As you know, I fitted a voltmeter. I fitted this because I know the Tiger can struggle under load.
So recently I have also fitted fog lights. Today was the first time this year I have managed to get out and ride any distance ....
anywhooo ... Running heated grips at 50% I turned the fogs on, on a stretch of road I know they would be useful... and watched the voltmeter dive a good volt and a half .. ish.
Not too happy about that, especially after readin on here that the charging system doesn't like it too much, so I turned them off again.
The voltmeter is connected as close to the battery as possible, on the accessory rail (like the one listed on here, great idea btw) ...
So, do I ....
1 - Change to LED running lights (the fogs were designed to produce 3 points of refernce of my approaching bike... for them numpty car drivers )
2- Upgrade the alternator?
Suggestions appreciated! I hope I have included enough info!!
Thats quite a drop and would clearly effect the battery charge. Couple of comments from me:
Have you also done the Sasquatch mod to remove the excess wiring.... as this could give you back what you are loosing?
Upgrading / changing the alternator is not a realistic option... There certainly isn't a bolt on exchange for this anyone has posted here (and it would require some wiring upgrade also). So if your Fogs are there for presence, changing them would be your best option. There may be a time when you want that extra power in the grips.... and there's never a time when you don't want her to start.
Hey, thanks for the input.
No I haven't done that voltage fix yet. I have read it a couple of times. I'm still going over it in my head before I tackle that one.
Alternator - I'd figured as much, nice to have it confirmed
Think the LED running lights are the way to go.
I lashed up some LED running lights before Xmas, here:
http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,7111 (http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,7111)
Cheap and cheerful... :D
lol , cheers Bob, I actually have/had that open in another tab. currently looking at them LED things on fleabay.
Can I ask which resistors you used? and where you sourced them from?
Many thankles :D
I was fortunate to have an old Autocom power supply lying around which has two outputs: 9v for the Autocom and 5v for charging phones etc. I used the 5v output and a variable resistor (200ohm I think) then just wound the resistance down until they were bright but not full on. I think, even as day running lights, at full brightness they'd get some unwanted attention. In these lamps, the LEDs are wired in parallel so I'm guessing one resistor at 470 ohm but not sure of the wattage. You could rob a volume control from an old radio as long as it's 0-500ohm minimum, set your brightness and then measure what you've got. Something like this should give you a good safety margin, just make sure you start with high resistance and work down:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1k-POTENTIOMETER- ... 439c414315 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1k-POTENTIOMETER-Lin-variable-Linear-1-k-resistor-pot_W0QQitemZ290384331541QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET?hash=item439c414315)
Super stuff, thanks muchly.
Dan-no need to spend your shillings on the LED lights.
Do the Sasquatch fix and you should be golden.
Look for my post from last fall on the insane amount of juice Im pulling off my old girl without a problem.
Cheers
Akey is looking at doing that fix to his Girly. I'll let him do it first so I can have a look see :mrgreen:
Just bring the bike over mate we can sort it, would be a good excuse to head out for a ride as well !!!!!
Tested mine the other night:
with spots and heated grips on full (approx 160W) voltage dropped to 12.1v, rev the bike to 2500 and I get 13v this is without the fix.
Oh Dan where did you get a voltmeter from??
Fleabay of all places !!!
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TIM-Superdash-12v ... 3ca204bb07 (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TIM-Superdash-12v-Battery-Voltmeter-Gauge-TIM-307_W0QQitemZ260416256775QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM?hash=item3ca204bb07)