LED's

[Hubie]

G'day Chaps,

Was wondering if anyone here is running a 6V +earth LED tail lamp and what difference it made to the rest of the lighting.  I know that LED's have much less current draw and are brighter.  I would go down the ALTON alternator path but I can't afford it.

Cheers,
Dave.

[a101960]

Dave, I long ago changed the stop/tail lamp for an LED unit, and have changed the speedo, and rev counter lamps to LED's too. Recently I have changed the pilot/parking lamp in the same way. Only the headlamp remains as a conventional filament lamp (45/40 halogen) and that is extremely bright and well within the capabilities of the dynamo. I would personally recommend that you fit a DVR2 regulator for optimum voltage control. The Alton has very little advantage over a dynamo at low speed. I have converted to 12v because with a DVR2 it is easy to do. The main advantage of doing this is lower losses through the wiring harness. The E3L dynamo works very well with an electronic regulator and is more than capable of supplying enough current to provide decent lighting especially so if you have LED tail and stop lamps.

John

[iansoady]

I would go down the ALTON alternator path but I can't afford it.

Cheers,
Dave.

When I bought my Velo it had an Alton fitted and I hated it - really noisy and the regulator allowed the battery to feed back and go flat unless it was switched off. I changed it for a dynamo / V-REG2 set up which was far better.

I understand a lot of people have had problems with Altons although I believe the warranty / after sales service is good.

[trevinoz]

Dave,
            What wattage headlight are you running?
For 6V system, 30/24 W is required. If you go higher, the generator will struggle.
If you do a lot of night riding, perhaps you should go 12 volt.
You can run higher wattage but the down side is that the generator doesn't cut in until higher in the rev range unless you rewind.

  Trev.

[Hubie]

Hi Trev,

Been very busy with work and haven't had the chance to check my lighting.  Will take a peek tonight but I'm pretty sure its either 30 or 24.  I have a DVR2 reg so I can convert to 12 volt very easy (have the bulbs lying around too) and see how it goes.  anyone had good experiences with the DVR2 running a 12 volt system?  Sounds like it might be a good idea to get the SRM belt drive for my dynamo to speed it up a little.

Cheers,
Dave.

[Brian]

Hubie I have one running 12v with a DVR2 and it works very well. I am using the standard generater with the chain drive. The difference in revs required to charge is minimal. Other than having brighter lights you wouldnt know there was any difference.

[Hubie]

Thanks Brian,

That gives me a bit of confidence.  Trev, I have a 35/35w halogen style globe in there and have switched to an old fashioned bulb 24/30w.  I now have to see why I don't have power to the bulb holder though!

Cheers,
Hubie.

[BSA_54A10]

Check the wiring very carefully particularly if a handle bar hi-low switch has been fitted.
One of my favourite "tricks" is to pop a volt meter across the headlamp plug.
Want to guess how many bikes show 4 Volts or less ?
A very small voltage drop at the globe will cause a very significant reduction in the out put from the globe.

[Hubie]

Will check it out, have had problems at the headlight switch before and sorted them.  Will start there and check the high/low switch too and work from there.

Cheers,
Dave.

[Hubie]

Got the headlamp working fine again now.  The bulb is halogen 35/35w.  What is recommended and will finding a +earth tail lamp bulb help the headlamp?  Also, anyone know where I can get 12 or 6v + earth tail lamp bulbs or is switching to - earth as simple as switching battery terminals?

Cheers,
Hubie.

[muskrat]

G'day Hubbie,
                  I don't think globes care which way they get their juice. Battery, dynamo and reg on the other hand !
Cheers

[Hubie]

G'day Jim,

The LED globes will care, I've tried 12 volt tail lamp from my suzuki in my super meteor which is +earth and it doesn't work.  Current only goes one way.

Cheers,
Hubie.

[BSA_54A10]

Yep it is as simple as swapping over the battery leads.
You may or may not have to flash the dynamo.
The regulator is ( or should be ) insulated from the bike which is why there is a "E" terminal.

[chaterlea25]

HI Dave,
You dont say which regulaor your bike has
Electronic ones are either pos or neg earth, reversing the battery will fry them
If its a mech reg, just reflash the field to suit the new polarity
HTH
John O R

[Hubie]

Forgot completly forgot about that!  VregII is +earth only!

[Gavin]

I just stuck a small 12v battery in the toolbox, and ran a self contained system to do brakes, tail light and indicators. as it draws such a small amount of power, i just charge it up on a charger once in a while. can send pix if you are interested. needs a bit of wiring, and a couple of switches... but with shrink tape and the like these days, the job can be pretty discreet.

[bsa- bill]

Hi Gavin if you would be so kind, I'd like a pic of that set up and dimensions of the battery and supplier for a completely different reason

[Hubie]

G'day all,

Have ordered one of Goffy's LED lightboards for the tail lamp, hopefully this will push a bit more juice through the headlamp.  Have also got a 6v LED globe for the speedo and a 12v +earth Tail light for the Super Meteor.  Will re post once they're all set up.

Cheers,
Dave.

[Gavin]

Hi Bill here's a pix or 2 of the 12v battery. I just tucked it away in the tool box, alongside an oil filter Orabanda installed for me.

[Hubie]

I've taken things a little step further today too.  Am still waiting on the LED light board for the tail lamp and a 6v instrument bulb.  I had a 5w instrument bulb, 21w tail lamp bulb and a 35w headlamp bulb.  That makes 61watts!  The LED's should help I hope.  I have bought a 7 inch halogen (h4 bulb type) semi sealed lens/reflector which should distribute the light alot better than the old glass and reflector does.  Coming with it from across the pond I have managed to find a 35/35w h4 type bulb to go with it.

I shall report on the results as soon as I have all the bits installed.

Cheers,
Hubie.