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· Where's the paparazzi?
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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Anyone here knowledgable on the electrical capacity of a RZR-S?

I want to run a winch, stereo, and possibly add a couple lights. The winch and stereo will be a must but additional lights would be handy not to mention safer!

I just need to know what changes are necessary, if any, so I do not hurt the system when adding the accessories.

Sounds dumb but I know on atvs there is a chance you have to upgrade to a bigger stator if the amps and draw exceed the maximum output.
 

· Desert Rat
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2,149 Posts
The easiest thing to do if you are going to have a high amp load is upgrade the battery. I have an Odyssey 925, and some go all the way to an Optima.
 

· Premium Member
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I have extra lights, SSV stereo, winch, and HID headlights. I went to the optima because of having to winch myself out with a stalled motor and the battery died just after I got it out. I think the stock battery is just too small with or without the extra add ons.

I would interested in total wattage the rzr makes myself...
 

· Where's the paparazzi?
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171 Posts
Discussion Starter · #4 ·
good quick replys.

sounds like i need to go to a better battery.

anyone tell me exactly what would be needed? holder, battery, etc...
 

· Dan and Christy
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144 Posts
good quick replys.

sounds like i need to go to a better battery.

anyone tell me exactly what would be needed? holder, battery, etc...
I just bought an Optima blue top and a full size battery tray for my 09 S. I got the battery tray from Super ATV and the blue top from Costco. Install was a cinch. I think I might keep the stock battery in the dry storage in case I run the Optima all the way down. I am running a stereo system and 6 HID's.
 

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· Desert Rat
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· Registered
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I just put an RPM battery bracket in ($49.99 off ebay) and a yellow top Optima ($179.99 from pep boys)...... very happy with my choice. I like this setup alot better than running the 925.
 

· Registered
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What voltage level would be considered "unsafe". I'm running a 32" LED bar, a 12" LED bar, HID, fiber optic whip, and misc. LED lights. I'm using a 925 and my voltage drops to ~11.2 when everything is on.
 

· Desert Rat
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At idle or with some RPM on?
 

· Registered
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My Dakota Digital dash recommended setting the low voltage warning at 10.5 volts..... the only time I could get it that low, was with everything on and when the cooling fan would kit on.
 

· King of crash!
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34,125 Posts
first thing..rzr stator at max output is 500 watts......
of that 500 watts it takes aprox 200-250 wats to run the eng,fuel pump ,fan ect

so that leavs 250 maxed out watts for your added stuff... and at that maxed out the battery wil go dead.. so for a safety margine say you have about 175 watts of safe power left not alot....

wile bigger batterys help (i did this to) you still will run out sooner or later it just takes longer with a bigger battery..this is why i take a charger with me...most of the time a good run in daytime charges it up ok... so no matter how many or how big a battery you have if alot of stuff is used at night it will run low...
 

· Desert Rat
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Good stuff Johnny!
 

· King of crash!
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What voltage level would be considered "unsafe". I'm running a 32" LED bar, a 12" LED bar, HID, fiber optic whip, and misc. LED lights. I'm using a 925 and my voltage drops to ~11.2 when everything is on.
You my friend need an alternator your missing alot in the list above :rofl3:
that is alot of goodies...lol man i dont like it when mine hits 12.3 volts i shut stuff off.
 

· Registered
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Johnnycat has it exactly right. You can drag a trailer full of batteries around with you if you want, and you will be able to go longer before you inevitably deplete the batteries. The source of the power is the stator, rated at 550 watts under optimum conditions. Take away the parasitic loads, like the fuel pump, cooling fan, efi, gauge head, tail/brake lights and ignition and you might have 200/250 watts left for "toys". The analogy is that you have a bathtub (the battery) and you are filling it with the tap on low (stator). Once the bathtub is full its full, the rest goes over the overflow. everything is fine until you start using more water from the bathtub than the tap is putting in. Yes if you have a bigger battery (bathtub) it will take linger, but sooner of later you take it all out and you get the battery light or dead battery.
So what do you do to really solve the problem?

Stator rewinds have been popular in the 3 wheeler/quad group for twenty years or so. I havent had a RZR stator in my hands but a guess is that they could probably be rewound for an increase of 50-100% rated output. Fine. The weak link then becomes the regulator/rectifier. A stator system has no way to actually regulate the output of the stator like an alternator, so any excess is dumped across the external regulator. This makes heat. heat is the enemy of anything electronic. Since Polaris already moved the regulator/rectifier to a cooler location, I personally doubt it has much excess capacity. There are other regulators out there that might do the job.

A real alternator. There are kits out there and they arent rocket science. A 60amp alternator will power alot of toys. But even it wont power a 2000watt stereo system. Under optimum conditions at good revs a 60amp alternator is only providing around 900watts, so you are once again draining the bathtub faster than you are filling it. You are also using around 2 of your precious horsepower to do it. While that is an extreme example I think it helps illustrate the point.

One more thing for some of you to consider. If you use a winch on your vehicle. I dont use one, but if I did, I would want it and the battery capacity to be sufficient to retrieve the vehicle (dead) from the nastiest situations. So I would size the battery to provide full winch load for something like 15 or 20 minutes.
 

· Desert Rat
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Excellent stuff RZR X. It's the old TANSTAAFL syndrome.
 

· Desert Rat
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Old-timer?? Hell I'll be 60 in 3 weeks. From the Robert a Heinlein book "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress", TANSTAAFL, There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Meaning, for every toy, there's an operational price.
 

· Registered
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LOL, thanks SCOTTY. Ill be 59n in a couple of months myself. I see you and I have the same purple beast. Im very new to this forum and side by sides in general. i see there is a lot of misunderstanding of electrical systems. Im an engineer by trade. I do electrical systems and lighting for military, underwater and space vehicles.
 

· Desert Rat
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Cool RZR. I'm kinda running minimum on my RZR, HID's, a couple of 35W PIAA's and a Rigid 30" LED Lightbar, plus an LED whip. I think I'll be okay with a 925, particularly if I run it in daylight a lot between night runs. (plus, I take a charger, just in case.
 
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