Bridge rectifier and LEDs

[MNorby]

Picked up a 96 XR250r and got it plated and finishing getting the street legal stuff taken care of. Wyoming only requires a headlight, taillight, brake light, mirror, and horn. Picked up an LED 1157 bulb for rear and wired in the second terminal and my pressure switch banjo bolt showed up today. I've had one of these little bridge rectifier cube deals like from radio shack laying around annd thinking I can use that instead of sourcing a factory regulator/rectifier. The other thing I I want to run 1 or 2 Vision X Solstice lights in place of the factory headlight but for now I retrofitted a 55w H3 into the housing to get it going temporartily. They only draw 10w each so will be less than the factory 35w bulb and tons brighter. My thought was to tap into the blue and green wires that go to the tail light and install the rectifier there then come off it to the taillight, headlight/s, and to the pressure switch then brake light, and horn switch and horn. Any reason that won't work or would I be better off to find a factory regulator/rectifier for the L model?

[XR250rdr]

Are you going to use the factory AC regulator? Rectifier will work fine to get DC but without the regulator voltage will spike like crazy. You will also need to have some heat sinking for the rectifier or it will overheat and fail.

The regulator/rectifier from a 250L or 650L won't work, the stator is configured differently. Aftermarket regulator/rectifiers aren't too expensive though.

I would probably just run an aftermarket regulator/rectifier. You can connect it to the factory harness and mount it on top of the airbox. Possibly even add a battery if you like.

[MNorby]

I was planning on using the factory regulator but if an aftermarket reg/rec would be better I can go that route. Was hoping to not do a battery since everything is such low wattage being all LED. Any recomendations for aftermarket reg/rec instead of the radio shack style rectifier? Something like this? http://www.trailtech.net/7004-RR150.html Doesn't look like there is a plug and play model for an XR.

Thanks.

Edited February 24, 2012 by MNorby

[XR250rdr]

Baja Designs sells one too thats probably about the same thing but without the switching function for a bit cheaper. http://www.bajadesig...fier-dc-unwired You will just need to put 4 bullet connectors on it to hook it to the factory wiring. Battery is just nice to have to keep lights running for a bit when the bike is off.

Edited February 24, 2012 by XR250rdr

[MNorby]

For what I am doing keeping the lights on with bike off isn't a concern, just trying to get DC power for LED lights. If I use that baja design reg/rec do I install it straight from the stator wired and remove the factory regulator?

[XR250rdr]

You can connect it in place of the factory regulator. Run the yellow wires to the yellow and pink leads then the red wire to blue and black wire to green.

[RickyStator]

Keep in mind if you use a rectifier/regulator its output has to be connected to a large capacitor or battery or the output voltage will never get up over 10 VDC. We offer the r/r if you need one and have TT discounts.

http://www.rickystator.com/catalog/single-phase-rectifierregulator-p-88.html

[MNorby]

OK, didn't know that. Which is a better way to go then, battery or capacitor?

[RickyStator]

If you dont need the power when the bike is off the capacitor will work good, unlike a battery it should never have to be replaced.

[MNorby]

If you dont need the power when the bike is off the capacitor will work good, unlike a battery it should never have to be replaced.

i must be missing it but cant find caps on your website. do you have those? thanks for the help

[XR250rdr]

Keep in mind if you use a rectifier/regulator its output has to be connected to a large capacitor or battery or the output voltage will never get up over 10 VDC. We offer the r/r if you need one and have TT discounts.

http://www.rickystat...lator-p-88.html

This totally explains why the light on my 250 never worked as well as I thought it should have.

Sorry for the bad info MNorby.

[MNorby]

No worries, thank you both for the help and getting me going on this project.

[alarmin]

i must be missing it but cant find caps on your website. do you have those? thanks for the help

Does anyone have information on which capacitor should be used?

[Chuck.]

TrailTech also lists 2 capacitors, I used the small one. I did the same thing to a XR but initially ran an AC system with the BD LED tail/brake light, worked fine. I needed DC to run an electric horn so used the TrailTech rect/regulator, had the low voltage problem until I installed the capacitor. The capacitor doesn't store a lot of energy, only a short beep with the engine off, but it filtered out the voltage spikes so the regulator could work properly.

[MCRIPPPer]

technically, you could run your leds on ac, but it will blink really fast with the phase of the engine. for example, if you get 60hz ac and run an led off it, it will flash 60 x a second.(it lights up every half a cycle, and turns off when the electricity reverses polarity.

if you have a full wave rectifier, it will flash 120x sec. on 60hz power. the curse o leds is that they can turn on and off extremely fast (actually a blessing for some applications.)

you need a capacitor iether way with leds, or else you will get hellified strobe effect. (not to big of a deal for taillights, but for a headlight, prepare toe be dizzy.) i would just get an incandescent headlight and use led tail/blinkers. standard headlights are much better for seeing with, because the color is alot better compared to the pail moonlight color of leds. it seems the human eye responds alot better to the sunlight like spectrum of incandescent bulbs. it would also eliminate the need for capacitors if you dont mind flashy taillights.

[Horri]

Does anyone have information on which capacitor should be used?

One like this..

http://imageshack.us...8/040capp2.jpg/

You can find similar in a pcs power supply..Normally two in there that are right

for the job..or you can just hook the two together. (Series,,Parallel not sure which hook up method)

Rip them out and hook them up correctly and I understand you are good to go..

I took a couple out the other week but haven't used them for anything as yet..

They are pretty cheap to buy if you can't be bothered with the de-soldering from an old power supply though..

Edited February 25, 2012 by Horri

[MCRIPPPer]

if you have your heart set on all led setup, you can use a radioshack rectifier as long as it is rated for the amps you pull through it. bolting it to the frame with a bit of heatsink paste isn't a bad idea iether.

[XR250rdr]

30-40,000uF should be good. A couple 15,000uF caps would do the trick too and would have a smaller diameter. I would make sure voltage rating is in the 40-50V range.

Capacitors should be connected in parallel in this case.

EDIT: Did some looking around...as low as 4700uF is probably enough.

Panasonic 10,000uF, 50V is 25mm diameter x 50mm long. http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?WT.z_header=search_go〈=en&site=us&keywords=ECOS1HP103CA&x=0&y=0 $3.90 each

Panasonic 15,000uF, 50V is 30mm diameter x 50mm long. http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?x=0&y=0〈=en&site=us&KeyWords=ECOS1HP153DA $5.05 each

Edited February 25, 2012 by XR250rdr

[Chuck.]

Check out http://www.trailtech.net/regulator_rectifier.html for rect/reg.

[MNorby]

I believe the rectifier I have is 25 or 35 amp, forget now, been sitting in my toolbox for a few years and not labelled. I am set on LEDs for the low draw and the light output of the Solstice lights. I'll check out some of those caps and find something, thanks for the help so far.