3 Colour LED Charge Indicator - opinions?

[fatnfast]

I have just fitted a DIY LED charge indicator to the clocks of my GS750. Its a single LED that has been set up to display whats happening in the battery charging dept.

Basically it functions as follows:
<11.99 volts - the LED is Orange and blinks 4 times (repeat)
12 - 12.49 volts - the Orange LED is constantly on
12.5 - 13.09 volts - the LED changes to Green and blinks 4 times (repeat)
13.10 - 15.49 volts - the Green LED is constantly on (Charging correctly).
15.5 volts and above - the LED changes to display a constant Red light.

I have wired this up to come on with the ignition, and it now gives me a good idea as to the health of the charging system. It should now let me know that all is well, and if a fault develops I will be able to pick it up quickly.

I have used a 10mm tri-colour LED (smaller ones are available) and it is a simple two wire connection (earth and a switched positive feed). It used a very small PCB and all the voltages can be pre-programmed.

Is this a good idea, or simply a device for the paranoid?!

The attached pics shows the green LED display.

[mriddle]

How much .. where do I send the paypal ?

I think it is an awesome idea !

[Macguyver]

Great idea, and it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to make up a couple dozen. I am sure a bunch of the members here would love to have that on their bike(s).

I am planning a similar pic circuit, but the purpose of mine is to change the color of the backlight in my analog volmeter gauge.

Kudos, and seriously, consider making a bunch up and I am quite sure they would sell, as long as GSR members get a discount of course!

[posplayr]

Sounds like a nice option for not adding alot of space and has nice functionality.

I assume you can water proof the device, also you said it is programmable so I'm guessing you have a PIC in there.

How big is the unit behind the LED? 1" square? would be nice if it fits inside of a gauge housing.

[Hammered]

Hell, Id kick a few bills for one for my 650 and my Chop. Nice idea.

[KiwiGS]

I am running something similar in my cage at the moment, with a view to putting on on my bike .....
Except I only use two LEDs, orange for under voltage (<12.5 V) and red for over voltage (>14.8V).
I am not a huge fan of lights on a dash to tell me everything is fine.
What did you use a PIC?, mine is just a zener, some resistors and a few transistors, so it can't be adjusted (easily) once it is on the car/bike.
It is a good idea for sure, any early indication of a fault is a bonus seeing as how the GS charging system can be a bit delicate.....

[fatnfast]

I'm pleased it is seen as a useful device and its not just me wanting to add some lights to my bike!! Sadly, it was not made by myself. I was searching for the parts to make up a simple device to give a basic red/amber/green charging status and stumpled accross a guy on ebay who had done all the hard work (and I struggled to find the parts to make it up cheaper).

It would quite easily fit into an unused 'dash' light (I was to lazy,and just wanted to see if it could survive on a motorcycle!). I have protected it from the elements by using a little bathroom silicon.

I have wired it via a basic relay to read direct battery voltage (I have also used the relay to provide the sensing input for my 6-wire Honda reg/rectifier).

He is a UK seller, but I'm sure he will ship to you guys (if not, I would happily act as a middle man for no cost).

The price is a stagering $12.50 at the current exchange rates!

He goes under sparkbright_products and if you cut and paste 160457896281 you can see a typical product.

Turn around in the UK was less than 24 hours from order to delivery including a custom set up for your bike.

[Steve]

It would quite easily fit into an unused 'dash' light ...

"Unused dash light", eh?

Sounds like the sixth-gear indicator light in bikes larger than 550.

.

[posplayr]

here you go ; two type and very cheap even with shipping to the US

http://cgi.ebay.com/12v-LED-Battery-Monitor-voltage-and-charge-indicator-/160455506994?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_AudioElectronicsVideo_Video_TelevisionSetTopBoxes&hash=item255be4bc32

http://cgi.ebay.com/12v-LED-battery-voltage-monitor-charge-level-indicator-/160453242345?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_AudioElectronicsVideo_Video_TelevisionSetTopBoxes&hash=item255bc22de9

[Matchless]

If you want to build your own, go here, everything is explained:

http://home.comcast.net/~loudgpz/GPZweb/VoltMonitor/GPZ3LEDvoltMonitor.html

[bakalorz]

I am running something similar in my cage at the moment, with a view to putting on on my bike .....
Except I only use two LEDs, orange for under voltage (<12.5 V) and red for over voltage (>14.8V).
I am not a huge fan of lights on a dash to tell me everything is fine.
What did you use a PIC?, mine is just a zener, some resistors and a few transistors, so it can't be adjusted (easily) once it is on the car/bike.
It is a good idea for sure, any early indication of a fault is a bonus seeing as how the GS charging system can be a bit delicate.....

