high wattage bulbs with hi-temp receiver but stock wiring: test

[wayne adamson]

I am in Medellin Colombia at the moment and the Kawasaki dealer sold me a clutch and a speedo cable from a 2008 KLR650.50000 peso for both(about 27amd)He says they are the same cables as we use for 2007 Klr650.Is this correct?I will check in the morning before we leave for Bogota,but I thought someone here my know for sure?Thanks for any input.......................... Wayne " The difference between an adventure and an ordeal is attitude"(unknown)-2007A-21 KLR650(it's a manly Fire Engine Red)-1995 R100RT-1991VW Westy GL-ABC 6461 MOA-71007 http://wayneadamson.blogspot.com/

[traderpro2003]

Hey Greg - For edification-purposes, I did measure in two states. (1) steady "as-is" battery (Dual Star gel) and (2) using a HD battery charger on 35-amp mode (accidentally switching to 500-amp start mode was a religious experience of brilliant, white light!). This juiced the system to 14.10 volts and as expected produced slightly worse results (3% of +2 volts = +.06 drop). Anyway, I've enjoyed this analysis and find it useful. I'm looking forward to your results/analysis. Thanks for the info on TEW wire. Regards - Brian

--- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Greg May wrote: > > Hi Brian, curiousity has kicked in now so time permitting tomorrow or maybe Friday I'll try to do some testing of my own. I'll be using a power supply rather then the bike electrical system but that shouldn't really have any effects on the results. For wire length 6 feet is probably a long guess. I'm not sure what gauge the OEM wiring is but I think for comparsion I'll try 18, 16, 14, 12 and 10 AWG. > Since the bulbs are rated at 12 volts and actual working voltage is more like 14 volts I'll use both of those for testing. > For the sake of comparsion I'll, time permitting test with a direct feed from the supply to the bulb and also through a set of relay contacts. I think all I havelaying around is a regular 50/60 watt bulb that maybe only has high beam, will have to check. My original thought of how I was going to modify my lighting system was to go solid state but since you start off with a .4 or .5 working voltage drop with any device I could think of using I discarded that idea. > The TEW wire I refer to is typically used for control wiring on industrial machinery, it has very good insulation (600 volts) and is very finely stranded so it is very flexable and to me very available and to most anyone else it should be no problem to source at any electrical distributer. I'm pretty sure that #10 would cause no more problem to run then #12 and it provides lots of capacity for adding any future accessories. Also from a termination standpoint I have access to man different sizes of wire ends so I have lots to choose from so again #10 or #12 I don't think will make a difference....anyway enjoy the evening....Greg > > > > > traderpro2003 wrote: > Hi Greg - I'm starting to think the any upgrade will improve even the > stock bulb...regardless. The near 2-volt drop is significant enough > to visually detect as I've stated. Now whether or not this is coming > through the contacts or mostly the undersized wire...we'd need more > data. > > As far as in the upgraded setup, I agree we ARE losing something in > the relays. But 12 ga wire in my opinion is more than adequate...and > I'd like to redo the same tests using it. For example, using 14 ga, > you'd expect upto 3% loss at 10 amps/120 watts in runs upto 9 ft. > The same calc for 12 ga wire yields 14 ft. Now I wouldn't recommend > 14 ga beyond 10 amps but jumping up to say 16 amps/192 watts, 12 ga > would be good for 5.5 ft @ upto 3% loss. Your 10 ga would be good > for 30 amps/360 watts upto 4.6 ft. It's a lot overkill for 80 watt > bulb despite not much difference in wire cost. I'm not certain about > the wire type you've mentioned but most oil/gas resistance wire 12AWG > is my rec as sometimes a thicker wire means more rubbing on the > frame/tight places and also 10 ga connections are harder to make at > terminals, conx, etc. > > Thanks for comments. - Brian > > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Greg May wrote: > > > > Hi Jeff and Brian, I haven't done the often mentioned wiring / > relay upgrade but will probaly do it this winter. My choice of wire > size would be #10 TEW because if its flexability, 1 hot and 1 ground > run seperate in a small plastic flex. If you're going to run the > wire, size wise there is little difference between 14, 12 or 10 since > you are only dealing with 2 wires. That being said if you're looking > for the last few 10ths of a volt drop I would and perhaps you already > have look at the connections and perhaps not so much at the #14 wire. > I think you might find your drop at either a connection or accross > the relay contacts themselves. Crimp type connectors can be a real > pain if you are trying to eliminate that last little bit of drop. > Personally I would start at the battery end and check the voltage > drop across each segment of the run at each connection in both the + > and - direction. For comparison a 1 volt drop on a 600 volt system > accross a switch contact can cause a > > real noticable heating problem, while at 14 volts