Dynamo charging system

[butterbean]

My system is not quite complete at the moment due to having fried the first dynamo I used. It was given to me, so at least I didn't waste any money on it. First I will outline my lighting system and power source. I'm using a GUIA moped headlight that mounts to mounting brackets on my suzuki k10 forks. The bulb powering my headlight is a 5w 60 led automotive bulb. It is a dual contact bulb, but I do not have high and low beam, just an spst (single pole, single throw) toggle switch to turn it on. My brake light is an old yamaha turn signal converted into a brake light, with a 3.6w 18 led automotive bulb. For a battery, I'm using a 12v, 1.2Ah SLA battery. The generator will be connected to a 12v mini-charger from wonderful creations (also given to me) that contains a rectifier and a voltage regulator. The charger also has an inline fuse holder, which I am running a 4A glass fuse in. I have a rockford fosgate 5 pole power terminal that was also given to me by a different friend. The positives from the battery, the charger and both headlights are connected to this terminal. Everything is grounded to the frame. I ordered a replacement generator Friday, and it arrived today from California. Super fast shipping. Now onto the generator. I believe that one possible cause of the other generator getting fried was that it spun too fast. So what I decided to do to prevent that was to use a larger drive wheel. Based on my calculations, a 2" R/C car tire being used as a drive wheel will produce rpms' in the generator at motorized speeds comparable to those produced by a normal sized drive wheel at pedal speeds. I have not installed the generator on the bike yet due to some other repairs that need to take place first, but I have installed the R/C car tire on the generator. I was planning to run the generator directly on the rim's braking surface, but I realized that given what my bike has done to brake pads at motorized speeds, I think its best to run it on the tire instead. I've also ordered a battery gauge, and when the battery is displaying full voltage I plan on leaving the generator disengaged, only engaging it when the voltage begins to drop. This should make the battery and the generator both last longer. I'm going to wire a toggle switch between the battery and the rest of the system somehow.

 

[butterbean]

I didn't get to install the generator today. I had a few other things to fix on the bike today. I had to true my rear wheel and repair my gas tank. Some jacko hit it the other day and knocked it over. Still waiting on a replacement mirror, but everything else is fixed.

 

[butterbean]

Well, my charging system is now complete. I swaped out the wonderful creations mini charger for a scooter regulator, put a new fuse in, and also added a custom homemade battery gauge with a switch on my handlebars.