G9 electrical system charging issue?

[sho305]

Noticed a problem with my cart after installing a clone engine. Also see this with another cart I put a clone in. What I did is disconnect the ignitor and coil and left the plugs there. I put a relay on the hot coil wire from the pedal to kill the engine when it loses power. The clone has its own ignition that is not powered.

The problem is at night with 55w lights I notice a slight flicker in them, like the charging voltage is changing. I never had this with either cart and stock engine. I assumed the ignition was simply powered by 12v and the voltage regulator controlled charging, which is still on there as it was. It is the solid state one.

Anyone have any idea why I would get this flicker? They seem to get brighter in steps as rpm goes higher like the VR is going on/off, before they just gradually got brighter above idle as the gen started to make power. Now they keep changing slightly at higher rpm. The only thing I can see in the diagram is the negative fuse might be toast and not giving the right signal to the VR so I will check that. I never bothere because the lights are grounded to the frame and I have a wire batt neg to the frame for them, they have been on there for many years with no troubles. It always starts and the lights work, so it is charging.

[bigstik40]

SHO - I can tell you this, the voltage on your battery is pulsing between the battery standing voltage and 17 volts or so due to the way our regulators work. That is probably the flicker you are seeing (don't have a clue why this is the first you are noticing it). I don't have lights on my G16 so I haven't seen this first hand. I suppose if a battery was weak and had a lower than normal standing voltage, this pulsing could be more pronounced. Also, if your voltage regulator was allowing a higher than normal regulated voltage, the pulsing would also be more pronounced. Have you checked water levels lately in your battery. I know the regulator is pretty aggressive on my G16 and I have to water my battery frequently. Hope this helps - RAY

[sho305]

I never had this since I owned the cart in '99, I would have noticed. Both carts started this only after putting the clone in. First I thought the ignitor might have something to do with it but not sure why. Maybe it blew the fuse for some reason, or some other issue causing the VR not to get a good signal on the voltage? Maybe I will post in the BB section see if someone has had this with a yami.

The battery is brand new boat battery I put in this spring.

I looked again at the wiring diagram and can't see where taking out the ignition components would affect VR circuit. Yes it seems to pulse on and off somewhat at mid or high rpm, never did it before just got brighter as you went above idle rpm. I am sure the lights take way more current than the ignition if it is a load issue.

I'll take my meter next time I work on it, I have a guy going to bring it home for me before the end of the year. It would cost me an arm to go get it with my truck lol, and really no rush its getting to be a cold ride anyway.

[bigstik40]

SHO; Been thinking about your strange problem!! You say it exhibits itself with both carts. Also, the clones have their own ignition. Just a thought here from "out in left field". If your clones have magnetos where the flywheel is swinging a magnet for sparks, and the starter generator is close to these spinning magnets, you may be magnetically "inducing" additional field current into the starter/generator causing unregulated output. Maybe you could try running without the voltage regulator connected to see how it acts. This is just a WAG but is someplace to start. Let me know - RAY

[sho305]

Sounds like an idea. It very well could be some electrical issue causing the VR to work improperly. I will take my fluke with me next time and check anything I can. I tried to think if something dampens the VR action, only thing I know is the battery should do that. It never did this before, it just got brighter when it was not around idle speed.

[bigstik40]

I think a check on the battery voltage with the VR disconnected, while running the cart from min to max speed, would be a good 1st step. As you probably know, the voltage usually stays the same or may go down a little if the battery has some load on it, during this test. An analog voltmeter is best for this to get a smoother average voltage (DMM's tend to jump all over due to the sampling). Keep me posted. - RAY

[sho305]

There should be no load since the engine powers its own electronics, except at night with the lights on. I might get on it this weekend weather is looking ok....the hurricane should be gone by then.