1996 HD Sportster 883 I’ll need a hugger when it’s over Hellride

Sonreir said:
It's not AC voltage on the tail light, is it? I feel like I'm missing something.
I'm not going to pretend to be an expert in this stuff, or have training in it. I work with an electrical engineer in our robotics program here at the school. This is how he told me to set this up. I've been told, and I've read, that the LED's have a short life without setting it up this way. I also seem to remember there was a way that the light will be bright all the time otherwise.
 
I've worked with a few of of the two wire tail lights before and they've only come with resistors. It's entirely possible the diodes are a proper addition if you're going to do it the right way. I was just hoping to find out more about it.
 
Sonreir said:
I've worked with a few of of the two wire tail lights before and they've only come with resistors. It's entirely possible the diodes are a proper addition if you're going to do it the right way. I was just hoping to find out more about it.
What I do know about Zener diodes, and maybe this is why, is they prevent spikes in a current and they provide a very consistent voltage. I know their most common usage is for voltage indicators, or whatever you call it, where coupled with an LED they provide references that read voltage.
 
irk miller said:
What I do know about Zener diodes, and maybe this is why, is they prevent spikes in a current and they provide a very consistent voltage. I know their most common usage is for voltage indicators, or whatever you call it, where coupled with an LED they provide references that read voltage.

You're thinking about plain diodes Irk, a zener diode prevents voltage going in the reverse direction until the zener setpoint is made.
You just need IN4004 diodes and a current limiting resistor.
 
Pete12 said:
You're thinking about plain diodes Irk, a zener diode prevents voltage going in the reverse direction until the zener setpoint is made.
Yes, I mentioned that in my first comment.
irk miller said:
The diodes prevent flow back, so they separate the circuits. Otherwise, it would be brake light all the time.


The statement you quoted is in addition to that. This is what I'm referring to in that comment...

zener-diode-voltage-regulator.png


There's like 15 types of diodes, so I'm not sure which one you are referring to as a plain diode.
 
Pete12 said:
You just need IN4004 diodes and a current limiting resistor.

The setup i have here is working. Does it need to be changed? By Matt's suggestion, the diodes aren't really necessary at all. That's the question we're trying to answer. I go back to Savannah River Site next week, so I won't have an answer before then from the guy that helped me set this up. He also wasn't specific to the diode. I just happen to have these in my box of bits. I stole the resistor from a circuit board I built a couple years back.
 
Sorry, I should have read it all.
You use diodes in a circuit where there are two supplies running one set of LED's. If you are only using one supply/one circuit you don't need the diodes at all, but you will want a current limiting resistor as LED's only run on 20-30mA.
 
All finished. Took it for a ride, and I have to say, it was great. Much love to the Sportster.

77150-210418130842-36471208.jpeg


77150-210418130845-3653220.jpeg
 
Nice to see some more Harley-Davidson lovin happening. These Evo motors are great... downright bulletproof. Your build looks good man...
 
Back
Top Bottom