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Post by lain on Aug 5, 2015 16:52:12 GMT -5
Have you checked the wires? I had the same issue once, turned out my ground wires were loose and sort of fried. Replaced them and they did not fluctuate much, even at idle the lights were as bright as driving.
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Post by userix on Aug 6, 2015 12:51:51 GMT -5
My LED headlights are actually directly wired to battery via relay and a switch and I experience no dimming or brightening with rpm. I have a voltmeter hooked up and the voltage never goes above 14.4v. It fluctuates between 13.2 to 14.4v. When I turn on the ignition before starting the engine, the battery shows 12.9v, which I assume is a healthy charged state.
Is it possible for the dimming of my license plate leds and turtlehead led tailights caused by a floating ground stator? I recently installed a stator that said on the bag is DC stator. But when I visually compared it with my old ac stator, they look identical. I read online that DC stators have a floating ground.
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Post by userix on Aug 10, 2015 4:31:18 GMT -5
Today, when I rode, I noticed that when I first start the scooter cold, it idles RPM really low, and I watched as my taillight LED flicker on and off with each dip of the RPM. My headlights are wired directly to the battery with an inline switch and I don't notice any dimming at all, so it would seem my battery is fine.
Is it possible to have my tailights powered directly from the battery using a relay that is triggered off the key ignition switch?
I'm not sure how the GY6 AC electrical system is wired up. For instance, how is the turn signals powered and wired up?
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Post by tvnacman on Aug 10, 2015 6:01:08 GMT -5
all stators are ac . Some electrical systems on scooters are mixed use ac and dc. To help figure out the problem you need to know what you have. What would help is pictures of the stators wiring and the regulator. What are you powering the tail light with ac or dc and where is it coming from?
John
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Post by steve on Aug 10, 2015 11:20:48 GMT -5
I would say that's pretty normal. Especially with a single phase stator(I assume you don't have an 11 pole stator).
Since yours are direct wire to the stator, that is completely normal. Most headlights are direct wired to the stator, and they dim when the RPM drop. The stators don't produce proper voltage unless your engine is running at 3000 RPM.
Are those universal LED's? The reason I ask is because stators produce AC voltage. Unless you have a rectifier in front of the tail lights, they are probably not going to last very long running on AC voltage.
I have LED tail lights on mine, and I just ran them off of the battery, on a switch. If you do this, you won't have the dimming issues. That would also put them on DC voltage. Like John said, ALL stators put out AC voltage, so you are running AC voltage to your tail lights.
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Post by userix on Aug 10, 2015 11:21:34 GMT -5
all stators are ac . Some electrical systems on scooters are mixed use ac and dc. To help figure out the problem you need to know what you have. What would help is pictures of the stators wiring and the regulator. What are you powering the tail light with ac or dc and where is it coming from? John I know my scooter is using an AC system and I'll try to trace it after work and get some pictures. What if I were to connect the tailight to directly to the battery through a switch relay? Would the direct DC power source (battery) make it stay constantly lit regardless of idle speed? I traced the ground wires and they are all secured to the frame. No breaks in the ground wires either. Looks like all connections are secure. |
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Post by steve on Aug 10, 2015 12:18:27 GMT -5
all stators are ac . Some electrical systems on scooters are mixed use ac and dc. To help figure out the problem you need to know what you have. What would help is pictures of the stators wiring and the regulator. What are you powering the tail light with ac or dc and where is it coming from? John I know my scooter is using an AC system and I'll try to trace it after work and get some pictures. What if I were to connect the tailight to directly to the battery through a switch relay? Would the direct DC power source (battery) make it stay constantly lit regardless of idle speed? I traced the ground wires and they are all secured to the frame. No breaks in the ground wires either. Looks like all connections are secure. If you run it directly from the battery, that would be ideal, yes. I have LED tail lights, and that is how I have mine run. No dimming issues. |
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Post by userix on Aug 11, 2015 14:12:30 GMT -5
steve I actually do have a 11-pole stator. I have a 150cc GY6-swapped Ruckus and I just tested out a brand new 11-pole, to see if the flickering went away at low idle, but it didn't. From what I can gather, the taillight is receiving power spliced from the starter relay. I have a voltmeter that is spliced into the same wire and it's registering 13.3-14v at idle, even when the idle drops and the LED taillights start flickering. So that's what is confusing me: voltage appears to be within stable range at low idling but tailights still flicker when the idle dips. My idle fluctuates, bouncing back and forth from 1600-2000. It's when the idle drops to ~1600 that the tail light LED flickers on and off. As for my rectifier, I also swapped in a new one to test out and still flickers. All this time, I am monitoring the voltage through the spliced in voltmeter, which never showed any major drop in voltage. It remained in the 13.3-14.4 range. The rectifier I have is as pictured below, 5pin/wire with two connectors. 
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Post by steve on Aug 11, 2015 15:49:42 GMT -5
If it is DC, then there is an explanation. A lot of the LED lighting has a resistor built in, so they not only need voltage, they need a bit of current as well. It could be that dinky battery that comes on these scooters. The stators don't produce optimum voltage until at least 3000 RPM. The wires are also pretty skimpy. You could always run their own wire from the battery, with at least a 16g wire. That is what I recommend.
I have the 11 pole stator as well. I will tell you that below 2000 RPM, my headlights do dim. Not a whole, whole bunch, but they do. I have my LED taillights ran off of the battery, but I have 2 batteries on my scoot run parallel, and my tail lights do not dim. I would just run a good, quality 14-16g wire, but no smaller than 16g, from the battery. Put them on a relay, or a switch.
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Post by florida on Aug 11, 2015 16:24:49 GMT -5
Was your bulb the led 1157 bulb ?
From scrappys?
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Post by tvnacman on Aug 11, 2015 16:52:25 GMT -5
Ok , now we know your 3 phase stator. You can not use ac voltage for lighting. The acv at times will get loaded down by the regulator. The tail lights need to be dc off switched power. Using 14awg wire will help keep it stable.
John
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Post by steve on Aug 12, 2015 9:21:33 GMT -5
I also ran the 7 wire regulator along with my 11 pole stator. If you get the ones with the 3 input wires from the stator, most have all 3 as yellow, but some have yellow, white, and pink input wires, along with a green, red, black, and white, then you have 2 DC output wires: the red and the white ones. The red wire charges your battery. The white wire holds very steady 12v DC. You can run your tail lights off of that white wire. It will only come on when the engine is running, so you won't have to run a switch, or a relay.
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Post by tvnacman on Aug 12, 2015 9:40:34 GMT -5
I also ran the 7 wire regulator along with my 11 pole stator. If you get the ones with the 3 input wires from the stator, most have all 3 as yellow, but some have yellow, white, and pink input wires, along with a green, red, black, and white, then you have 2 DC output wires: the red and the white ones. The red wire charges your battery. The white wire holds very steady 12v DC. You can run your tail lights off of that white wire. It will only come on when the engine is running, so you won't have to run a switch, or a relay. There has been a few perspectives on the white wire. I suggest using the white wire to control a power relay. When the engine is running the relay gets energized and powers all of the high draw items. Head lights dash lights signals, the running light in the tail light assembly should be on switched power from the key. I like the relay and this is why, when you turn the key on squeeze the brake. I like to have minimum load on the battery for starting power. Your way works well also. John |
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