Electrical, battery, 6V, 12v, electronic ignition

LED bulb replacements

I bought 6V BA9s LED bulbs off Ebay from China. The average cost about $1.15 USD each incl shipping.. I plan to trial them as instrument lights (oil, gen & speedo) and for an always-on-riding-light. There is a park light socket in the headlight reflector which takes a 9mm bulb so I plan to run a wire from switched ignition hot. Hopefully it's bright enough. LED are polarity sensitive so this should work fine, as should the speedo light. The oil light will work providing the bulb pin is positive and the casing is connected to ground via the oil switch. The Gen light is a bit more of a puzzle, so I'm just going to have try it and see.
I should know in 2 or 3 weeks time...

Update 1: I asked Mr Google about the Gen bulb. Quote from Austin Healey retrofit blog: "The Gen bulb CANNOT be replaced with an LED, as there are certain circuit requirements for the charging system that preclude use of a low current LED".

Update 2: The bulbs arrived in very good time from Hong Kong. I discovered both instrument lights won't work with LED's because the bike's bulb holder casing is positive and the pin contact is negative, the reverse polarity to what these LED's use.
The bulb fitted to the speedo works with good brightness. The headlight park bulb socket was fitted with one of the LED's. It was a tight squeeze but worth the effort. Light is quite bright and the headlight reflector amplifies the brightness quite well. It is wired to ignition switch so always on when the ignition is on. I'll check amp draw shortly..

Ignition coil, ohms and current

The 6v coil ohms is 1.5 so current will be 4 amps at 6V. I note HD manual states stock 6V coil draw at just 1.5amps. Am studying the issue closely.. but it may be a current draw figure with motor running??

I discovered the HT leads weren't quite fully seated in the coil. A check with an ohmmeter between the two plug caps showed no continuity at all. The clips were slightly out of shape making insertion difficult. Once I'd got them fully home there was a (K-ohms resistance) reading on the meter so I was satisfied.

I fitted another coil. Seems to be working well..

I discovered the coil draw is 4.1A as tested by my new Digital Multimeter. 

20Oct2016 I tested a 1952 OEM 6V Harley coil shortly after. It draws 4.5A .

To put this into some perspective using volts x amps = watts. My coil is 6V x 4.1A = 24.6W. By comparison a typical Harley 12V coil would be 12V x 2.4A = 28.8W. In summary, if volts are halved, amps need to double in order for wattage to be equal.

I fitted a Blue Streak condenser while I was doing the tune up in preparation for summer riding.

Battery box, mounting, details (obsolete)

My battery is a 6V Motobatt brand, a sealed unit with wire leads. It was the biggest available. A friend skillfully made a battery box from wood to house it in the conventional location.

It's painted matt black though camera sees it rather strangely.

Looking inside. I want to remove the padding because it's insulating battery heat. Also planning to add ventilation holes to keep the battery cooler.

In position, nyloc nuts hold the clamp/cover. The same studs fasten the cover panel using thumbscrew-nuts

Cover over oil-tank/battery box.

31Jan2016 I replaced the condenser with a Bosch GH208 from a Nissan Skyline c1978. Supercheap-auto was the supplier, they said stocks wouldn't be replaced.

Longer term I'm thinking of removing the spot welded bracket to mount it in the normal clamp.

21Feb2016

I removed the spot welded bracket VERY CAREFULLY!. The condenser is slightly bigger in diameter and I was initially concerned it might rub the cam.

24Sept2016 These are the parts I'm proposing to mount the dash console. The object is to have no stress. It will have rubber washers above and below the cover, effectively sandwiching it.

A matching base was fitted with new instrument warning lights. These are special insulated ones because the bulb holders are live (hot).

Actually a 3 light base and cover. Only Gen and Oil lights in use.

Circuit breakers mounted underside.

I fitted short lengths of plastic tubing over circuit breaker studs to reduce chance of accidental short.

Oil sender switch

I had to replace the sender switch because it leaked. I wanted to see why so I put it in the lathe and turned off the crimp. I prised it apart. The diaphragm was old and hardened with age.

