looking for Light set up suggestions -warnings/lessons learned

[sgt_ic3m4n]

Hey guys,

I'm looking into doing some front lights for my Punisher. I was wondering if you had any ideas on a 2 headlight setup that will work on my electrical system. I just recently installed an 8-pole stator as opposed to the stock 6, so I think I can run some lights with a few more watts, but I was kind of thinking about getting LEDs if there are any available anywhere. Maybe LED fog lights? I don't even know where to start on this one.

Thanks in advance.

[BuggyMaster]

Does it have any lights on it now? Seems to me that when we had our crossfire the light system ran on its own circuit off of the stator and it was unregulated or something like that. Used to blow the bulbs. Kind of a drag.

[sgt_ic3m4n]

No lights right now, it used to though. It's got a harness that I can use I just don't want to put too much draw on the electrical system, or like you said, blow bulbs left and right.

[BuggyMaster]

An 8 pole will be fine. We have our standard stator in our helix and run a 500 watt single on the front and have never had a problem. We got ours at walmart for under $20. They actually have a pretty good selection of that kind of stuff for under $20. Just use your existing harness and run it off of battery voltage through a switch (through your ignition switch would be a bonus) and roll with it.

[olderthan]

with 2 lights 35w will fit in std light housing or can use 35w sealed beams like on my
roketa-i am getting ready to go to 55w driving lights-with your 8 pole you should be able
to run 2-55w i have on/off switch on the punisher-the roketa gk-13 came that way

[sgt_ic3m4n]

Well, I finally got some lights to put on my punisher, here they are...


I think they look great, they mounted up perfectly on existing bolts for the frame, they're off road all weather lights, and to top it off, they were only 22 bucks!

But all is not well in my little world. To start off, there was no voltage at the wiring harness where it looked like the "standard" lights would be. It was a 2 prong connector with nothing hooked up, on the upper part of the frame near the right side handle. So I got into the wiring diagram and started trying to figure out why I had no voltage. The wiring diagram is pretty straight forward, but there's a spot that's making me scratch my head. There's a red junction and a black junction amidst the cluster bomb of wires on this thing. At the red junction there's a wire that goes down into the stator, which is crazy to me because from what I can gather with the diagram, red should be hot - 12V. But why would there be 12VDC going into the stator??? Am I wrong?

Ok, so if there IS supposed to be 12VDC coming out of the red from the voltage regulator, I do not have that, so is my regulator/rectifier fried? In the service manual where I got the wiring diagram there is a page dedicated to the rectifier, which shows NO, I REPEAT, NO value for testing the red coming out, frustrating me yet again.

So, I tried to go "ghetto" with it. I cut the red coming from the voltage regulator then spliced the yellow/red coming out of the voltage regulator, which DID have 12VDC, into the red which came out of the voltage regulator. That seemed to work, but moments later I had smoke coming from the stator!!! I think I caught it in time because it will still start up and run, and charge the battery. Everything works except the lights, tail light included.

I need to qualify this with the following: This thing did not run at all when I got it, I got an 8 pole stator, swapped it in and when I finally went for a start, the tail light flickered, but then blew. since then, no voltage at the taillight or the headlights. What gives? Any help out there for me? Thanks in advance.

Should I have included the wiring diagram? I don't know how many of you out there know this particular set-up. If I need to I will.

[BuggyMaster]

If I remember right, the lights on these things run directly off of the stator and may very well be AC or something. They were a wierd setup. Regardless of that, you simply need 12 dc volts. If you have a keyed source, supply the 12 volts from that source. Ghetto would be to run a wire off of the battery, through a toggle switch to turn them off and on, and then your other wire from the lights to your ground. Then you're done.

[BuggyMaster]

On second thought, I think mine had a piss poor regulator on it as well. Just been too long but I remember extended lengths of high rpm would pop the bulbs all around.

[sgt_ic3m4n]

AC lights? Is there such a thing?

[olderthan]

no to ac lights-on mine i moved the overhead lights down onto the frame added 35w bulbs [mine came with 18w] i have xtra bulbs-my roketa was a rollover when i bought it
wasn't repaired by po-i rebuilt the frame & fixed other problems all lights were broken added
12v/35w sealed beams knowing that w/18 pole stator i could go back to 2-55w &3- 35w
no problem if you need me to on the punisher i can take pictures but yours is a early model mine is a late model-i plan on moving the lights from the roketa to the punisher
maybe -i have new 55w for the roketa

[sgt_ic3m4n]

So I'm thinking the 8 pole stator might have fried the regulator/rectifier, is that a possibility here? Because I should have 12VDC at the headlights while running right? I have a toggle switch I'm going to put in there but I want everything to work like it should, including the choke. With everything wired like I have it, the choke is getting 12VDC constantly, not just when the thing is running, like it's supposed to be. I'm just gonna go pick up a voltage regulator and swap it in, see what that does. Will I just fry another regulator? Is there a regulator better suited for the 8 pole stator? Has this issue ever come up before?

[GX150]

The lights run on AC off the stator. Hopefully you upgraded the flywheel to 8-pole when you upgraded your stator?

[SYCARMS]

The lights run off of dc current. How many watts are the lights you installed?. An 8 pole stator will not take the load of 2 50wat lights, and will eventually burn out. The stock lights are only 35 wat. combined. The only thing on the kart that should run off ac voltage is the pulse gen., and possibly the cdi. Everything else is converted to dc volt through the rectifier.
Tom

[GX150]

An 8-pole stator has over 100 watts of output. If you have running lights or an electric choke, it will take away from your capacity. Convert to manual choke and run a switch to marker lights if you want them.

The stock rectifier's purpose is to charge the battery and do nothing else. If you run lights off the battery, it will fail due to load. If you are set on running off the battery, get a regulator made for a GY6 with DC powered CDI or for a CN250.
.
An upgrade of stator will require you upgrade your power and ground leads if you want to pull more load, otherwise you will burn up components.

[SYCARMS]

Originally Posted by GX150

An 8-pole stator has over 100 watts of output. If you have running lights or an electric choke, it will take away from your capacity. Convert to manual choke and run a switch to marker lights if you want them.

**(The stock rectifier's purpose is to charge the battery and do nothing else.)** If you run lights off the battery, it will fail due to load. If you are set on running off the battery, get a regulator made for a GY6 with DC powered CDI or for a CN250.
.
An upgrade of stator will require you upgrade your power and ground leads if you want to pull more load, otherwise you will burn up components.

rectifier n. One that rectifies: a rectifier of many wrongs. Electronics . A device, such as a diode, that converts alternating current to direct.

[GX150]

Correct, the battery is charged with a DC voltage at low amperage. The stock lights run directly off one of the stator phases which are AC voltage.

[KID4LIFE]

run LED lights and you will not have to worry about amperage draw. i have for headlights that draw a total of 5 amps. that's what ONE halogen 55w bulb draws.

[GX150]

LED's do not like AC voltage. He may have to rewire to use them on DC.

[KID4LIFE]

as low as the amperage draw is, he could wire them directly to the battery with a switch. two lights would only draw about 3 amps.