I breadboarded a 3 color solid/blinking LED with a PIC a couple of years ago using a Red/green/yellow LED. Wrote about it here too. I personally didn't care for the look/functionality as much as a 20-LED "bargraph" built with 2 LM3914s (looked kinda like posplayers 2nd link but with 20 LEDS)

FWIW, what I mean by functionality is: With the bike runnning, the voltage is not a constant voltage, it oscillates quite a bit around the average, and the 3914 type shows this as a "smear" in the display. I not only thought that looked neat, but it also gave LOTS of info about the charging going on ... the smear was darker where the voltage spent the most time, and showed both the high and low voltages that the oscillation was going to. response time was VERY fast, so you could easily see how the charging changed with blips of RPM (as opposed to digital meters, which have to average over time) ...

But anyway, the PIC version is dead simple (and cheap ... probably under $5)
It only requires a PIC, red/green LED, four resistors and 1 bypass cap.
If you do it as SMD you might be able to fit the whole thing UNDER a 10mm LED.
Even if you use leaded components, its only an 8 pin DIP for the PIC.
You would want to use the HV615 PIC: it has a voltage regulator (to make it easy to run from the bikes power), an A/D converter (to sense charging voltage), and a PWM circuit (to change color easily) built in.
The default project people use to learn about PICs is making a LED blink ... this project only adds a little bit of complication in that it does so in response to voltages sensed by the A/D ...

If anyone wants to build a PIC version, I'll give more advice, and sample code (not completed though, I used a pot to emulate changing the voltage cause it was easier to run on the breadboard in developement ... but thats a pretty trivial change)

If anyone is interested in the LM3914 version, I still have a writeup I did with pictures, schematics, layout, etc somewhere.
The 3914 voltage monitor was done on premade circuit boards available at radio-shack (part #276-170), and required no particular electronics experience, just the ability to solder. Parts are probably $10-$15.
I liked this much better than a digital display (I rubberbanded a multimeter to the handlebars for a while)
It was easy to read at a glance, gave good information, was easy to read in all kinds of light (night to bright sunlight)
Size was about 3 inches wide, 1 inch high, 2 inches deep.
If and when I get around to it, I'll probably redo it to be 2 x 0.5 x 2
I rubberbanded mine to the top of the instrument cluster.

[posplayr]

You would want to use the HV615 PIC: it has a voltage regulator (to make it easy to run from the bikes power), an A/D converter (to sense charging voltage), and a PWM circuit (to change color easily) built in.
The default project people use to learn about PICs is making a LED blink ... this project only adds a little bit of complication in that it does so in response to voltages sensed by the A/D ...

If anyone wants to build a PIC version, I'll give more advice, and sample code (not completed though, I used a pot to emulate changing the voltage cause it was easier to run on the breadboard in development ... but thats a pretty trivial change)

.

Those pics are unbelievably cheap .

I just looked over the data sheet. I'm assuming the development environments are basically free, but what are you using to program the device? Is it "in-circuit programming" or are you using some type of ROM programmer? I saw there are several methods, but what is cheapest for a 1 off design?

This might be a good candidate for an "anti-slosh" filter.

[bakalorz]

Those pics are unbelievably cheap .

I just looked over the data sheet. I'm assuming the development environments are basically free, but what are you using to program the device? Is it "in-circuit programming" or are you using some type of ROM programmer? I saw there are several methods, but what is cheapest for a 1 off design?

This might be a good candidate for an "anti-slosh" filter.

Microchips IDE
Write Assembler, debug, fairly involved simulator with stimulus, convert asm to hex.
Think it does C too, but I never used C.
(you can learn a LOT about the PICs and what they are capable of just by writing programs and using the sim to see if they do what you want)

WinPIC
Loads Hex to PIC using hardware below

Hardware
Needs Parallel port and 14 volt power supply.
I used the schematic unchanged, but changed the layout to fit the ubiquitous radio-shack #276-170 board and save myself etching.

These are by no means the only or best solutions, they are just what I tried and used. They are all free. Everything worked pretty much 1st try with no gotcha's.
There are Parallel port, Serial port, and USB programmers. Also, Microchip sells the PICSTART Plus and PICkit, which are complete ready to go solutions (I think).

On the hardware end, I put a solderless breadboard next to the programmer, and ran the wires to that.
Push a DIP PIC into the breadboard and its ready to program.
Put LEDs, MosFETs, Pots, etc on the breadboard to build test circuits.
WinPIC has a hardware debug mode which lets you toggle individual pins, so turn on Vdd (but not Vpp) to boot the PIC and let it run without even removing it from the breadboard or changing any wiring.
You can toggle the clock and data lines to provide input to the PIC too if desired.
For In Circuit Programming and SOIC PICs, run wires out of your project board and stick them in the breadboard. Clip them when done programming and debugging.



