Determining the capacity of an electrical system

[RandyO]

Ack ! no one can tell me how many watts I have to play with in my new AK550. my question is in relation to heated gear

no specs in owners manual, or service manual, service dept at dealer doesn't know, but will try finding out, they "think" there is enuf for my 90w jacket liner, and 35w gloves

is there a way I can measure with a meter ?, the AK550 has a voltmeter function on the instrument cluster.

[boosten lebaron]

I've always just hooked up whatever gear I planned on using and running a volt meter to the dash so I can keep an eye on charging while I'm riding. If charging started to suffer I would unplug something and monitor again. You can ride at night and see if your headlights dim as you turn on more gear. It was pretty obvious on my bikes when I was getting greedy with the temp settings.
Every Chinese scooter or bike I have had has had about 100 watts to play with. You may or may not have that much, I can't say.

[RandyO]

IEvery Chinese scooter or bike I have had has had about 100 watts to play with. You may or may not have that much, I can't say.

I'd like to think it's got more, flagship model with all the gizmos it has, your method is what I planned last resort, I don't want to find myself a hundred miles from home and a dead/weak battery, been there done that. Can't pop the clutch to start this either, once the starter don't turn, I'm dead in the water

[e30addict]

It has a volt meter in the dash? Hook up what you want and see what it reads with everything on high. If it drops below 12v you'll end up discharging the battery.

[PurplePackage]

watts comes from the rectifier, which comes from the generator, which comes from the engine. Take out the rectifier and search for the part info online.

[Kurlon]

Reg/Rect *should* be rated for more than the stator can actually put out as a safety margin. If the reg/rect is rated for 500w, you're not going to get 500w out of the system.

[golden chicken]

Try a carbon pile load tester. Crank it up to 10, 15, 20A and see if/when the voltage drops off. Then do the math to figure out max watts.