charging By tavcor (Read 300 times)

[tavcor]

hi guys I've got a 244 engine. last week i change my regulator because it went dead and today just to be sure i replaced my battery, but i found ever since i bought this scoot(second hand) i cant use fan hooter and lights at once. if just idle with no lights and fan hooter sounds normal. if the fan run full speed and i put the lights on fan would slow down until i put the lights off. check voltage at idle its fine 13 and up and rise if i rev. and in our country South Africa you looking for trouble if you dont put lights on during the day. Another thing I've got straight coolant in the system no mixture with water and the system would heats up every 60-70km. Can the plain coolant cause the heating problem?

[ellpee]

You didn't specify a specific scooter -- make, model, year, etc. -- but you woes sound familiar. Without knowing much of ANYTHING to support it, I would suggest you consider LED bulbs on all the minor lights (running, brake, stop, turn, instruments). Beyond that, look into whether South African rules require full headlights or only running lights. If you can get away with the latter -- safety tradeoff there! -- build in a switch to turn off the headlights in daytime.

After that, and again without knowing all that much about your scooter, the fan can be a big amp-eater. If after all the above you still have problems, that might be the place to look next.

But better would be, post more about your scooter besides the fact that it has the 244 engine. You'll get much better answers here if people know more about your specific situation.

[alleyoop]

Yes, plain water heats up much faster, put in some good 50/50 mix prestone is good. The fans on the scoots draw a lot of juice as does the headlights . Many have changed to a different fan that does not draw so much juice as well as changing all the other lights to LEDS to not tax out the charging system. You could also go to lower watt headlights to help with the charging.
Alleyoop

[tavcor]

Hi guys its a jonway master 2 will try the led lights. The cooling system seems to be fine after burping for some time and then its pushing the water over to the overflow bottle. Check fluids no sighs of blow gasket and scooter running just fine.that's the reason why I've put in just plain coolant.

[JR]

It will actually run cooler with a 50/50 mix. This scooter is notorious for voltage issues, start by doing these simple things:

(1) go through all connections especially the plugins, if need be soldier them for a good connection
(2) I highly recommend changing the wires from the fuse box to the fan with heavier gauge wire
(3) the fuse boxes on these scooters are very poor remove it and check the connections, the fuse holders and if you can't get it in good shape replace the entire fuse box
(4) go through all the plugs and wires on the lighting circuits those lights dimming is a indication of poor connections
(5) grounding, make sure all ground wires are making good contact especially the negative battery cable to the frame, clean it to bare metal and then put the cable back on
(6) if you still are weak replace the fan with a lower amp pulling fan
(7) put LED bulb in the entire scooter.

JR

[ellpee]

Yes, LEDs are good and will save some voltage/amperage. Running/turn/tail/stop lamps are pretty easy to switch, instrument lights not quite so easy, headlamps not easy at all. If you have running lights in addition to headlights (from pictures it looks like you do), and if they are bright enough (since I put LEDs in mine they are very bright indeed), and if it's not outright against the law, adding a headlight on/off switch for daytime will save you more V/A. If after all that you STILL have charging issues, that fan will be the next thing to focus on. Do your instruments include a voltmeter? If so, watch what it says before and after the fan kicks on. If It's like my scooter (2011 Roketa, basically also a Jonway), the volt reading will drop significantly when the fan starts running.

As to coolant, mixed messages going on here. You are writing about 100% antifreeze, Alleyoop is writing about 100% water. I believe even antifreeze manufacturers would recommend against 100% antifreeze; the recipes on their bottles always include at least some percentage of water, best I can recall.

[tavcor]

Hi guys I installed a volt meter on the dash with fan and lights stays above 12 volts so it seems my charging is sorted for now. But my cooling system is a big headache I took the thermostat out burb it test run it heating up again what I noticed the hose where you put the water in stays cold during burping is that normal. Thinking of replacing the head gasket but no obvious signs of blown gasket

[ellpee]

Do I understand correctly that at the moment you have no thermostat in your coolant circuit at all? If so, then coolant should start circulating through the engine immediately, then out to the radiator, then back through the water pump to the engine, no matter what the coolant temperature. If it's not then there must be a clog or kinked hose somewhere, or the water pump isn't pumping. I'm not all that sure you can see any "flow" just by opening the radiator cap, and don't know how else to check that. Alley? JR? If one were to replace the short hose from water pump to engine with clear plastic tubing, would that be a way to verify flow?