I've got a quicker, easier project for you than the anti-slosh filter:
Connect the Coil relay mod to a PIC output vice the ignition Switch. PIC boots to a default of "off"
Read the ignition's signal generator output, determine the RPM. (some PICs have op-amps and/or comparators built in, use those to read sig gen)
If RPM is greater than "X" (determined empirically) turn on the coil relay. Once RPM hits 1000, the relay stays on till power (the ignition) is turned off.
... Automatic Anti-kickback ...

Options:
pot that allows X to be adjusted between two limits,
thermistor (or diode) to sense temperature and automatically adjust X lower on cold days if required
If RPM goes over 10,000 drop the relay again (rev limiter)
(Hidden) toggle switch that changes rev limiter to 5,000 rpm ... useful for testing rev limiter, and also in case your inexperienced brother-in-law wants to borrow your bike.

If you build it, let me know what you come up with to read the sig gen ... If I get motivated I'll do a rev limiter, but I have no need of anti-kickback

[TheCafeKid]

Man... I wish you brains could figure out a better or replacement way to do the electronic tachs in some of the later model GSs.. After so many years, they'll get awful screwy... Ive installed 3 different boards in mine, and they were all wildly off at one side of the powerband or the other..

[posplayr]

Microchips IDE
Write Assembler, debug, fairly involved simulator with stimulus, convert asm to hex.
Think it does C too, but I never used C.
(you can learn a LOT about the PICs and what they are capable of just by writing programs and using the sim to see if they do what you want)

WinPIC
Loads Hex to PIC using hardware below

Hardware
Needs Parallel port and 14 volt power supply.
I used the schematic unchanged, but changed the layout to fit the ubiquitous radio-shack #276-170 board and save myself etching.

These are by no means the only or best solutions, they are just what I tried and used. They are all free. Everything worked pretty much 1st try with no gotcha's.
There are Parallel port, Serial port, and USB programmers. Also, Microchip sells the PICSTART Plus and PICkit, which are complete ready to go solutions (I think).

On the hardware end, I put a solderless breadboard next to the programmer, and ran the wires to that.
Push a DIP PIC into the breadboard and its ready to program.
Put LEDs, MosFETs, Pots, etc on the breadboard to build test circuits.
WinPIC has a hardware debug mode which lets you toggle individual pins, so turn on Vdd (but not Vpp) to boot the PIC and let it run without even removing it from the breadboard or changing any wiring.
You can toggle the clock and data lines to provide input to the PIC too if desired.
For In Circuit Programming and SOIC PICs, run wires out of your project board and stick them in the breadboard. Clip them when done programming and debugging.



I've got a quicker, easier project for you than the anti-slosh filter:
Connect the Coil relay mod to a PIC output vice the ignition Switch. PIC boots to a default of "off"
Read the ignition's signal generator output, determine the RPM. (some PICs have op-amps and/or comparators built in, use those to read sig gen)
If RPM is greater than "X" (determined empirically) turn on the coil relay. Once RPM hits 1000, the relay stays on till power (the ignition) is turned off.
... Automatic Anti-kickback ...

Options:
pot that allows X to be adjusted between two limits,
thermistor (or diode) to sense temperature and automatically adjust X lower on cold days if required
If RPM goes over 10,000 drop the relay again (rev limiter)
(Hidden) toggle switch that changes rev limiter to 5,000 rpm ... useful for testing rev limiter, and also in case your inexperienced brother-in-law wants to borrow your bike.

If you build it, let me know what you come up with to read the sig gen ... If I get motivated I'll do a rev limiter, but I have no need of anti-kickback

thanks for the run down.

I did a search on ebay and a bunch of under $50 OPTIONS pop up for programers/dev kits. I have a Needhams EMP-11, but they seem to be out of business now. Maybe I should put that on e-bay while people still know what it is.

Anyway I forgot about the anti-kick back. I did do some experiments and found that the logic did need some more smarts than what I got from simple relay based relays. A pic would be good.

I still have my INNOVATE LM2 and LMA3 to integrate with O2 sensor, and will see what is required to get the RPM stable.

While these PICS are pretty cool mainly because they are so cheap, in college I was doing hand assembled hex code on 6800's back in 1978 and at work brought my first wire wrap Z-80 CPU up from scratch for a pic type application in 1981( actually that turned into a major program for Raytheon at the time). So I really dont have a burning desire to run off and play with one of these without a compelling need.

My starter clutch with the 1166 has been doing well as long as the battery is fully charged. Trying to start with a poor battery will invite the kickback though.

If mine goes out I might change my mind about need in a hurry. I'll keep it mind thought.