Red charging light not working ....

[Roger Chatterton]

and it's not the bulb ! Swopped for known good bulb, and still nothing.

So, no red ignition light when ignition is switched on, and no charge from system at the battery.

Bike (100 GS PD) ran out of battery power just short of home, - was running well up to that point, but had obviously been running on battery power for 40 miles or so- only noticed when having to stop in traffic at a junction- the early part of the trip was on quiet lanes or the A14, so not needed to stop or see red light. RAC gave me a quick roadside charge up , and was able to ride to my usual repair man not too far away- again, bike was running fine. Battery is in good condition (Odyssey) and holds its charge.

So, any clues please ?

Both the oil and neutral lights light up fine, and according to my Clymer, one side of the three lights(ignition, oil & neutral) have a common wire (rail)- the other side of the ignition light comes from the Volt Regulator ( brand new one fitted a while ago), so unlikely to be that.
Diode board is the later black backed one, and all looks good and clean under the front cover - brushes look OK.

So, had a glowing red light on earlier bikes before ( rotor problems), but never had a NO red light problem before !!

 

[Rob Farmer]

Get the multimeter out. Move the brushes out the way and measure the resistance of your rotor. Sounds like its open circuit to me.

Was that you riding South past junction 22 of the m1 around 17:30 on Saturday Roger?

 

[Roger Chatterton]

Hi Rob
Thanks for the info I'll pass it on- I have a spare rotor, so that's
a simple test/cure.
Yes , went to Stafford show, along with pal on his
Very nice Bumblebee. Got a bit of a soaking!
I was on the Turquoise bike, which is running well- it's my other Purple PD which
has the ignition light problem.

 

[colint]

Is the bulb OK doesn't the alternator get an exciter current through the bulb?

 

[cookie]

it's nearly always the rotor failed.

 

[Roger Chatterton]

Is the bulb OK doesn't the alternator get an exciter current through the bulb?

As made clear in my post-
"and it's not the bulb ! Swopped for known good bulb, and still nothing."

 

[Norfolk Tiger]

If the feed is ok to the bulb,which sounds to be the case as you say the other tell tale lights are ok.Have you tried earthing out the wire at the regulator coming from the bulb with the ignition on.If this lights the bulb it would prove the wire is ok between the 2.

 

[Roger Chatterton]

Thanks for the advice fellas - but I think it's a case of "Mea Culpa" here I'm afraid .....

Apparently ( bike is with mechanic as it broke down away from home).....
when I installed the new EME Voltage Regulator ( Hi Output one /black) and fitted the plug back on, I had managed to bend up one of the connectors on the V/Regulator. Hence, no volts to the ignition light, and no charge from the generator to the battery...

So, I was thinking Rob's suggestion of an "open" rotor was probably going to be the cause - age is a terrible affliction !

So it's all back together and working - 14 volts or so at the battery when engine running, and red lights extinguishes at just over tickover speed.
If I could have afforded it, I would certainly fit the EME charging system on this bike; I have it on my Turquoise GS, and it is a relief not having to worry about worn brushes, dodgy diode boards, and voltage regulators, or blown ignition bulbs.

Thanks for the suggestions, but I think an aged brain needs replacing by a newer and younger brain asap.

 

[(RIP) Arkwright]

May I suggest that you could fit an LED voltage monitor so that you can tell if it's not charging under a tenner from Gammatronix, I once did over 100miles home on sidelights without the battery charging, all for a poor connection on the field windings from the warning light, but I knew it wasn't working!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/gammatronixlimited/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25

 

[Roger Chatterton]

Hi Duncan

looks like a very handy low cost little device - where have you wired yours into the system ? Really needs to be wired via a switchable source I would have thought ?
Any offers on the bike yet - looks like a good buy for somebody!
Are you going to the Wee Kend down at Sid's in Devon ?

 

[cookie]

got one on my g/s. smaller and cheaper than a meter. a handy little gadget

 

[colint]

As made clear in my post-
"and it's not the bulb ! Swopped for known good bulb, and still nothing."

 

[Flipfly]

I have one of these fitted now

It lets me know exactly what's going in.

It highlighted a dodgy battery and an iffy connection on the bm generator light (which apparently stopped it from charging at full rate).

Available here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Blue..._Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item2313acd168