Sunburst is not charging

Hi There,
Saturday I finish the Sunburst and I was eady to do a first road test, the E start from J.N. Gindrat works perfecly, you look at the start button and the engine start, oil pressure is ok and the sound of the engine is a symphonie for for stroke.
The last test I did before take off is to put a voltmeter on the new Litihum battery with the engine running: 12.9 volt no more, even with more revs, no more as 12.9 volts
I test first the AC voltage from the Alton stator: 36 volts, this must be good.
Then I take a closer look to the Podtronic rectifier and his connection to the battery and I was very surprised to see the four wires comming out the rectifier and a fifth red wire
cut on the outcomming from the rectifier.
I know that Podronic make rectifiers with five wires: one black, one red, and tree yellow?? but not with two red wires!

Can a member of access help me to solve the mistery of the second red wire??
Thanks
Yves

What colours are the remaining 3 wires, 3 yellows and 2 reds means it should go straight back to where it came from.

As you mentioned, I have never seen a Podtronics with two red wires and their site does not show such a configuration on either of the two models they make. Are you sure it's a "Podtronics" brand as opposed to some other brand?

On the Podtronics, the yellow wires connect to the alternator wires, the red and the black connect to the battery. There will be either two yellow wires or three, depending on whether it's a single phase or a three-phase Podtronics.

Is your Alton a single (2-wire) or three phase (3 wire) alternator? The alternator that came with my Alton E-Start has a single phase alternator (2 wires) and I have a single phase Podtronics that will put out around 15V at 2800 RPM and around 13v at idle (1000RPM/headlight off). If your Pod has 5 wires, it is the three phase version. Does your alternator have 3 wires?

But again, the PODtronics does not have two red wires...at least per any I've seen and the factory information/instructions.

Hi MexicoMike,
Yes it is a Podtronics, and I know the way to connect the wires;
My Alton is a singel phase alternator and give 36 AC volts
I will go back to the workshop today and will try another rectifier and take a closer look to the second red wire to be sure is red and not yellow
Keep you posted
Yves

Could the second red wire be just a ground wire, ground to the frame???

Ashley

yves norton seeley said:

I was very surprised to see the four wires comming out the rectifier and a fifth red wire cut on the outcomming from the rectifier.

Click to expand...

You say there are "four wires coming out of the rectifier" and "a fifth red wire cut on the outcoming..." so could you explain what you mean by "cut"?

Do you mean there's an additional red wire connected to the rectifier red wire...or?

Also, is the electrical system positive or negative earth/ground?

L.A.B. said:

You say there are "four wires coming out of the rectifier" and "a fifth red wire cut on the outcoming..." so could you explain what you mean by "cut"?

Do you mean there's an additional red wire connected to the rectifier red wire...or?

Click to expand...

Hi LAB,
There is an aditional red wire comming out of the rectifier box but not connected to the other red wire
The additional red wire is cut flush where is comming out of the rectifier
The bike is negative ground
Thanks
Yves

yves norton seeley said:

The additional red wire is cut flush where is comming out of the rectifier

Click to expand...

It seems single-phase Podtronics can have a fifth wire cut off flush.
https://www.trispark.com.au/single-phase-voltage-regulator~166



As it's cut off flush are you sure it is red and not yellow?
Nevertheless I believe it can be ignored.

L.A.B. said:

It seems single-phase Podtronics can have a fifth wire cut off flush.
https://www.trispark.com.au/single-phase-voltage-regulator~166

As it's cut off flush are you sure it is red and not yellow?
Nevertheless I believe it can be ignored.

Click to expand...

On your Pod the cut wire looks white no?
I will go to the workshop to day andtake a closer look to the color of the cut wire
Thanks
Yves

yves norton seeley said:

On your Pod the cut wire looks white no?

Click to expand...

I don't know, but I think it's been mentioned before that (some?) single-phase 'four wire' Pods. seem to be five wire (3-phase?) units with one yellow wire cut off.

https://clubmanracing.com/mainpower.php

A cut-off yellow wire makes (some) sense as possibly making a 3-phase Pod into a single phase but an additional red wire does not (at least to me).

Yes, often these days, a single phase is just a three phase with one wire cut off - it’s cheaper for them to produce one model and mod it prior to packaging.

The cost differential of the components potted inside the heatsink is cents not even dollars.


The confusion with the cable color is often with modern cables, they are not a uniform color all the way through - there is an underlying color (usually white) then the coloured jacket over the top.

@yves norton seeley You can safely ignore the sliced cable

I was working on the bike this afternoon, with Bert aka John Tickle and Jagbruno, I comfirm that the cut wire is red.
Bert bring another rectifier with him, we swap the Podtronics for his rectifier, start the engine and still nomore as 12.7 volts
Then I put a ammeter between the red wire from the rectifier and the battery and the ammeter show us loading....
The only way to explain the low voltage Is the battery, there is som electronics inside the battery, must be a kind of Charging Managment System that not allowd the battery to accept more as 12.9 volts when charging.
This litium battery dont need a special charger for loading, you can charge it with a normal charger, the charger load 2 amp, and even when the battery is full charged, the loader never show more as 12.9 volts
I tink we find the problem.
We take the Sunburst out the workshop and I was ready for a first test ride, but this is another story and will be on another post
Yves