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Post by userix on Aug 19, 2015 3:45:36 GMT -5
I replaced my fuel gauge today and noticed that its exhibiting the same problem as the first one it would flicker on and off continuously when the engine is running. If I have the key ignition in the on position but not start the engine, the fuel gauge is working fine. As soon as the bike starts, it gets all glitchy.
I have connected the power source for the fuel gauge directly to the battery through a relay. As you can see in the video, the voltmeter, which is also hooked up the same way and have it grounded in the same place as the fuel gauge, doesn't flicker on and off at all. It displays a good voltage range reading when the engine is running. I double-checked all the wiring for the fuel gauge is there is no breaks or cuts in the wires. I don't know why the fuel gauge will do this, while the voltmeter works perfectly without any flickering. I also checked to see if the engine was grounded properly and the battery ground too. All grounds are secure and no exposed wire is shorting out.
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Post by steve on Aug 19, 2015 7:58:36 GMT -5
That is strange. There is something funny going on when the engine starts running.
You need to put a multimeter on your stator. Look up on Youtube on how to test your stator using the Ohms reading.
A couple of things I would look for: If there is a ground wire coming off of your stator, check the connection, and the continuity of that ground. But, first of all, you need to test your stator. Test the stator, so you can eliminate it.
Didn't you say you installed a new regulator and stator? I would like to know how you hooked it up. Your OEM wire connector may not have had a ground wire, and your old connector did not have 3 hot wires. Do you have all 3 of the hots from your stator run to your regulator? Do you have the ground run from your stator to the ground on your regulator? Is your regulator bolted solidly to the frame? It appears that your regulator is "pulsing", meaning it is not converting the 3phase AC voltage from your stator to a nice, smooth DC voltage. Did you install the 7 wire regulator? They are really good. Full wave, which means no pulsing. Or, I should say, really fast, small pulses.
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Post by userix on Aug 19, 2015 20:23:14 GMT -5
That is strange. There is something funny going on when the engine starts running. You need to put a multimeter on your stator. Look up on Youtube on how to test your stator using the Ohms reading. A couple of things I would look for: If there is a ground wire coming off of your stator, check the connection, and the continuity of that ground. But, first of all, you need to test your stator. Test the stator, so you can eliminate it. Didn't you say you installed a new regulator and stator? I would like to know how you hooked it up. Your OEM wire connector may not have had a ground wire, and your old connector did not have 3 hot wires. Do you have all 3 of the hots from your stator run to your regulator? Do you have the ground run from your stator to the ground on your regulator? Is your regulator bolted solidly to the frame? It appears that your regulator is "pulsing", meaning it is not converting the 3phase AC voltage from your stator to a nice, smooth DC voltage. Did you install the 7 wire regulator? They are really good. Full wave, which means no pulsing. Or, I should say, really fast, small pulses. I use a 11-pole stator from Drowsports. I also use a Dan Max harness, which is designed to work with this 11-pole stator. I haven't had issues with this setup since I installed the GY6 engine and harness on the bike till now. In terms of how many hot wires coming out of it, I am not sure. www.drowsports.com/gy6-150cc-11-pole-stator-assembly/I traced each individual wire from the stator to the harness and its connectors and found no loose connections or broken wires. The R/R itself has 5 wires and it connects to exactly 5-wires on my harness. There is no loose wires hanging about. In my case if I install a 7-wire regulator, it wouldn't make a difference, because my harness only has 5-wires to connect a regulator? I just find it weird how both my trailtech speedo and Koso voltmeter aren't glitching like the brand new fuel gauge is. And as the voltmeter is showing, the voltage is within stable range and is above 12.7V all the time. In terms of loose ground wires, is that referring to ground wires that are directly bolted to the frame from various devices connected to the scooter? |
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Post by steve on Aug 29, 2015 15:34:50 GMT -5
Is there 3 yellow wires on your regulator?
Some of the 5 wire regulators only have 2 AC input wires from the stator. Then, they have a green, a red, and a black.
Some have 3 yellow AC inputs, a red, and a green. If yours is this setup, then you are good. If yours only has 2 yellow AC input wires, then your stator is most likely hooked up wrong.
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Post by userix on Oct 23, 2015 3:24:04 GMT -5
I have recently rewired my LED turtlehead tailights directly to the battery through a relay switched by ignition. I figured this should reduce the flickering and dimming I used to have. But I still get the flickering and dimming at idling. If the engine is off, the LED lights stay lit consistently with no flicker or dimming. The problem only appears once the engine is started. I have already replaced the rectifier and stator, but the flickering still persists. Some say it might be a grounding issue, I have checked all grounds and don't find any loose grounds or disconnected grounds. What else could cause flickering when the scooter is idling? Since the taillights are directly wired to the battery and I am getting flickering on idle, does that mean my battery has an internal fault or loose ground? The battery still shows a healthy 12.7v when engine is off. I know my scooter is an AC fired system, but I figured wiring the taillights directly to the battery is the best source of DC power. For the life of me, I can't figure what is causing the flickering only when the engine is on and idling.
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Post by steve on Oct 23, 2015 6:29:07 GMT -5
Yes, wiring them directly to the battery is the best choice. You should not be getting any flickering.
This should be easy to narrow down: If the ground wire, and the positive wire are wired directly to the battery, then I would make sure the nuts are nice and tight on the battery. The vibration from the engine running is rattling a wire connection some place. It is either at the relay, the nuts on the battery connection, or the connections at the ignition.
If the 12v source for the relay is not connected securely, then the voltage is flickering at the relay. The relay could be bad, also. Is it brand new?
Make sure ALL your connections are secure. The vibrations from the engine is rattling a wire connection, or the relay plunger. If ALL your wire connections are secure, then make damn sure the nuts on the battery are tight. If the wire and battery connections are tight, then re-do all the connections on the relay. If that doesn't work, replace the relay. It is one of those things, it has to be.
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Post by userix on Oct 23, 2015 15:54:43 GMT -5
I have tried connecting the lights directly to battery and through relay. Both methods have the same flickering problem. Therefore it rules out the relay being bad.
Here another weird thing I just noticed when I connect a multimeter directly to the battery post terminals and have the engine idling, the reading directly at the battery will jump widly from 1v-13v. It won't ever go above 14 though. Rectifier is working properly. I have a voltmeter wired to the ignition source and it shows a steady 12.9 and up voltage. So what's puzzling is why voltage measured directly at the battery posts fluctuate wildly, while voltage at the switched Ignition source shows steady voltage that never drops below 12.7v. I thought the battery should be maintaining a steady voltage regardless if the engine is running, or at least not wildly fluctuate like it is right now. My scooter runs great, has no problem starting, but the only symptoms is flickering tailigh and flickering stage 6 fuel gauge that I'm sure is related to my electrical issue, whatever it might be.
I traced all ground wires and none of them are loose or shorted out. True Mind boggler
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