Ironhead Merry Christmas....electrical issues

[spackelquack]

I see very little chance on killing myself on this temporary modification....but it still sounds like fun, even if I catch fire.

Has anyone hooked up a power inverter to their ride?

I have no clue WHY a power inverter even works. It defies physics. DC to AC? But anyway's, I want light up the 26 year old with a shitload (a ridiculous amount) of Christmas lights and give the kids around town and my own a treat. I want to hook everything up to a power inverter.

Run it to the battery direct?

I love when kids wave at the biker and the parents look scared as I wave and smile.

What am I frying on this gig guys? I'de like for it to WORK. It would suck to fry out in front of kids.


I love you guys. You have an answer for everything. I have learned a LOT.

A

[ericfreeman]

I install inverters as a marine engineer and I'd have to say that I seriously doubt a motorcycle battery/charging system can support one. It's simple to figure out: take the AC output from your inverter and divide it by 12 to get the DC amps you'd have to support. The DC load is actually higher due to losses in the conversion process but this would give you a rough idea. For example, a 1000 watt inverter will only deliver about 8 amps of AC power (8 amps x 120 volts = 960 watts). Take that 1000 watts and divide by 12 volts and you get about 83 amps of DC power required. Considering an Ironhead generator puts out about 13 amps max, you're deeply in the hole, power wise. Even a big battery will be drained in only a few minutes.

Your best bet would be one of those small unitized generators like a Honda 2000 and strap it on the back! Seriously!

Eric

ps. If you had a sidecar, the generator setup would work nicely.

[IronMick]

The generator puts out only a measly 10 amps. The headlite takes maybe 4 of those; the ignition etc maybe another 4; not much left. If you use ONLY LED lights [at about .03 amps each] you can do a lot. I doubt that you could do anything with non-LED lights and not burn up the gen and probably the reg [but i am not good at this electrical stuff].

[spackelquack]

Please dont tell my girlfriends. I told them she(s) my only love. I love you.

16 seconds ago, I had a question, 2 seconds ago, I had an answer.
I absorb fast. I learn fast when when guided. Bit tired of learning the hard way and you guys are a blessing.

I think I have the answer- Strap a generator to the back, run the light show and a bonus........very loud PA (got it) and blow up Home Depot's rental generator. This is going to be a trip. Merry Christmas guys.

A

[ericfreeman]

Best of luck with your light show: always a great thing to thrill the kids with a motorcycle. Hope you don't end up in a fireball though! As Mick said, using LED's could allow you to use a bundle of lights with minimal power but I'm not sure they're available for 120 Volt circuits at reasonable cost. Take some pics when you get the details worked out.

Eric

[timewarped1972]

a fully charged car battery MIGHT last long enough to have the desired effect if it's not for a long period of time (independant of the bikes electrical sytem ofcourse) good excuse to buy a new optima???

[ericfreeman]

Reminds me of a story when I was Marina Engineer at a luxury beach resort hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Our hotel was catering a mammoth dinner event after the International Air Show and there would be several thousand people attending. The tables were set up on a new golf course in downtown Dubai and the Food and Beverage people wanted to light the underside of every table, several hundred in total. Of course, running extension cords all over the grass would have resulted in tons of tripping and falling incidents so I suggested a simple car battery and headlight be set under every table. Did a shop test and the battery held up fine for over 10 hours, plenty of time for the dinner event. Naturally, my boss took credit for the idea (rotten Egyptian!) and I wasn't even invited to see my handy work. But, I was told it looked great: several hundred linen tablecloths glowing from inside, spread all over a grass fairway. Ah, the memories.

So, moral of the story is that perhaps a decent car battery would give you enough power for a short run with an inverter and your lights. Best bet is to figure out how many lights you want, the total current draw and then see if you can get an inverter and battery to furnish the power.

Eric

[IronMick]

Use a string of the modern christmas tree lights or outdoor christmas decoration lights. These are LEDs. Some are even solar powered so there you go, no battery or generator needed.

[superwarden]

They make batterry operated christmas lights, just use those..

[Sna69ke]

I think k-mart or walmart just last week had a sale on led lights and I thought to myself..led x-mas lights...coool