Mdl 95 trail lighting ????

[rlkarren]

Danny,

I came to the exact conclusions when researching replacement/alternate headlights.

I think we are all dancing around the principles of Ohm's Law as we study electrical theory in regards to Hodaka's and I think it's important to point out.

Ohm's Law is V=IR, where V = voltage, I = amperage, and R = resistance, which means that voltage is a function of amperage and resistance. Since the resistance is more or less constant in the copper wire used in the windings, this also means that any change in amperage is proportional to the change in voltage. If I remember right the light coils are 2 Ohms. Using Ohm's law, this means that 6 = I x 2; or I = 3; 3 amps. Sounds about right.

Taking it one more step further with another equation in Ohm's Law and using the values we found above, P = VI, where P = watts; P = 6x3, which means that a Hodaka light coil max possible output at 6 volts is 18W. The only way to increase the wattage output is to add another coil in series, which will more or less double the wattage output but leave the voltage and amperage the same.

Since the resistance is constant, 2 Ohms in our case, in order to get 12 volts, you'd have to rewind the coil. I don't remember if larger gauge wire had less resistance or vice versa, but in order to get 12 volts using the existing cores, I think you'd have to use larger wire with the same number of windings which means that the coils would probably end up too big to fit inside the Hodaka stator.

One note: This does not take into consideration that the voltage from a Hodaka stator is variable due to variable RPM operation. When you attach a Voltage Regulator, this limits the output relative to the voltage. I've tested the output on an Ace 90 at various RPM's and I've seen up to 18 - 22 volts come out of those coils and it's not surprising Ed was able to power a 12v/100W bulb. But I think that at idle speed, it probably wasn't very bright?

I think if someone wanted to spend the time, we could determine the correct gauge wire and number of windings to produce a 12v light coil for Hodakas.

$0.02

Roger