you won't > generate much heat with a 300mv drop you certain will lose a few > lumens...anyway have a great evening ....Greg > > > > traderpro2003 wrote: Jeff- I'd > attribute most of the .3 voltage drop to 14AWG wire. > > Whoever built the Totally Wired kit should have used 12AWG! They > > snuck this by me at purchase. Had 12GA been used the results would > > be even lower if not 0. Remember the contacts are powering 2 Bosch > > relays in my setup, so these contacts have nothing to do with power > > draw in the load circuit. > > > > I don't have a light meter to take the measurements or I would. But > > it's not necessary considering the test results. No doubt for me a > > 80W/80W made a huge difference visually, but I'm trying to limit > > night riding anyway as the risks go up needlessly. But clearly a > > near 2 volt drop is detectable with the naked eye. Now, I'd love to > > run the 90w/130w for giggles but even with my upgraded stator, > that's > > a lot of power draw--esp I'm not doing much night riding. If I > > wanted more/better light, I'd add the PIAA 600 HID lighting for > > $1,200 which draws around 35w over my 80/80 headlight. These are > > incredible. > > http://www.shopatron.com/product/product_id=PIA73600/353.0 > > > > But for now, if I ride at night I'm using a battery pack with a > > helmet-mounted HID light. I can look side to side and corners at > > great distance. My girlfriend calls the light "the sun." I use it > > road and mountain biking as well. It's one bright dude and great in > > emergency if you have to leave the bike. The mount is a bit tricky > > for helmets I will say but you can mount it to the moto directly. > > http://www.rei.com/product/729839 > > > > Funny story. Thanks for sharing. I had a similar event. My brother > > and I were in Death Valley...just starting out in the dark. We got > > 30 miles from camp and his bike died and no lights! He didn't have > > any backup lighting and would have been in deep do-do without a > > buddy. (I always carry a small, l/w LED light in my Dual Star > > bag...regardless.) We disassembled the seat and a wire connector > > came undone...which is why I prefer soldered connections! The > entire > > spaghetti wire system under the seat and behind the dash is > > disenchanting. Everytime I remove the seat, I hold my breath > waiting > > to find bare/chafed wires arcing! I even did the ATO fuse upgrade > > but it's still kluge in there. > > > > Best - Brian > > > > --- In DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com, Jeff Saline wrote: > > > > > > On Wed, 28 Nov 2007 05:20:46 -0000 "traderpro2003" > > > writes: > > > > Summary: Once again...size matters. Voltage drop (Vd) on stock > > > > wiring averaged 1.64 volts circa 12 volts (steady state) and > 1.78 > > > > volts circa 14 volts (boosted). Vd using OEM on high beam added > > > > negligible resistance over low beam. With the upgraded wire and > > 2 > > > > relays, voltage drop minimized to .3 volts on both high and low > > > > beam. Visually, going from 12 to 14 volts made a notable > > difference > > > > > > > > to my eye in brightness. Next would be to measure actual > > intensity, > > > > > > > > but these facts support conclusively the upgrade is recommended > > and > > > > > > > > supported by the data. > > > > > > > > Here are the details: > > > > > > SNIP SNIP SNIP > > > > > > > Best regards - Brian > > > <><><><><><><><><> > > > <><><><><><><><><> > > > > > > Brian, > > > > > > Interesting test results. I'd suggest the 0.3 volt drop is still > > > excessive for this circuit. I'd be aiming for more like 0.1 volts > > or > > > less. I wonder if the switch contacts are burnt causing excessive > > > resistance. > > > > > > Thanks for sharing your tests and results with the list. Testing > > light > > > intensity sure would be informative. We can all get a seat of the > > pants > > > evaluation of improved lighting but the numbers really point out > how > > > we've done with actual changes. > > > > > > I remember riding in Texas immediately after getting my KLR. It > was > > > evening and after dinner it got pretty dark. We had to ride maybe > > 20 > > > miles to try to find a place to stay. The guy leading had a very > > dim > > > headlight. His bike was a couple of years older than mine. My > > light on > > > low beam was like super high compared to his on high beam. We > rode > > side > > > by side for quite a while so he could see. The next spring he was > > at my > > > place for some riding and wrenching. On a ride in the hills his > > bike > > > quit on him. We got it started again and when we got back to the > > shop we > > > did a better fix on a broken wire. It was under the seat and had > > > probably been mostly broken for a long time. He commented later > > about > > > how bright his headlight was after we fixed the broken wire. > > > > > > Best, > > > > > > Jeff Saline > > > ABC # 4412 South Dakota Airmarshal > > > Airheads Beemer Club www.airheads.org > > > The Beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota > > > 75 R90/6, 03 KLR650, 79 R100RT > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Looking for a X-Mas gift? Everybody needs a Flickr Pro Account! > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >