tvnacman
Scoot Enthusiast
Posts: 408
Location: NYC
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Post by tvnacman on Dec 7, 2014 11:18:54 GMT -5
The ballast resistors add load to balance the lighting/charging system . The 4 pin regulators do two things . One thing is rectify the ac to dc and regulate for the charging system 12-14.5vdc . The other is to regulate the ac voltage for your lighting . Here is where the problem is , the regulator can only clamp/load down the voltage so much . So say stock your ac system is 60watts , lets say for example the ac power output on the lighting ckt on the stator is 70watts at 14vac . That is powering your headlights dash lights, 35w headlight and 5 5w little bulbs in the dash . In the stated situation the regulator takes care of the extra 10w ac and can keep the ac voltage regulated at or below 14vac . Now things are balanced everything is working well together , good ac lights and good charging voltage. Then you decide for example you want orange dash lights and get leds , so the 5 5w bulbs you change in the dash ( an led uses about 15% power what a bulb uses) 15% of 25w=3.7w lets call it 4watts from the 25 leaves 21 extra watts for the regulator to dump , when it dumps too much it gets hot , then its a matter of time till it burns itself out . But in the mean time the ac voltage goes up above 14vac ad pops your headlight .
Questions ?
John
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Post by 90GTVert on Dec 7, 2014 12:14:56 GMT -5
Thanks for that John. I only owned one scoot that had a ballast resistor. Same scoot had a lot of wiring issues when I got it. I replaced the harness with one that did not use a ballast resistor. Never had a problem with the electrical system after that so it seemed like the super hot ballast resistor was little more than a burn hazard to me.
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tvnacman
Scoot Enthusiast
Posts: 408
Location: NYC
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Post by tvnacman on Dec 7, 2014 12:20:35 GMT -5
Brent the scooters post 2007 do not have ballast resistors , I think they made a change internal in the regulators . With or without the ballast resistors you still need to balance the load .
John
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Post by iwannascoot on Dec 7, 2014 12:44:17 GMT -5
So if I put an LED headlight, how would I balance the load? Just for an example.
Billy
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Post by niz76 on Dec 7, 2014 13:55:25 GMT -5
So if I put an LED headlight, how would I balance the load? Just for an example. Billy You can use resistors. Thay act the same way- soak up extra electricity and produce heat (wasted electricity). Led's with the proper resistors will produce the same load as Edison bulbs... |
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Post by 90GTVert on Aug 4, 2015 7:20:21 GMT -5
The ballast resistor is used to provide a load for the stator when the lights are not on. With a load in place the stator voltage won't go terribly high but the voltage is not limited or regulated. Many scoot wiring diagrams I have seen just run the lights all the time. The problem with that is when a light burns out. Some regulators seem to have voltage regulation for the lighting circuit. Some require the ballast resistor to dissipate some of the heat, others will work without the ballast. One never knows until the magic smoke comes out. Ballast resistors are rated by wattage and stamped with resistance. here is what I use in the shop, I have used up to 6 to get the system balanced.  the mounting on some are for ground,some come two wire, bottom line you need to have a certain amount of load to keep things in range. Most change to regular bulbs to led and things get all out of range, pop bulbs burn wires over charging burnt out regulators. It can get a little involved to get things back in balance. John |
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