Triumphrat

GulfCoastDave · 06-22-2006, 09:13 PM

Well, I finally went the Boyer route and am having some problems getting it right.
First off... my kill switch & ignition switch were not up to snuff & so I had to take them out of the loop (causing constant spark). Made a short trial run with the unit hooked up direct to battery. It really ran great... smooths out ALL the rough edges.
Back to the drawing board & installed a heavy duty toggle switch that takes current from Brown/Blue wire & splits it... one leg going to the keyed ignition switch to run all the lights & the other leg supplying current to the white wire of the Boyer AND the white wire of the Oil Pressure indicator light.
It all checked out (started a little hard) but away I went... & it ran great for about 10 minutes... really strong. Then as I was really getting on it... it began mis-firing & suddenly just died. Got off and in a minute or two I was surprised that it started right up. Then, holding my breath on the trip home... lots more mis-firing... & finally got back.
This is a brand new wiring harness that was tested & working fine with the old points system. All connections are SOLDERED. Coils are brand new 6v. Battery is brand new & was charged with a trickle charger.
British Cycle advised testing coils, voltage etc... which I will do tomorrow. I will probably also try going back to the direct to battery hookup... & have my wife follow me in the car. ;-)
Anybody have any ideas?
Best regards,
GCoastDave

KADUTZ · 06-22-2006, 10:54 PM

Prayer?

OzBloke · 06-23-2006, 12:20 AM

Davo,
RU dead sure your 6V coils are hooked up in series? Boyer box --> -ve 1st coil, +ve 1st coil --> -ve 2nd coil, +ve 2nd coil to earth?

What's the battery like now? - Still a good charge on it?

Fuel coming through alright?

Pete

GulfCoastDave · 06-23-2006, 08:21 AM

Kadutz...oh yes, initially tried prayer but my wife became somewhat agitated when I sacrificed the goat.

Pete... thanks for jumping in...
Yes... it's all per the Boyer shop drawing...Black wire from Boyer Box to Coil 2 Neg, Coil 2 Pos jumped to Coil 1 Neg, Coil 2 Pos to earth (right to Battery with another leg going to engine case bolt & harness red is grounded again to engine head).
Battery was brand new a few weeks ago... charged with trickle charger for 12 hrs. My tester is old but the voltage drop from lights off to lights on is miniscule. Today I will buy a brand new multi-tester to get exact readings on coils and battery.
Gas is fine... right from my storage can... same gas I was using when bike was running fine with points ignition.
Thanks All,
GCoastDave

OzBloke · 06-23-2006, 08:59 AM

Dave,

Going out on a limb here, but I'm thinking it could be a bad connection. I know you mentioned they're all soldered, but solder can break down under high heat & mechanical stress conditions. This may explain the intermittent nature of the fault. Given you reckon the fuel and fuel flow is OK (I'm tipping you've tried running with both petcocks open), I'd try the connections to the Boyer pickup. At the Boyer box end, the resistance between the Black/White and Black/yellow wires should be around 140 ohms (with the wires disconnected from the box).

You may have to get it hot again to get it to go into the fault condition.

Pete

[ This message was edited by: OzBloke on 2006-06-23 07:01 ]

quagmire · 06-23-2006, 12:28 PM

Dave, not sure if this will help you, but I found this link:

Boyer help

This one also:

Boyer pop

[ This message was edited by: quagmire on 2006-06-23 10:29 ]

okiecityflash · 06-23-2006, 05:23 PM

What I would do first is, Temporarily separate the fuse at the batt. and place a fused jumper between battery negative and coil. This bypasses everything at the ign. switch except the motor. Very simple to do and undo. If it runs good and long, your problem isn't with the ignition, period. * Remember, no brake light's et al. If it doesn't temporarily correct the problem then you know for certain its in the ignition circuit. Takes about 3 minutes. Luck to ya. *Based on a hot battery.

( Thats always my first move.) Adios Dave

GulfCoastDave · 06-23-2006, 08:10 PM

All great info guys... thanks Pete, Quagmire & Okie.
I got new tester and am ready to dig in. The "Boyer Help" link from Quagmire is a HUGE resource. I've found several things already that are definitely suspect:
1. I had the condensors hooked up... well the diagram didn't show anything about the rectifier or those details and so I just assumed that the condensors were still to be used... WRONG!
2. Boyer gives you one cable tie that you are supposed to use to "mount" the unit. Well we all know that is totally nuts but what they don't say is how important it is that the box be well-ventilated. The bracket I made was much too confining & definitely not allowing heat to leave the box efficiently. I'm re-working all that.
3. Wires going to the alternator cannot be traveling paralell to the B/w & B/Y wires that go to the stator. BUT... within the factory wiring harness... that is precisely what is happening. That's another fix on the list.
Okie... yes ... a jumper is exactly what I did earlier... in fact I had a couple of jumpers at one point... trying to see where it was going wrong. With all those switches, it was a little like starting an airplane ;-) . I was living dangerously though... no fuse for a little while!!

Anyway... I've got lots to keep me busy for now & will see where all these "fixes" take me. Will get back when I know more.
Thanks to all!
GCoastDave

quagmire · 06-23-2006, 08:47 PM

Dave I saw the same things as you in the Boyer help link. How can the altinator wires NOT be going in parallel?????

Also I was planning on placing my "Boyer box" tied to the cross tube under the gas tank. So,....am I not supposed to put it there????

I too may be looking at my wiring this weekend.

Oh, by the way. While I was rummaging thru old threads, I found a like to this site: Greater Atlanta British Motorcycle Assoc.. A great web site and lots of good info.

[ This message was edited by: quagmire on 2006-06-23 18:52 ]

GulfCoastDave · 06-24-2006, 12:19 AM

Quagmire... the prohibited wire association is the paired G/W and G/Y wires that go to the alternator (in the primary case) and the other pair would be the B/W and B/Y wires that go to the stator (old points location). These pairs are not supposed to be running parallel according to the literature in the "Boyer help" link you sent earlier.

I don't know, but somehow fastening a sophisticated electronic device with a cable tie just doesn't sit well with me. For my money, the device has too much mass to stay secure for any length of time given the motion of a motorcycle. I built a bracket (from hardware store goodies) which hangs from the battery box. Initially, the Boyer box was tightly surrounded by the bracket on 3 sides and padded with closed cell foam... which definitely cut air flow. I found a way to use the same bracket but with air passing below the unit and the bracket somewhat cut away with some air holes to help ventilation. The bracket cradles the unit and the unit is secured to the bracket with silicone seal and... yes... strong cable ties... but the difference is... the ties don't actually take any weight; along with the silicone seal, they just maintain location.
Tomorrow I'll press on.
Best regards,
GCoastDave