Generator giving me more horsepower, seemingly?

jolfstn

jolfstn

Member
Greetings all. Haven't posted in quite a while. On my latest build, I've added a 12v mini gen max from Wonderful Creations ebay store, as well as the voltage regulator/battery charger to a re-purposed 11.1v laptop battery. Using this to power headlight, turn signal , brake light, horn and cell charger via a 5v step down. so here's the odd bit. I get lots more torque and speed while the charger and generator are in operation. when I unplug it the idle and engine power decrease markedly. I guessed a possible short somewhere but cannot find one. Also, my turn signal relay, works fine when the engine is off and Im using just the battery. When the engine is on, the blink rate is very rapid and uneven/wonky. I've tried unplugging the charger while the motor is running (hence my discovery of the power decrease when not using charger/generator) but it seems to do with the fact that the engine is running nearby as isolating the circuit has no effect . Ive since fried my relay somehow and am getting another. Anyone else notice this issue?
 
I had the generator installed and it seemed to rob engine power dramatically. Although I did not have a battery installed and was running a small led head light after I rectified the power to dc. My guess is possibly the battery could be energizing the coil on the ignition side of magneto(as long as the mag and gen are not electrically isolated from each other at the installation point) and is causing the ignition coil to output a higher current or voltage?. Do you have a picture/skematic of the regulator/charging unit you purchased that you could post so I can get a better idea of what components are used in the unit?

With Regards,

Erick
 
Maybe this is true, some how as Erick says it may equate to a continuous field flashing of the generator, by having a battery that is fully charged connected to the generator sharing the same magneto rotor. See Field Flash where some generators do not have permanent magnets. Also Magnetos sometime I hear can be still good, but don't work when old and have a similar way to Flash. This gets back spark. I think the difference is that in the magneto it is normally by using a permanent magnet, rather than hooking up a voltage source.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excitation_(magnetic)
 
Last edited:
I"m not nearly enough of an electronics guy to even make a guess about this.

But it's interesting to me because I've been thinking about putting a 12 Volt bottle generator on on of my wheels, running that through a voltage regulator and using it to charge a battery. Which would then power headlights, etc.

I wonder if the same sorts of electrical interference might happen then.

I'll be interested in anything you learn about this. Best of luck with it.

Increased engine performance is pretty neat, of course. But if it messes with turn signal relays and such, well that is a downside.
 
Actually if there is an indicator that the battery is charging with the generator setup, and there is greater power in the engine that is sensed, putting an ammeter to measure current going into the battery would be interesting.

One reason is I want to be sure, is what if the battery is draining and that is adding a better spark. Usually a better spark is not going to give much better power unless the spark was not very good in the first place. If it were draining, still there is no direct connection, so it would have to be greater magnetic flux in the common rotor.

If there is an indicator light, or you measured the current showing charging of the battery, then in I could only go with the idea that something to do with added magnetic flux in the setup that the shared magneto is befitting from. Shared I mean as they have a common rotor.
 
I wonder if the generator circuit is working in reverse and operating somwhat like a DC motor until a certain RPM over which it generates voltage over that of the battery and charges it. I know it's a longshot but it could possibly happen if there isn't diodes in the system. If you post up your wiring schematic it would interesting to see if this is the case. A test to see if it's raising the spark energy is you could just ground an external spark plug to the engine and see if the spark is brighter when you pedal start, or use an inline spark tester. This is really interesting to see improved performance from a charging circuit as they usually draw power away, if it can be wired in such a way that it serves as a CDI booster, that means richer jetting is possible, and more power!
 
The RPM thing sounds plausible. As I mentioned earlier was there possibility that an ammeter could be inserted before the battery to see if it is always really charging. If there is no reverse drain from battery protection to the generator (I know drain to lights are OK), then this is the way it should be. Otherwise as 16v4nrbrgr mentions about the gen acting as a dc motor, I'd say increasing the magnetic flux lines (beyond the engines own permanent magnet) for a better spark maybe.
 
I'm thinking that maybe the charging circuit could allow for a stronger spark by providing a more constant dc current to the ignition if wired a certain way, especially after looking at this diagram:
attachment.php
 
I have the 12v mini max generator as well .. I'm no electrician by far .. but my question is that I also have the handlebar light / blinker / horn switch . I am going to run 2 mounted LED headlights and of course my concern is the wiring . Does the 12v mini max generator run to the handlebar switch to control the headlights , or just run it straight to the headlights ? Of course I want to tu4n them off . I also have a nice rear LED tailight I'd like to incorporate with this lighting set up ... anyone have the specs for the wiring ?
Thank You Very Kindly
 

Attachments

  • 20170116_103945.jpg
    20170116_103945.jpg
    680.8 KB · Views: 359
Last edited:
I do have very small 12v battery thats 4"x4"x3" quite small .. does the mini generator get wired to that battery with an in line fuse then out to the handlebar switches ?
I sure could be schooled on this please , I do have a unique ride and certainly want my lights incorporated to this bike .
 

Attachments

  • 20170116_103943.jpg
    20170116_103943.jpg
    657.6 KB · Views: 287
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top