Quote:
Originally Posted by jjackstone
Christ,
Just finished reading through this post. Possibly I missed the reason you wanted to bring this up to a 12 volt system. Was that just to be able to use standard automotive LED's? Also you'd obviously need to toss in a 12 Volt headlight. If you measured the output of your rectifier and it is as high as 8 volts, then the system is probably charging properly.
I bought my wife a cm200t about 18 years ago to learn on and that bike regularly returned 70 mpg with no mods. Now she's riding a Honda 650 that still gets her around 50-60 mpg.
As far as the lithium idea goes, probably not a good one. Lithium cells in general need to be charged within a specific range depending on their particular type of chemical makeup. Some like being charged a little above 4V(per cell), some prefer around 3.6V/cell. A standard charger would probably toast them. However, you might just disconnect the whole charging system, use a couple of Dewalt 36V batteries paralleled up, get a DC to DC converter to step back down to 12 volts and then pull the batteries to charge them in the standard Dewalt charger. Just another possibility.
JJ
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The reason for wanting to upgrade to 12V output was for the ability to use accessories, modern lighting, etc. I've seen how dim the 6V headlight is, and it's just not safe at speed out here on the country roads.
I had also briefly considered what you've suggested with the drill motor batteries, except using the Lithium inline packs and charging them with the normal charger, and it really seems like too much work/money for the minimal power draw the AC generator has on the motor under it's current configuration. I did, however, consider using a microswitch to control a charge relay that will stop the alternator from charging unless the throttle is off (decel).
What about Ni-Cd or Ni-MH batteries? Would either of those accept the type of charge I'd be giving them?
PS - The LED's, it really doesn't matter if I have a 12V or 6V system, I can just wire the panel differently for them. I'm probably going to keep the OEM configuration for lighting, then add in strips of LEDs placed in such a way that they make the size/shape of the vehicle known to other operators on the roads. Since I'm decreasing the profile from slim to anorexic, and smoothing out the body a bit, it might be a little more difficult for motorists to recognize that I'm on the road, so I want to maximize the visibility of the bike without compromising my goals.