(28-01-2023, 10:14 AM)David Stepney wrote: Wrote: The only downside is that the dynamo now no longer balances the total current used when all the lights are on. There is a deficit of about 4 amps.
This is a sadly all too common misconception. The main thing to remember is that you have a battery in your car, which acts as a reservoir of electricity. The battery should contain at least 40 Ah (ampere hours) of stored electricity, which means that theoretically it can provide 4 amps of electricity for 10 hours. Easily more than enough time to get home from the pub (even if you set off 3 minutes later...).
I have fitted quartz halogen bulbs to my Chummy, which with the modest output from the DFL dynamo results in a 16A discharge with the headlamps on. Provided that I ensure that the 80Ah battery is fully charged before I set off, I have enough electricity to get to Harwich to catch the night ferry to Holland.
Thank you, David, but I was aware of that. I too have an 80 A/H battery, so plenty of reserve for the hour or so it takes me to get from Wrexham to home in Bala. I mentioned it more to show that the more powerful lamps consume rather more electricity.
(29-01-2023, 03:40 PM)David Cochrane Wrote: My apologies David, but you would be surprised by how many people get very worried about a discharge on their ammeter.
My realisation of just how much energy can be stored in a battery was brought home to me some years ago. At the time, I was commuting two days a week fromBala to Redditch, a distance of about 100 (cross country) miles and 3 hours travelling. At the time, I was running a Peugeot 106 diesel.
On one rainy winters night, I had got to Kidderminster on the way home, when the alternator belt broke.
I managed to get the 2 1/2 hour drive done with judicious use of the wipers just on the contents of the battery. In fact as I pulled onto the drive with flagging lights, the engine stop solenoid clicked shut, there now being insufficient in the battery to keep it energised.
I was quite impressed and, as one may imagine, not a little relieved!
I’ve always been a bit wary regarding the output of my dynamo which seems to vary from nothing to 5 amps irrespective of engine speed .
Not that I’m concerned as, has been said you can go a long way on a well charged battery. However just to monitor things I’ve wired up a small LED display voltmeter in a discrete place. I think voltmeters are more useful than ammeters in this case.
30-01-2023, 09:38 AM (This post was last modified: 30-01-2023, 09:39 AM by RenaudR.)
Hi,
This is just to say Hi to everybody and for you all to know that Renaud is back here.
Yes that's a non-event for you but a great one for me!
Cheers,
Renaud
And I agree that a voltmeter is a very good idea. One should always remember that a lead battery should never fall under 10.6 V. Better even 11V.
And thanks to Ruairidh and Reckless for the help to get me back!
At last ……no frost for the last few nights and sufficient rain to clear the salt. So the first trip out of the year. Just a quick visit to the lake in Llandrindod and then a 10 mile circuit to check everything was working as it should. Having some problems with pick up when flooring the throttle so I’ll check over the carb…..and the brake light switch insists on staying on so the seat base has to come off to adjust it!
I would post a video from my new dash cam but I haven’t worked out how to reduce an 8gb file to a sensible size yet!
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