Headlight beam unrectified?
- Thread starter Tomhs
- Start date
Beeroxin
New Member
I guess its plausible for that to be the case. Now I dont know about ct70 rectifiers specifically, but an automotive rectifier takes the bottom(negative) half of the wave form and reroutes it to the top so you dont lose any power. If youre losing half power at your rectifier the law of conservation of energy would state that your rectifier must get pretty hot in order to dissipate all that extra energy that your losing. energy cant just disappear and half of that wave form is alot of energy even if its not near as much energy as say a 600r ninja generates its still a considerable amount to just convert to heat in a silicone unit. i do know that there are half wave rectifiers but they dont lose half the energy and ive never heard of them being used on a motor vehicle. i could be wrong. here is a full wave rectifier that is the norm for motor vehicle usage.
now i dont think any of this really answers your question. the truth is, incandescent ligths will run happily on either ac or dc current. what year and model would you be referring to? i wanna take a look at the wiring schematic now lol
now i dont think any of this really answers your question. the truth is, incandescent ligths will run happily on either ac or dc current. what year and model would you be referring to? i wanna take a look at the wiring schematic now lol
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motodevo
Active Member
the problem with the ct70 rectifier is that it is only a basic half wave rectifier, therefore very inefficient and you do lose alot of voltage to heat, thats why they have such a large heatsink. If you convert it to a full wave rectifier you would pick up a little extra, but the system doesnt really produce enough watts. Honda could have put in coils that produced more power but by putting in a coil that makes just enough it meant they didnt have to put in a regulator as the battery"s capacity would soak up any spikes in voltage. Thats why there is the black wire loop on the battery plug, it stops you from running without a battery and blowing all your globes
Adam-NLV
Well-Known Member
On these small bikes they use two separate coils. One coil w/fine turns of wire supplies the spark, the other coil with thicker wire and fewer turns as the alternator. When the lights are on you have a circuit, which uses the full windings to power the lights directly, plus part of that coil also charges the battery via a diode. They call it a balanced system and is a cheap way of not having to use a voltage regulator. Most filament light bulbs on Motorcycles can use AC while the motor’s running or DC with the motor off with no problems. All though these systems are not perfectly balanced with a constant voltage (hence the light flickers) the output is such that it will do the job.:16:
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i've seen the loop, not sure how that would keep you from running without a battery. my 8/70 HK0 has a broken (+) lead on the battery. tail light still works, headlight works off a separate coil as does the ignition. my voltage regulator is the fact that i weigh 200lbs, so the most rpms i get in 4th correspond to about 35 mph, lol...
anyway, the ct70 has no regulator, and honda "tuned" all the light bulbs to match the expected peak outputs. this is why you will find different wattage bulbs on the HKO vs KO vs etc... silly stuff, they should have just put in a voltage regulator/full wave rectifier like you mentioned. is the chinese part drATV is selling a full wave?
motodevo
Active Member
Because to take the battery out you have to remove the plug and therefore the loop is gone. The 2 black wires, one comes from the points and one goes to the ignition coil, so without the loop joining them you have no spark. I'd be joining that battery(or a new one if its dead) back up because if you rev it up enough you will blow globes, and sealed beam headlights aren't exactly cheap(alot more than a new battery)