6V?

HerrDeacon

HerrDeacon

Over 1,000 Posts
I just picked up a '78 XL250s and from my understanding its 6V. So what does this mean in terms of picking up replacement electrical bits? I'm clueless with anything dealing with electricity, so I'm wondering about a few things. I understand the regular incandescent bulbs, they'll have to be 6V, but what if I want to fit LEDs, are there 6V versions of these? What about ignition coils? Regulator/rectifier? Are there 6V versions of these too?

I know I need to buy indicators, but I'm hoping the ignition components are ok, but figured I'd ask just in case.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Yup. Everything has to be rated for 6v instead of 12. SparckMoto sells a nice reg/rec unit for the 6v bikes.
 
Hi HerrDeacon,

Ive been working with a '79 XL250S and Deepwaterimports has picked up a '81XL250S with me, both 6V.

Depending on where you are most of your bits and pieces can be picked up from your local wrecker (We're both based on the Central Coast of NSW, Australia). You can either stick to 6V which can be a bit harder to find bits and pieces, or go down my path of doing a 12V conversion. it is a Pain in the Ass, and not recommended for the uninitiated (i.e. me) but I've almost completed mine so If you want advice I can help you there - just wait till I've got all the issues sorted (hopefully in a few days) so I dont give you a bum steer.

You can see my XL250S build here
http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=60045

Deepwaterimports' here
http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=59974

and my electrical progress here
http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=60043
 
VonYinzer said:
Yup. Everything has to be rated for 6v instead of 12. SparckMoto sells a nice reg/rec unit for the 6v bikes.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll keep Matt's reg/rec in mind as well. Need to check the one that's on it now to see if its ok.
 
Sideswipe, pretty cool your doing the 12V conversion, think I'll stick with the 6V. I don't want to get into any complicated electrical stuff, hate working with it. Will be interested to follow your progress with it though.

Just subscribed to those threads you listed, thanks for mentioning them. I'll start a thread for mine when I get started on it.
 
It appears from this wiring diagram that all the lights except the headlamp use the battery and regulator/rectifier.

There's really not much in the way of 6v LED lamps with bayonet bases, unfortunately... lots of stuff on eBay from China but that's like throwing your money in the toilet. Most replacement LED housings (with lamps integrated) are for scooters, so maybe you can find replacement fixtures instead of just bulbs.

-Deek
 
Radio shack sells individual LEDs and the bayonetts.
Voltages as low as 2.25 I was actually hard presssed to find a 12v one from them a while back.
 
A 12v LED? No, I doubt you'll find one of those at Radio Shack. Forward voltage for the vast majority of "normal" (not High-Intensity) bulbs are under 3v.

I assumed since HD didn't want to fool with doing a 12v swap he probably wouldn't want to make his own bulbs!

If anyone is interested in that, here's a neat little website that does the math for you... For instance, take your run-of-the-mill "super bright" LED from Radio shack:

6 volt power source
1.86 forward voltage
25mA forward current
9 LED array (for a turn signal, for instance)

That website shows you how to wire the LED's and resistors for a lamp that only draws 75mA.

-Deek
 
there are no 12V leds or 6 volt LEDs, All LED's are from 1 to 3 volt forward volts. there may be specialty one alittle higher and definitely lower.

All the automotive LEds are either in series (6 series, 2 volt LEDs will run on a 12V supply. to run a single LED on 12V, you need a voltage dropping resistor. Some LED's build this in, so it appears to be a 12V led.

Here's a link to a resistor calculator: http://led.linear1.org/1led.wiz

You can calculate your own resistor/LED circuit.
 
Missed your link. Lol. Well, now 2 of us are right. Lol


Sent from planet Earth using mysterious electronic devices and Tapatalk
 
mydlyfkryzis said:
Missed your link. Lol. Well, now 2 of us are right. Lol
Click to expand...

You two may be right but I'm still in the dark with all this electrical talk :) I need to go back to school. Appreciate the link (or links :) ) though, I have it bookmarked for when I get my head wrapped around this stuff.
 
It's not as hard as you think. Forward voltage is the volts it takes for the LED to light. It is also the voltage drop across the led. So 12V in, drops 2 Volts, 10 Volt out. If you put 6 of them in a row: 12V-----LED----10V ----LED----8 V----LED----6V----LED----4V----LED ----2V----LED ---Grnd.

So if you use 6 LEDs in series, with a 2V fwd voltage, you use up all 12V, and the other 5 leds limit the current through any one of them.


If you want only 1 LED, then you need either : 12V----proper size resistor---2V----LED ---GRND or you can reverse the 2: 12V-----LED---10V---Resistor-Grnd.

If you know the forward voltage and current rating of the LED, the linked calculators will figure out the resistor size you need to get the right voltage and current through the LED.

Different leds have different ratings, so the calculator makes it easy to select the right resistor. I used 2 LEDS as the diode for my turn signal indicator, and the calculator to figure the resistance I needed. Worked great.
 
Wow, I finally understand. Thank you very much for taking the time to write that up, great explanation. I know that this electrical stuff is not overly difficult but for some reason have a mental block with learning it. This helps a lot.

Thanks again.
 
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