Amp Question

[BEER30]

I'm mounting an pole mounted Q-625 Amber Strobe Beacon lamp on the back of the scoot for traffic awareness for our group rides, mainly for Rolling Thunder's long trips. The strobe draws 3 amps. I have an off/on switch to turn off the carb heaters. I can also turn off my passing lamps to conserve battery juice. If I pull the BEERCART, I'll have an additional battery (lawn mower type) tied parallel into the scoot's system for added power. Will I be OK drawing the 3 amps without worry of draining the battery? I plan on getting another beacon later. I just happen to have this one right now and a LED Beacon. However the LED Beacon is less noticeable in daylight.

 

BEER30

[flb_78]

If you're running it while the bike is running, you should be fine. If you're running it with the bike off, I guess it depends on the condition of the battery.

 

My heated liner draws 7 amps with no ill effects.

[Flyinfool]

Your passing lamps alone draw a lot more than 3 Amps.

[twigg]

I'm mounting an pole mounted Q-625 Amber Strobe Beacon lamp on the back of the scoot for traffic awareness for our group rides, mainly for Rolling Thunder's long trips. The strobe draws 3 amps. I have an off/on switch to turn off the carb heaters. I can also turn off my passing lamps to conserve battery juice. If I pull the BEERCART, I'll have an additional battery (lawn mower type) tied parallel into the scoot's system for added power. Will I be OK drawing the 3 amps without worry of draining the battery? I plan on getting another beacon later. I just happen to have this one right now and a LED Beacon. However the LED Beacon is less noticeable in daylight.

 

BEER30

 

Work it out in Watts ... it's easier.

 

Find the amp output from the generator and multiply it by 14 (volts).

 

That is the total power produced .... Then make the subtractions (do this once and remember the power you have to play with. (Watts).

 

Allow about 30 Watts for battery charging, maybe 50 for the ignition. Then you have to add up the power consumed by all the lights that are perm. on ... Head, Tail, etc. Don't forget the panel lights ... Yheyt are 3.4W each, and there are a lot of them on some models.

 

Ignore the brakes and flashers ... If you plan to use the hazard lights while driving, then add up the bulbs and divide by two.

 

Take the total from the power produced and there you have the spare capacity. You might want to reduce it by say 10% for a safety margin.

 

Also ... a good voltmeter in the circuit will actually tell you when the battery is discharging.

[BEER30]

Work it out in Watts ... it's easier.

 

Find the amp output from the generator and multiply it by 14 (volts).

 

That is the total power produced .... Then make the subtractions (do this once and remember the power you have to play with. (Watts).

 

Allow about 30 Watts for battery charging, maybe 50 for the ignition. Then you have to add up the power consumed by all the lights that are perm. on ... Head, Tail, etc. Don't forget the panel lights ... Yheyt are 3.4W each, and there are a lot of them on some models.

 

Ignore the brakes and flashers ... If you plan to use the hazard lights while driving, then add up the bulbs and divide by two.

 

Take the total from the power produced and there you have the spare capacity. You might want to reduce it by say 10% for a safety margin.

 

Also ... a good voltmeter in the circuit will actually tell you when the battery is discharging.

 

Easier? That's a lot of finger counting, even before I get to my toes!

Then to add GPS, LED accent lights, Back-OFF, Mic-Mutes, Hoppy, Headlight Modulator, Cell phone, laptop, and Video camera chargers. It's too darn puzzling to add all these up plus the necessities of just what it needs for a scoot to operate. Plans are to switch out most of the incandescent bulbs out to LED's in the future, just don't when.

Brand new battery put in this past winter. I haven't found a voltmeter that amounted to crap! 3 MC brands, 3 failures ! I'm looking around for more styles/types, but haven't found one that isn't gaughty looking or out raging in price. I can wire up components, I know when they work or don't work. I see sparks, I feel zaps and shocks. It's just adding up amps, watts, ohms, and smelling smoke that confuses me .

Strobe will most likely be operational while motor running. I'll be watching closely when at idle or engine off if that occasion arises. I needed while parked, I will have it operate only off the BEERCART's battery. Primary use is for warning cagers of a large string of bikes ahead and also for lead bike to visually see the tail end of the group. Plus, then maybe some of them 18 wheeler will lay off my ass, as I'm normally last bike (w/trailer) in the pack.

 

Thanks gents for the info.

 

BEER30

[Yeah, Just Dale]

Could you wire in a second battery (in parallel), even if you mount it on the trailer or in a saddle bag? Shouldn't that give extra "capacity" so that even if the bike isn't generating enough to power everything it would take much longer to drain two batteries than one. Eventually you'll be riding without all the electrical turned on and then the charging should take care of both battieries. Or am I way off on this?

[twigg]

lol ... yeah it's easier

 

Mainly because pretty much everything quotes power consumed in Watts.

 

Once you have worked out the watts you have to spare once the necessities are taken care of, you instantly understand whether or not you can power an item.

 

All those little things, like GPS etc ... you can pretty much ignore them, the current draw is either tiny or not continuous.

 

So your bike spec will quote the maximum amperage of the generator ... multiply that by 14 ... the running voltage and after that it's easy

[BEER30]

Could you wire in a second battery (in parallel), even if you mount it on the trailer or in a saddle bag? Shouldn't that give extra "capacity" so that even if the bike isn't generating enough to power everything it would take much longer to drain two batteries than one. Eventually you'll be riding without all the electrical turned on and then the charging should take care of both battieries. Or am I way off on this?

If I have the BEERCART along, it has already an extra 230 amp battery inside tied in parallel to the scoot.

 

@ twigg. Then I should be G2G on scoot alone.

 

Thanks,

BEER30

[twigg]

Could you wire in a second battery (in parallel), even if you mount it on the trailer or in a saddle bag? Shouldn't that give extra "capacity" so that even if the bike isn't generating enough to power everything it would take much longer to drain two batteries than one. Eventually you'll be riding without all the electrical turned on and then the charging should take care of both battieries. Or am I way off on this?

 

You are not "way off" but it depends.

 

You are asking the whole setup to run in "deficit", that is, it will run on battery power that is slowly diminishing because it is charging capacity that counts. You can only produce power at the rate the stator can cope with.

 

So for a short journey no problem, but ultimately you will have to switch things off to keep going.

 

I do not know the potential consequences of driving the system so hard over a period of time. It may cause problems with the stator or, more likely, the Reg/Rec.

 

A better solution would be a higher output stator.

[Yeah, Just Dale]

You are not "way off" but it depends.

 

You are asking the whole setup to run in "deficit", that is, it will run on battery power that is slowly diminishing because it is charging capacity that counts. You can only produce power at the rate the stator can cope with.

 

So for a short journey no problem, but ultimately you will have to switch things off to keep going.

 

I do not know the potential consequences of driving the system so hard over a period of time. It may cause problems with the stator or, more likely, the Reg/Rec.

 

A better solution would be a higher output stator.

 

 

Got it, thanks.