AC vs DC power output?

[R7]

Anyone know exactly what the difference is with AC power vs DC power? I "think" AC is alternating current and DC is direct current? But the question is, what type of current is needed to run lights, or can they run on both? Also, what type of current is needed to charge a battery, or will both charge one up?

The stator on my bike is putting out AC volts, do i need a battery for some type of "storage" to run lights?

I know very little about electrical shit and i'm not overly excited about how the problem is being handled by the guy that sold me the bike I "think" all the lights and accessories are made to run off the battery while the stator and regulator he sold me are made to keep the battery charged?
Any ideas?

Thanks

[PinHead]

That stator should be putting out DC to recharge the battery. If its putting out A/C that just seems wrong.
If it does for some reason put out A/C there should be a converter of some sort to change it back to D/C .
All the stuff on your bike is made to work with 12 volts D/C.

[Honclfibr]

Lightbulbs will run on both A/C and D/C, the lights in your car are normally DC whereas the lightbulbs in your house run off of AC.

Your stator makes alternating current, which is converted to DC and regulated to a steady voltage by your regulator/rectifier.
You would want to put the lights on the output of the regulator, since the unregulated A/C power that's coming off of your regulator would vary in voltage depending on the RPMs of your engine -> Your lights would get brighter as your speed increased.

As for the stator/battery thing, your stator provides AC which is converted to 12V DC by your regulator, this 12V DC charges the battery and runs your accessories when the bike is on. Once the bike is on the battery does not directly power anything, though it does act to "smooth" the power output a bit; If your regulator output drops below 12V for a fraction of a second the battery will provide power to your accessories so that you don't see a noticeable flicker.

[RandyO]

your stator is part of an alternator.... yup, puts out AC that's why you need a rectifier, the rectifier converts it to DC that is required to charge battery, usually there is also a regulator built into the rectifier, to reduce the 70± volts coming out of the alternator down to 13-15 volts

regular light bulbs will run off AC or DC, but LEDs are diodes of a sort and require DC

if the stator was part of a charging system that put out DC, it would be called a generator rather than an alternator

[Rice-rocket1]

Most vehicles use alternators with rectifiers. The rectifier changes the AC output of the alternator to DC that is used by the vehicle. This charges the battery and runs the vehicle. The purpose of the battery is to store a DC voltage with “X” amount of current capacity for starting the motor. Once running the alternator takes over the power demands of the vehicle, except in the case of bikes where they will run off the battery until the rpm’s are brought up which brings up the output of the alternator to about 14.5 volts. At this point the bike runs on the alternator and charges the battery.

If you’re getting an AC voltage you are most likely getting the reading before the rectifier. Most alternators have the rectifier built in but some don’t. Check the voltage at the battery and blip the throttle and see if the voltage goes up with RPM

Generators due to the fact that they must be larger, heavier and require more maintenance to get the same capacity are no longer used for most applications.

[Rice-rocket1]

Damn think we all hit this at the same time or what?

[beet]

randy & jim are right

[SVRACER01]

i also concur
no rectifier =dead battery (dont ask why i know)

[R7]

Thanks for the reply and help

OK, here's the skinny...
I just got back from the dealer and the bike is all set.
The stator and regulator (has a rectifier too) i used for the power upgrade were parts from a electric start kit for the same bike as mine but i didn't want to add the electric starter so i just bought the stator and regulator. It turns out the the system is designed mainly to just charge the battery. They added a battery and everything works fine now. The voltage stays at 13.8 while the bike is running and the lights don't dim or flicker at a idle.
I really didn't want to add a battery because i wanted to keep the bike as lite as possible but i guess it's no big deal, plus it'll be a bit more legal now as far as a inspection goes (not that i'll ever get it inspected)

Thanks again for the replys