Lighting Up My Kart

[l008com]

Greetings

So I have a Manco Dingo 286, with a Subaru Robin EX17 engine. I recently cleaned it up after letting it sit for a bunch of years and it's running great. The kart came with a headlight. It fell off from vibrations pretty quickly after I bought the kart (some 15 years ago). Now I want to get some new lighting going. I found some nice little red LEDs to use for tail lights, and several different options to use for an LED headlight.

But here's the thing. First, is the engine putting out AC or DC? If it's AC, how can I convert it to DC? Also, how do I know how much "accessory electrical power" this engine can make? I don't want to overload it. But I also don't want to get only a 15 watt headlight if the kart can easily power a 30 watt. The tail lights only use about 1/4 watt each, so they really don't even factor in to the math.

 

[jeeperjoel]

puts out dc, should be 12v, my gx 390 has a 3 amp charging circuit, doubt it would be higher than that, look up specs on engine, p (watts)=I (amperage)XE (voltage) so 3 amps X 12 volts= 36 watts, like we were discussing a couple weeks ago now somewhere in "vancart super build" you won't always have headlights on, only at night right? battery should work fine to run lights even over charging circuit size, then battery can charge to full capacity during the day... putting 2 of these lights on my cart, tested off battery, really bright! http://www.ebay.com/itm/251730759445?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT, right at my charging circuit limit, adding my tail/brake puts me a little over, but oh well, i was impressed when i plugged it to battery, didn't think they'd be as good as they are

 

[l008com]

The only spec I was able to find was in the service manual PDF, where it states the Charging Capacity as:
12-1A, 3A, 16.7A (Option)

I'm not sure how to read that? How do I know which one I have? If mine also does 36 watts, that would be plenty. I could run one of those 18watt led headlights, 1watt worth of tail light, and be well within my available power.

 

[l008com]

Also, slightly off topic but, I've been browsing around and there are a million different options out there for LED 'atv' headlights. But every single one is made of 6000-6500K LEDs. Aren't there any 4000-4500K LED headlights available? Sure you won't get quite as much light out of it, but you should still be able to get plenty of light. And the color would be so much more natural looking, unlike the unpleasant blueness of 6000k.

Also keep in mind that for my use, the headlight is going to be more of a "so they can see me" light, more so than a "i need to see them" light.

 

[jeeperjoel]

15 years ago i doubt it was an led headlight it came with, those are becoming popular only more recently, the other traditional bulbs use much more power... i'm sure being you had a headlight before 1 of those 18 watt lights will be no problem, no idea on colors/spectrum, you'll have to look around

 

[anderkart]

The only spec I was able to find was in the service manual PDF, where it states the Charging Capacity as:
12-1A, 3A, 16.7A (Option)

I'm not sure how to read that? How do I know which one I have? If mine also does 36 watts, that would be plenty. I could run one of those 18watt led headlights, 1watt worth of tail light, and be well within my available power.

Check out section 7 (ELECTRIC DEVICE GROUP) at this link:
http://www.amsportworks.com/pdfs/other/robin-subaru/robin_subaru_partsmanual_ex13ex17ex21.pdf

If your EX17 has the optional high output 200-watt (16.7-amp) charging system, It'll have a regulator-rectifier (part# 277-71901-01) that looks like pic #13.

Or, If your EX17 came with the 40-watt (3-amp) charging system, It' just have a rectifier diode (part# 246-71903-01) instead. (pic not available)

Or, If your EX17 came with the standard 15-watt (1-amp) charging system, It'll have a rectifier diode with the 247-71401-01 part number, and look like pic #14.

 

[l008com]

Ok I'm in the document you linked to, and I'm looking at section 7. I see the diagrams but I don't see any labeled 13 and 14?

Also, it sounds like all three options include rectifiers, and so they would be outputting DC?

This is getting weirder and weirder. I put a multimeter on the two wire leads today and I got 0v DC, and 9.5v AC at idle, up to about 28v AC revving the engine.

... wait are you talking about part # 13 and #14 in picture #700 ?
If so, I only have to conductors come out, and it looks like both the 200 watt and the 15 watt have four conductors. So I guess that means I have the 40 watt? I tried googling for an image of the 40 watt coil to confirm that it only has two leads, but apparently a photo of this part does not exist.

 

[anderkart]

Yep, those are the pics I meant.

Do you still have the Rectifier-Diode or Regulator-Rectifier that originally came with your engine?

Check out this info: http://improvingyourmokai.com/index.php/topic,176.0.html

 

[l008com]

Well, according to the reading I'm getting off my multimeter, there is no rectifier or regulator. BUT I didn't remove anything except the light bulb itself. So if it came with one then it should still be there. I'm very confused. I'm going to read that thread right now ...

(If my kart is putting out 200 watts, I'm thinking forget about the LED, I may get an HID projector)