Setting up my wiring

[Matt29]

Im putting everything back together again (took lots of pictures) but I don't know anything about electrical really. My kart (Manco Dingo) doesn't have a battery and runs the headlight straight off the motor. But the previous wiring doesn't really make much sense to me and Im trying to figure out how to set it up again.

The diagram I made below shows how it was set up when I got it. The black wire coming off the headlight was the only one that was grounded, and it was attached to the engine block with one of those fork connectors. The kill switch black wire wasn't connected to anything, but from searching it looks like it just gets grounded to the frame?

I guess I dont really understand the science behind this. The green lead that comes from the engine connects to the yellow on the kill switch, then the kill switch has the black wire that gets connected to something (frame I think). How does this kill the karts engine?

Next question would be what do the Yellow and Red wires do coming from the engine? I take it at least the Yellow is (+) that connects with the Black that goes to the light? And maybe the Red from the engine would have been for an electric starter?

If that's the case, when I want to add a brake light, can I just tap into the unused Red wire from the engine with another fuse between the brake light and the connector?

The OEM headlight bulb was 12v 55w so I am hoping that added two 12v, low watt LED headlight and brake light wont be an issue.

Sorry if this is long winded, and I really appreciate any help.

 

[itsid]

the green wire goes to the ignition coil (or if it's an old engine the contactor behind the flywheel)
Anyways.. if grounded it prevents the ignition coil to fire a spark..
no spark, no running engine

it's hard to tell how the red and yellow wire are set up from what little info you gave...
chances are, it's the direct lighting coil access.
Then both wires (red and yellow) are perfectly identical, except they run out of phase.
As it is set up now you only use half of the power generated by the lighting coil.

120W is a bit large I think... I expect more like 50-80W max coming from the coil...
I'd check that with the engine manual.

Anyways.. no the red one is not necessarily the starter.

If I'm correct, you cannot run LEDS, you'd need to include a rectifier first since what you're having now is AC and LEDs are always DC...
You can tap into the yellow wire (well red, since you want to have it fused )
to attach a brake light, as long as it's a conventional bulp you should be good,
without any further parts (well the brake switch of course)

'sid

 

[Matt29]

the green wire goes to the ignition coil (or if it's an old engine the contactor behind the flywheel)
Anyways.. if grounded it prevents the ignition coil to fire a spark..
no spark, no running engine

it's hard to tell how the red and yellow wire are set up from what little info you gave...
chances are, it's the direct lighting coil access.
Then both wires (red and yellow) are perfectly identical, except they run out of phase.
As it is set up now you only use half of the power generated by the lighting coil.

120W is a bit large I think... I expect more like 50-80W max coming from the coil...
I'd check that with the engine manual.

Anyways.. no the red one is not necessarily the starter.

If I'm correct, you cannot run LEDS, you'd need to include a rectifier first since what you're having now is AC and LEDs are always DC...
You can tap into the yellow wire (well red, since you want to have it fused )
to attach a brake light, as long as it's a conventional bulp you should be good,
without any further parts (well the brake switch of course)

'sid

Thank you, Sid!

Yeah, sorry I don't know all the terms very everything just yet. The green does come off the ignition coil and the red/yellow are bunched together in a shroud that is fed back near the magneto(?).

Kind of sucks, I already got an LED headlight too. At least the break light I got is a conventional bulb.



I cant find an engine manual that states its output, but would a multimeter be able to tell if I probed the red and yellow from the engine?

Thanks!

 

[itsid]

well the easiest way is telling us what engine you have
(engine product code) then the manual will tell us(you) what lighting coil is installed
if it already has a rectifier or not etc.

but yes, a multimeter can tell.

'sid

 

[Matt29]

Tecumseh 10 HP engine
Model HM100 159429R (B)

 

[Matt29]

Tecumseh 10 HP engine
Model HM100 159429R (B)

Also, I had seen these in a previous build here. http://www.plasmaled.com/high_power_module.htm

But if the kart puts off AC, should one of these be fine then?
http://www.plasmaled.com/AC-110V-240V-HIGH-POWER.htm

 

[itsid]

Okay, I checked the manual:
http://www.barrettsmallengine.com/tecumsehpartslist/HM100-159429R.pdf

the alternator comes with a diode (poor mans rectifier) so it already delivers DC
Unfortunately it does not come with a voltage regulator..

Anyways

please refer to the Manco Dingo wiring schematics
http://www.amsportworks.com/pdfs/go...286_operatorsmanual_286182e2861824286182p.pdf

(asuming it's a 286 Dingo) since it came with the Tecumseh engine...

As you can see the yellow wire is fed to the green on the engine;

And the red one goes to the light switch and then splits into head and tail light.

Now, if you want to add a brake light, I assume you do not want it to be toggled by the switch;

So the red one goes Into the light switch.
at that point route a second wire down to your brake pedal switch, and from there to the brakelight.
that way it'll light up when braking even if the tail light is off.

And it's perfectly okay to run LED lights, as long as you have them attached correctly.

'sid

 

[Matt29]

Thank you sir! Ill give it a shot when I get the engine mounted this week and let you know (assuming you want to )

Awesome.