know the AC voltage output?

[jaguar]

Mine is only 9.5 volts and since the bulbs are 12v and someone on this forum said the voltage should be 12 volts I replaced the regulator with a "Volt Pack" from MX South. In about 1.5 seconds it blew my halogen lamp. !@#$%
When looking at the original regulator it does say "9.5" on the second line.
Has anyone with a good digital voltmeter measured the output? (I measured mine at the turn signals using the "hold" setting which captures the peak reading.)

 

[Jasle]

At the Turn signal you should be measuring Roughly 12V DC.
Most setups are lower at low RPM and a little higher at high RPM. About 14.3V would be MAX.
Anywhere in the circuit after the regulator should be DC. The regulator clips the AC voltage coming from the diodes and makes a realativly smooth DC.
Not sure what a Volt pack is so I don't know the output voltage.
Also I am thinking if you don't have a totally smooth DC voltage you would get a reading on the AC scale. But I wouldn't figure it to be 9.5VAC seems like it should be lower depending on the ripple in your DC.

Of course there could be an AC dualsport kit out there I just haven't noticed it.

 

[jaguar]

A rippled DC won't give an AC reading,
but a DC voltmeter with a rectifier on the input will give a reading when connected to AC. Maybe that is your case.
I need to use my oscilloscope to verify the output voltage. Maybe my meter isn't reading right.
A "volt pack" is a 12 volt AC voltage regulator.
I'd like to hear from anyone else that is electronics savvy.

 

[WoWman]

I ***think*** that this bike puts out AC through out, doesn't it??? If it don't have a batterie, it puts out AC voltage. If you go to fourstrokesonly.com, they have horns for AC (NO bat) and horns for DC bikes (baterie)...

So if the regulator said "9.5", try putting it back on, having lower than 12v on a 12v bulb won't hurt it at all, just may be a bit dimmer.

Also, what RPM did you check the voltage at??? You should be checking it at around 4-5k rpms for a good reading.

 

[canyncarvr]

Jag:
Keep in mind the average (probably) reading that your meter is giving you. Of course, from the same post that info came from, we know I'm a complete idiot, so........;)

I'll check mine tonight and let you know. I recall mine being around 12VAC, but I haven't looked at it in a while.

Keep in mind too, my bike is a US version...no turn signals, no 'SR' after the '200'.

 

[Jasle]

Originally posted by jaguar
A rippled DC won't give an AC reading,
but a DC voltmeter with a rectifier on the input will give a reading when connected to AC. Maybe that is your case.
I need to use my oscilloscope to verify the output voltage. Maybe my meter isn't reading right.
A "volt pack" is a 12 volt AC voltage regulator.
I'd like to hear from anyone else that is electronics savvy.

Does your meter read peak to peak or RMS? If it reads RMS what you reading sounds about right. 12.5 Vp-p would read about 8.83V RMS. (12.5*.707) (Or if you take 9.5 * 1.414=12.76 RMS to P-P conversion) I have seen this several times. Try the scope.

Also I am sure if you had a 3V ripple riding a 10V DC you would read some of that ripple on the AC scale. Since its an AC voltage just elevated above ground by DC. I'm sure this is not what you are seeing now that I know you have an AC system with that Voltpak.

Jason

 

[jaguar]

Hi
I just looked at the output to the headlight with an oscilloscope and found an unregulated AC voltage that was at zero volts about half the time. The peak was about 35 volts so average was about 24. With a 50% duty cycle that puts it right at 12 volts. So my regulator is either OK or accidentally putting out a wierd signal that averages out to normal power.
The “volt pack” from Moose is a DC regulator. One of its wires (brown) is connected to its body which needs to go to ground (frame). Internally it has a diode which shorts out any negative voltage at the other wire (yellow).
It looks like bajadesigns.com has an AC voltage regulator (#122002) for $15.

 

[canyncarvr]

jag:
Wasn't there a point made (earlier post) of AC vs: DC and such? That you have an AC system? How/why did you end up with a DC regulator?

I'm not harping on you...but hope nothing was said that was misunderstood or misleading.

 

[jaguar]

I told MXSouth that I wanted an AC regulator and that's what they sold me.

 

[canyncarvr]

oops. They should send you a new bulb or two for your trouble.

Measured with a digital meter, stator output (yellow wire) to ground my bike puts out 12.6-13.0 VAC. (DC of zip. btw)

Something to consider...and not related particularly, but the 13.0 VAC was measured more as a burst (more than a peak) as the rpm came DOWN. There's something happening with the magnetic field that's certainly beyond me. There's some obscure reason an aftermarket lighting coil gives you a better spark, but I don't know what it is. Mr. Fredette recommends increasing the power output of the lighting coil as a performance tip (the better spark thing), but I've not heard an explanation as to why.

Specifically, my riding buddy talked to fredette and was told that. It took me over a YEAR to figure out howcome my buddy's bike 'all of a sudden' ran better than mine. The two bikes had been stroke-for-stroke dead even...then something changed.

He put in a lighting coil is what it was!

Some sort of expanding/collapsing flux issue combined with the (approx) 180º juxtaposition of the two coils I 'spose...

Anyway..a US kdx200 with an electriks 70W rated coil runs a good 12.6-13.0 VAC.

Hope you post a resolution to your lighting tbls.

Cheers!

 

[jaguar]

thanks. I'm going to keep it stock and now I'm importing another bulb.