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Is voltage ac or Dc on Zx chasis

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I am installing a GPS on my sled, and just put the multimeter on the wiring harness. I am showing 8.5 v idling ...but it is AC! is this right? If its not what is the probelm. If it is correct any quick ideas for a solution to get dc
 
DO NOT hard wire any electronics to your sled.
I wired my Garmin rino to mine and it fried. you have to get the snobunje accessory unit, or something similar.

I recall the coil makes AC and converts it to DC, or the other way around.. Can't remember.
 
I think Doo used AC until they came out with the 360w stators (most ZX's use the 290 I believe). These came out in the 2002-2003 range, so all REV's run the 360 and use DC. Best thing to do would be to wire in an accessory plug, then power your GPS through that. Most GPS' have mounting kits that you can buy to mount on the dash as well (my dad uses one on his Yamaha Venture).
 
All stators make AC. Believe it or not, there's no such thing as a DC motor, or DC generator. There's only AC, the DC comes from a mechanical commutator. Anyway, the stator sends it's power to the voltage regulator. The ZX voltage regulator appears to have a full wave rectifier in it. Think of a sine wave, will all the humps moved on top, none on the bottom. Then the voltage regulator part, cuts the tops of the humps off, until it looks like all humps on top, with the top of the hump being flat. Around 14 volts

The thing is, the voltage regulator isn't a actual zener. It's some power FETs (transistors) that switch on and off to limit the maximum voltage. (poor mans zener). Anyway, we took one apart, but haven't made a schematic yet. But, just looking at it, looks like about 10 dollars worth of parts in the case.

If you put it on a scope, it will look crazy, that's because of the poor man's zener, instead of a real zener. So, it's a crazy DC, that's moving all over the place. That's why your meter trips out. It won't power any electronics, safely, without some more electronics behind it. But, headlights and handwarmers don't care what the power looks like, they just want power.
 
thanks for the replies..any ideas

I knew stators were AC, but I assumed that like an alternator on a car they used diodes to rectify the voltage. However, I could not find any DC voltage on the sled- 01 ZX. This has really screwed up my installation...any ideas to get DC?
 
I just installed the accessory plug and use the Garmin 12v power cable for my 60csx. There is also a hardwire kit available.
 
I knew stators were AC, but I assumed that like an alternator on a car they used diodes to rectify the voltage. However, I could not find any DC voltage on the sled- 01 ZX. This has really screwed up my installation...any ideas to get DC?

Yes, you need a rectifier. Sorry, I don't have any other pics but this is basically what you need. http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...igkw=rectifier&kw=rectifier&parentPage=search

There are four prongs on the other side of it, two for the input of the AC voltage (+ and -) and two for the output of the DC voltage (+ and -). Cars have the rectifiers to correct it, newer sleds (like 04's and up) have the rectifier in line already since all the new computers in these sleds run off AC power. I get mine at B&E Electronics in Calgary (yes that's a real store and not the back of a van :D).
 
I made a rectifier to get DC power on my S-chassis sled. I needed it to run a digital temp gage. I found a post somewhere on Dootalk with this wiring diagram. I got the parts from radioshack for about 8 bucks.

Here are the parts that I used.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062584&cp=&sr=1&origkw=rectifier&kw=rectifier&parentPage=search

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062600

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102513

I attached a few pics of how I put mine together also. I just used a piece of cardboard as a cheapskates breadboard and made sure to solder and heat shrink the connections. Then I just cut a couple of water bottles apart, stuck the rectifier setup inside, and sealed them with silicone. I stuck the bottles to my hood right by the gages and it's worked perfectly. I get a constant 12 VDC even at idle.

Rectifier Wiring Diag.jpg 011408_00261.jpg 011408_00262.jpg 011408_00341.jpg
 
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