Forum

[Peter 53]

Jacob - fit a powerbox and as Alan R says it's "fit and forget".
I'm with you on the points, but please listen to what Norm has advised - he is spot on with his electrical knowledge.

[JTL]

Hi all ... hijacking within the topic is welcome and Norms advice is more than welcome. It's not that I don't want to change ac to dc; at the time being I just don't know enough about it. I guess comments in this post and Norms ac to dc conversion thread explains very clearly why the change should be done. I might not entirely get the practical part about fitting a relay to the brake contact line and especially what kind of relay, but this can be learned... I do a lot of riding in the city. This means a lot of trafic lights with stops. I have grown a habit of slightly reving the engine so it doesn't cut out at red light. Otherwise I have no problems riding with the ac system. Nighttime riding provides loads of bright light. My headlight is a 55/60 watt Philips Motovision. I do have flickering lights in the speedo, but this should be provided from the dc system? Anyway, given the problems I have with my electrics and part of the wirering this might be the time to do a ac to dc change. The replacements parts I need to fix the bike will be the same expense as doing a conversion. I just need to know what relay to use and why it has to be a Boyer Powerbox. I guess any single phase 12 volt regulator/rectifier will do, or am I missing something here?... Norm, did you do a wirering diagram for your conversion? If so, can you post it here?... all the best Jacob

[Alan (Lancashire)]

a boyer powebox is just a normal reg/rect , however it has a capacitor built in it , this is great if you are running "battery less " , however the capacitor is of no use if there is a battery in the circuit

the capacitor smooth's out the ripples between the alternators 3 pulses (coils or sets of coils)

If you are going to continue using a battery then a std 4 wire reg/rect is ok

rex caunt does a good quality ac regulator , far better than the indian mfg one

[Norm]

Hi Jacob, I just detailed the conversion but it obviously timed out and I lost it . The reason for using the Boyer is because it is a known unit and the standard Indian rec/reg won't handle the increased wattage. The Boyer is rated at 180 watts. If you can find something else that will cope then go for it. Wassel and Sparx are about the same price so this is why I use the Boyer. 2 purples from the alt, connect one purple to the yellow, the other to the orange, then connect these to either yellow from the Boyer into the original rec/reg plug. Red from Boyer goes to red/white on the original plug and the black goes to black. This has the Boyer connected up.I will then post about the relay wiring

[Norm]

Hi Jacob wiring the relay is fairly straight forward get a 4 pin relay 30/40 watt and then you connect a power supply from the battery through a fuse to one terminal the opposite connection goes to frame earth, or you can use the orange wire from the A/C reg plug.Then you need a trigger wire to come from the brake switch to the relay and after removing the A/C reg you connect the yellow wire to the 4th relay terminal. Sounds simple and it is and if you decide to go with it I'll explain where the wires go onto the relay, even that isn't too hard

[Frank]

If there is 0v output from the AC regulator then I would presume the headlight bulb doesn't work? and if there is only 11.64v output from the DC reg/rectifier then I would have thought you would be getting a constant flat battery? These symptoms aren't mentioned so I wonder if the measurements are correct. I can't see why a low DC output would cause tail light bulbs to fail, high output yes. A bad earth can also cause regular bulb failure and perhaps throw the measurements out, so it might be worth taking a few minutes checking this especially the battery to frame earth.

[JTL]

Frank ... since my last post I have done some checking on the wirering. The ground wires should all be ok, maybe except from one: the original Indian ground wire from the battery to the frame. This is now altered and re-done with the others (more paint removed and electrical smear used). Some time ago I had an accident with a short melting some of the wire insulation (wires to the ac regulator). I had to substitute parts of the wirering. I guess I did a wrong hook up of the ac regulator, but the bike has been running and the headlight shining, so I took everything for being ok. The rear light filament blowin' (not the brake light) may be caused by a bad ground. After a little re-wirering I will do another test and post the results... Norm, you make the conversion sound very simple, and I believe it is, but this thing with the relay and the four different wires with different colours sort of confuses me. I need to do a diagram to litterary get the picture; I'm a very visual person and know next to nothing about electrics. The 4-pin 30/40 watt relay you mention, where do I buy this this. I'm living in Denmark and stuff are not as easy to find here as in other parts of the world. Some stuff is only obtained on the net. Well. I'm getting more and more confident in doing the conversion. The practical part of it will be a piece of cake. I just need to understand how everything is connected... I really appreciate all input on this matter... Jacob

[JTL]

Norm ... Is this the kind of relay you are refering to? ... http://www.ebay.com.au/bhp/4-pin-relay ... Jacob

[Norm]

Hi Jacob, that is the one but now I'm a bit annoyed because I have been paying $11 for them from my local parts supply place. Never thought about ebay, when I needed one I just went up the street. Think I'll order half a dozen at that price. lol