Little help please for a fair to middling spanner man who's weak on electrics?
I run a bog standard C15, with a 2 wire 10A stator, 6volts and for some reason negative earth. I like to ride with my 30/24w headlight on for safety reasons but feel that the light output, especially in the daylight, is pretty weak. My question is: is it ok to switch the bulb for an LED one and if so suggestions of which bulb to buy would be greatly appreciated.
The other alternative would be to fit aftermarket running lights, but I wouldn't know how to wire these in. Again, any info would be most welcome. Thanks.
You can get a 10watt pilot light or failing that an LED headlight from Lucas /wassell for about 15 quid.
Surely if you're 6v then you should have 3 wires from the alternator.
Quote from: rhyatt on 22 Jun, 2025, 12:38 Surely if you're 6v then you should have 3 wires from the alternator.
Only with the original wiring selenium rectifier. He may have a modern rect/reg taking the 2 wires from the alternator and regulating it to 6V, which could also explain why it is negative earth. I'd go for 12V myself in these circumstances though.
Hi and thanks for taking the time to reply.
It's definitely a two wire stator, both green and yellow. Under the seat there's a finned box about 2" square with 5 wires plugged in. I can't see any markings on it but I've attempted to attach a couple of pictures. I can't see any other electrical equipment other than a coil of course. Do you know what it is please?
I would love to go to 12 volts but that would be outside my very limited electrical knowledge and to be fair it does ok and always keeps the battery charged.
Anyway, thanks again for your input.
That's a regulator/rectifier.
It changes the alternating current from your alternator into direct current suitable for charging the battery (rectifying) it also stops the voltage exceeding a set level to prevent the battery being 'boiled' (regulating).
It looks like as adapted the alternator for max output (hence only two wires). In principle changing the reg/rec for a 12V version should be straightforward if you wanted/needed 12V.
Regards
Swap the regulator for something like this (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/365410056406?_skw=12v+regulator&itmmeta=01JYGQ6BD16PAV12X22SH7Q97M&hash=item551422f8d6:g:u-sAAOSwjilntqa7&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1d%2BEV%2BSlVd660m93TSUSUD%2FLsM%2BnPN5Gc3T80bwbA3Tirh27a3yZ4MX1mr%2B3d8gAJ2%2BKK18gSC23FgqryOxGra7eryYAHnYUzWwodTHRa0YPuKgYjTtCFpA64modzrZCt2T7s8VR1%2B5pgAGszMu3rrOvpfnNRxTsGYIxXfkPzYN73F%2BmDIPmfWQITD8pbT9AxTJEdSHMpa0HbM1egdpYglOwrFtIs%2FDqjPxItMvaEFanLp26YfmhX7wYYtbJ9oxh3o%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_62mZf0ZQ). The change the battery for a 12V one and of course all the bulbs.
All is becoming clearer. Maybe it's not too complicated or expensive after all. I think I'll do a bit more digging and then give it a go. In the meantime, thank you both very much for sharing this information, and Derek996, thanks for the link.
I forgot to mention. You will also need to change the coil to a 12V one.
Thank you. I would have missed that.