Hour meter wiring

[sho305]

If you use the stock gen just hook it to the solenoid pedal wire, 12v. If you don't well that is something to figure out, though who is going to leave the key in run position when its not running?

[KRAZYMATT]

Originally Posted by sho305

If you use the stock gen just hook it to the solenoid pedal wire, 12v. If you don't well that is something to figure out, though who is going to leave the key in run position when its not running?

I have left the key in the on position numerous times. Lots late night trail riding and maybe some drinks mixed in will do that sometime. Can’t tell you how many times I’ve woken up at the camp with the cart key left on or lights left on. I am using the oem Honda 18a charge coil and Honda 4 magnet flywheel so I just ran 2 #16 wires from the ac output wires where they connect to the rectifier and got a ac/dc hour meter that accepts 6-80volts. Should accomplish what I am after.

[sho305]

That would be ideal to run it on AC that would only be there when running. I didn't know they existed good find. Late night rides, back from the campfires lol yep.

[KRAZYMATT]

Well the hour meter is installed and counting good. No dc output from my rectifier. Verified ground is good. Verified stater output from coil 25vac at higher rpm so it looks good. Got a bad 1 out of the box!

[KRAZYMATT]

Replaced rectifier with another new unit. Again 23vac from coil, hour meter counts fine, no output from rectifier. Kind of stumped. Gonna unhook the hour meter tommorow and try again. Can’t find specs for the Omron rectifier.

[KRAZYMATT]

Ahhhh finally found specs for this rectifier- gonna have to switch it to the kholer unit Shepard suggested (I already have it purchased). This omron unit wants 41vac @ 3600. The Honda coil puts out 23-26vac @ 3600. When I have the omron unit hooked up I see a very small bump in battery voltage from 12.4vdc battery voltage to 12.7vdc @ WOT. So it tries to charge just never can get to operating voltage. When I pull lead off battery I get 0.0vdc - according to the manual there has to be some voltage from the battery to “turn it on” so I guess that’s why I see no output when the battery is not connected. It’s a shame because I’m this unit fit really nicely in the cooling shroud. The kholer is a much larger unit with all the cooling fins. Would it hurt to mill the cooling fins down some if it’s going to be mounted inside the shroud and have constant flow of air from the cooling fan whenever the motor is running? It should be suffienect enough flow to directly cool the rectifier even with modified cooling fins? I’m not saying mill unit smooth. Just knock it down about half height so i can bolt to the shroud and clear the flywheel...

[KRAZYMATT]

Here’s the specs for the omron unit- I had a 20amp model.

[Shepard]

Originally Posted by KRAZYMATT

Ahhhh finally found specs for this rectifier- gonna have to switch it to the kholer unit Shepard suggested (I already have it purchased). This omron unit wants 41vac @ 3600. The Honda coil puts out 23-26vac @ 3600. When I have the omron unit hooked up I see a very small bump in battery voltage from 12.4vdc battery voltage to 12.7vdc @ WOT. So it tries to charge just never can get to operating voltage. When I pull lead off battery I get 0.0vdc - according to the manual there has to be some voltage from the battery to “turn it on” so I guess that’s why I see no output when the battery is not connected. It’s a shame because I’m this unit fit really nicely in the cooling shroud. The kholer is a much larger unit with all the cooling fins. Would it hurt to mill the cooling fins down some if it’s going to be mounted inside the shroud and have constant flow of air from the cooling fan whenever the motor is running? It should be suffienect enough flow to directly cool the rectifier even with modified cooling fins? I’m not saying mill unit smooth. Just knock it down about half height so i can bolt to the shroud and clear the flywheel...

l started out using the kohler rectifier - it was mounted in the fan cover plate. This in the long run restricted the air flow to much and my operating temp was was up around 225 on my temp gauge - my charging system was putting out 13.7 volts. l went to a frame mounted Harley FL rectifier/voltage regulator and my dash volt gauge went up to 14.7 with all the lights turned on. This setup keeps my battery charged and not boiling it dry from overcharging it. This was cheaper in the over all build.

[KRAZYMATT]

Wonder what the specs are for the kholer unit maybe their coil puts out a little more so the Honda coil was low on the input side? I ordered the Harley unit to bolt to frame rail like you suggested. How long is the leads coming from the Harley unit?

[Shepard]

Originally Posted by KRAZYMATT

Wonder what the specs are for the kholer unit maybe their coil puts out a little more so the Honda coil was low on the input side? I ordered the Harley unit to bolt to frame rail like you suggested. How long is the leads coming from the Harley unit?

One lead is about 40 inches that goes to the battery -- the 2 AC leads are about 6 inches after you cut the plug off. Plenty of length for bullet connectors so you can plug into the Honda stator wires. l did it this way cause the stator connectors are soft and waterproof. When l used the kohler rectifier l soldered together push on female spade and bullet connectors as an adapter so l wouldn't have to cut the stator leads.
The Harley rectifier will charge high in the beginning then come down to max charge of 14.7 volts. I always run with my lights on but the load is so minimal cause there all led's -- even the fan cooled head light bulbs.
One other thought -- the bigger the battery the lower the charge rate will be. I run a lawn tractor battery - it's new so it doesn't take much to charge it. I want to switch over to a larger battery so l can run some accessories without fear of killing the battery