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amps??
Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 2:06 pm
by furygan man
I want to extend the twin wire on an Optimate, the bit between the charger and the connector so it's long enough to reach the bike outside, have found some sufficient wire on Ebay but just wish to ask what 'amp' i should get...3, 15 or 28 (or other)
Cheers
Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 4:10 pm
by Nooj
Trickle chargers seem to charge at about 2.5A, but a properly flat battery may require more juice, 15A should be more than adequate I'd have thought though.
D-Rider will probably know, he knows about electrickery.
Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 4:12 pm
by furygan man
That seconds my thoughts, thanks Nooj
Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 6:07 pm
by fatboy
The only useful thing I know about electrickery is that the flow of leccy is a bit like the flow of water, the bigger the carrier the more you can move
Big cable joined to small cable means restistance ( flow suddenly restricted )
The rest of the electrical stuff is evil witchcraft
Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 6:11 pm
by furygan man
fatboy wrote:The only useful thing I know about electrickery is that the flow of leccy is a bit like the flow of water, the bigger the carrier the more you can move
Big cable joined to small cable means restistance ( flow suddenly restricted )
The rest of the electrical stuff is evil witchcraft
Nah, I'll just be chopping the smaller cable part and finding likewise cable but longer, did it on previous charger and worked ok just using speaker type cable, but thought i'd get some further info as ordering the stuff from scratch rather than using what i had to hand previously
Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 7:20 pm
by blinkey501
I know this is going to be a silly question, but why can't you use a 240v extention cable and move the optimate nearer the bike
Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 7:54 pm
by D-Rider
blinkey501 wrote:I know this is going to be a silly question, but why can't you use a 240v extention cable and move the optimate nearer the bike
.... is the better way to do it
If you do want to extend the output then you need to know how much current it can deliver - and different optimates have different outputs. I've had a quick look and some can source 5A. 15A cable should be OK but don't make it longer than you need to.
Alternatively, you could go to ebay and search for "optimate extension" and it will reveal a choice of genuine extension cables for the range of different optimates.
Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 8:33 pm
by Willopotomas
blinkey501 wrote:I know this is going to be a silly question, but why can't you use a 240v extention cable and move the optimate nearer the bike
^^^^^^Or do that ^^^^^^
Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 8:55 pm
by joecrx
or move the bike closer to the socket
Posted: Tue May 15, 2012 10:22 pm
by MartDude
blinkey501 wrote:I know this is going to be a silly question, but why can't you use a 240v extention cable and move the optimate nearer the bike
Been doing that for 7 years; ordinary household trailing socket, under a plastic sheet, weighted down with half-bricks. C-Tek still going strong. Same arrangement to feed a couple of small tubular heaters under the R100RS, under its cover, 'cos that was a pig to start on cold mornings.
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 1:16 am
by BikerGran
fatboy wrote:The only useful thing I know about electrickery is that the flow of leccy is a bit like the flow of water, the bigger the carrier the more you can move
Big cable joined to small cable means restistance ( flow suddenly restricted )
The rest of the electrical stuff is evil witchcraft
Wrong! This is what it's all about.........
Auto electrics
Electricity isn't caused by cold fusion, that’s nuts, and forget all that nonsense about magnetic fields and the flow of electrons along a conductor, for it is just that; nonsense, a myth put about by auto electricians to support their lavish lifestyle at your expense. The reality is ... smoke! When you think about it, it all becomes startlingly obvious – smoke makes all electrical things function, if smoke escapes, the component stops working. For example, the last time you had to grovel under the car to replace the starter motor, didn’t it start smoking before it ceased working? - of course!
The wiring loom on your vehicle carries smoke from one device to another, pumped around the system by the alternator, and when a wire springs a leak it lets all the smoke out and everything stops. Starter motors require lots of smoke to work properly, so they have very thick wires going to them. The battery stores up lots of smoke dissolved in battery acid, which is why they were once called accumulators, until it became apparent that we unwashed home mechanics would twig to the secret. Naturally, if you try to dissolve too much smoke in your battery it will escape through those little holes in the top, which is why those batteries with sealed tops explode when they get too much smoke in them.
With regard to Joseph Lucas and his wrongfully sullied reputation, why is he so maligned? Why are Lucas components more likely to leak smoke than, say, Bosch? Because Lucas is British, and all British made things leak. British motorcycles leak oil, British sports cars leak rain, British brakes leak fluid, and British governments leak military secrets. So naturally, British electrical components leak smoke!
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 8:25 am
by furygan man
All replies welcome
Can't move bike nearer, it is where it is
Yes extending the 'mains' cable was the other option but wasn't sure about having the whole charger 'outside' under the bike cover, given the weather we've had recently i thought it would be better to keep the charger inside the house and just extend the wire out of the charger to the bike?
*edit- Thanks Andy, didn't realised they did extension leads, just looked and they are 15amp for the Optimate, so that's the wire i need and will make up my own connectors, did a similar thing last year...without really knowing what it was doing and it worked the 3-4 months i had it outside
Thanks all...sorted
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 5:12 pm
by fatboy
BG, how many a day does a healthy electical system smoke ?
Do LEDs smoke less ?
I smoked a few getting my starter motor off but it didnt seem to help, it was still totally spanked when I took it apart
I suspect you may not be telling the truth !
Posted: Wed May 16, 2012 6:02 pm
by randomsquid
furygan man wrote:
Yes extending the 'mains' cable was the other option but wasn't sure about having the whole charger 'outside' under the bike cover, given the weather we've had recently i thought it would be better to keep the charger inside the house and just extend the wire out of the charger to the bike?
Mine lives outside under a cover. I stick an outdoor extension through a window with an rcd in the plug socket and the optimate and plugs go under the hump with the hump loosely fitted on top. It's seen some really crap weather and not caused any problems yet.