Ammeter with red dot

[Bazlerker]

The ammeter needle on my Alton equipped beast is pegged at anything over 80mph..It is the original instrument..

 

[timetraveller]

I've only ridden two bikes fitted with Altons. They were not mine and I know nothing about the state of their batteries but both showed a charge of 4 - 5 amps at about 50 - 60 mph on twins. On both occasions this was on a fifty mile ride so the batteries should have had time to come up to full charge. If the batteries were in good order and everything was wired through the ammeter then I think that they should not do that. If your ammeter is against the stop then what is happening to your battery? It does not sound like good behaviour to me but it would be best if either the producers or suppliers of the Alton commented as they must know more than I do about what they expect from their devices. As an aside you can always check whether the scale on an ammeter is about correct. Just turn on the lights with everything else off and look at the current drain. For example, if you have a 60 watt headlight bulb and a 6 watt tail light bulb at 12 volts then you should see five and a half amp discharge. If you have coil ignition then make sure the points are open or you will have to add in the current taken by the coil and that varies from coil to coil, depending upon what coil if fitted.

 

[BigEd]

I've only ridden two bikes fitted with Altons. They were not mine and I know nothing about the state of their batteries but both showed a charge of 4 - 5 amps at about 50 - 60 mph on twins. On both occasions this was on a fifty mile ride so the batteries should have had time to come up to full charge. If the batteries were in good order and everything was wired through the ammeter then I think that they should not do that. If your ammeter is against the stop then what is happening to your battery? It does not sound like good behavior to me but it would be best if either the producers or suppliers of the Alton commented as they must know more than I do about what they expect from their devices. ,,,,,,,,,

I am no auto electrician so the following assumption may be incorrect. The Walkernator uses a 3 phase alterenator. The rectifying diodes are housed in the body of the alternator. The charging level is regulated by allowing more or less current to the coils of the rotor and thus increasing or decreasing the strength of the magnetic field. This regulation is done by the separate ''black box" that monitors the circuit requirements. Most Alton generators are single phase with a fixed magnet rotor and have a less sophisticated rectifier/regulator unit.