6v Regulator for a Generator System

sign216 said:

Looking at this, does it simplify things?

Click to expand...

Alas, no. It regulates voltage but has no current limiter. It is a high-side switch for the field coil, whereas your generator requires a low-side switch. It does not have a cut-off function to prevent battery discharge via the field coil.

Ok, I thought it must be too simple. Commercial versions of it were only $25 (25 Euro at current rates).

There's not many commercial versions of my regulator at all, and they are about $175!

alec_t said:

I did say it was a rough layout . Just a starter for you to improve on.
I suspect the cost of building your own reg won't be much different from buying an off-the-shelf one. Have you considered that? I see them advertised for around £32 ($50).

Click to expand...

Do you have a link? I couldn't find any correct ones except at two or three times that price.

Sorry, no link. I confess to simply searching for "6V motorcycle regulator" and didn't check datasheets, so they may not have been 'correct'.

alec_t said:

The attached zip file contains html files which open in Firefox and show a rough stripboard layout, size ~ 2" x 2.2", for a slightly simplified version of the last schematic I posted.

Edit: The html seems to have got somewhat garbled, but the board layout shows ok. IC connections aren't shown, but would be by jumper wires.

Click to expand...

i

alec_t said:

The attached zip file contains html files which open in Firefox and show a rough stripboard layout, size ~ 2" x 2.2", for a slightly simplified version of the last schematic I posted.

Edit: The html seems to have got somewhat garbled, but the board layout shows ok. IC connections aren't shown, but would be by jumper wires.

Click to expand...

Alec, can you check the Pebble representation of the stripboad layout? It seems like a few components are missing. This is my first time with Pebble, so maybe I'm not reading it correctly.
Joe

C1, C2 and TVS aren't shown, because I added those to the simulation after I did the layout in Pebble. I can't re-open and edit my Pebble file because it got garbled . There seems to be a bug in the Pebble software: it doesn't save files accurately on my Win10 system. D1 and R1 aren't shown because they would be on a separate assembly within the headlight. R11 isn't shown because its format/size would depend on your choice of component. There is space on the layout to accommodate C1, C2, TVS, R11.

Yes, the Pebble illustration isn't showing very well for me either. Unfortunately, I can't access it electronically to place the remaining items. I'll print the picture out and manually add the items to the paper copy.

Just so I understand, the horizontal lines (black, yellow, orange, red, etc) are jumper wires, is that right? Why the different colors?

Yes, those are jumper wires. Arbitrary colour choice, except that I like to associate dark colours with ground/negative and bright colours with the positive supply or thereabouts.