Ignition timing

The front timing is more advanced than the rear so I needed a way of solving the discrepancy.  (I had previously marked the rear cylinder full advance mark), There was maybe 4 °or 5° difference. I "tickled" the front cylinder (small lobe) opening ramp of the points cam.. I gave it some rubs with wet&dry wrapped over a flat blade. I didn't take much off to notice the difference with static bulb timing method. To confirm I'll strobe time it and report back.
Update: There was noticeable improvement with the strobe light timing light. Very pleasing!

Timer grounding fix.

With a 6V system we need the best connections possible to avoid voltage loss, weak spark, etc.

I discovered the timer didn't have the best electrical ground. It had voltage drop which I was able to improve. Worst figure during testing was 10mV. The repair improved it to 3mV. I made a simple wire with eye terminals that ensures a good ground despite timer movement, oil, grease, dirt, etc. I'm inspired to test the rest of the circuit especially the often ignored ground circuit to battery.

LED Tail/stop light

I bought some 6v LED stop/tail bulbs from Aliexpress.com . These are model 1157 BAY15D white,  dual contact, negative ground and offset bayonet pins. Light looks bright enough though still to test at night. I wanted to get red LED's but the number plate would be illuminated with red light. 

 12v battery mounting adaption

3Feb2018 It's quite common to see motorcycle batteries merely sitting in their battery box, not fastened down. Too often this causes the wiring to fail because it frays from the movement and vibration. It occurred to me that the task sounds simple until you go to do it.
The MOTOBATT MBTX7U had its' share of challenges to fit the horseshoe oil tank.

I used a piece of wood for the base with a wide slot carved out to suit the battery casing. The clamp was fashioned from a piece of aluminum channel extrusion. Recycled rubber from an old inner tube was cut to size between the battery and clamp. I've decided to use springs to clamp the battery down to avoid risk of crush from overtightening. I have a chrome cover for oil tank and battery so all these parts are hidden from view.

Pic shows battery clamp mock up. Etch primer, then matt black paint has been sprayed onto the (yellow) plastic casing.

The base was made from pine. Strips of sheet metal were used to flash off the ends. This forms a  8mm (5/16") "trough" for the battery to sit into. Clout nails fix the ends to the timber.

Top view of battery in situ. The rubber padding was glued to the clamp so the battery was thereby cushioned slightly. The nyloc nuts were tightened till the springs were partially but not fully collapsed.

My criteria for choosing this battery...
Biggest battery to fit the hole with terminals at the top for convenience alone.
Installed without padding/packing to allow air flow/cooling.
Readily available from local stocks.

Condensers

7April2018 I'm very suspicious of modern replacement condensers, so much so I dissected 2 for analysis. 

In the 1970's I fitted hundreds of sets of points to a variety of vehicles. Fitting a condenser was a rare occasion. They hardly ever needed it. Moderns repops are very cheaply made. Inside the metal canister is a reel of foil and plastic rolled tightly. To the left is one of the reels unwound but there was no sign of shorting, etc. There was arcing marks where the wire lead connects to the reel.

Unwound foil/plastic to the left..

Signs of arcing, 2 items to the right.

I'm after new-old-stock condensers as a better options over the poor repop modern offerings. So far I've found a Daiichi, made in Japan. I've fitted it and it seems to be working well..

I was able to pick up another NOS condenser from a local Vintage Car Club. It has a similar Daiichi  logo impressed into the end. There was dozens of different types, most had brackets spot welded directly to the canister. It seemed to be an improvement but then I moved to an industrial capacitor.

Industrial capacitor to replace condenser.

26 May 2018 On advise from electronic experts, I bought a 0.22µf, 1000v, high current capacitor from Ebay, UK. It cost about $18 NZD shipped. I made a canister to mount it beside the ignition coil. The lead attaches to the points-wire-terminal. Proper grounding is very important. I soldered the capacitor ground lead to the can then ensured all paint, corrosion etc was removed for a clean ground contact. A vintage 2cent piece was soldered as the end cap but with a hole for the ground wire to come through. The other end had a pigtail lead soldered to the capacitor terminal wire. I used  a recycled condenser pigtail along with its' rubber grommet

Cannister made from steel tubing. Capacitor 0.22 microfarad, 1000v

Pigtail lead with rubber grommet fixed with epoxy resin.

Electronic Ignition Project DIY

27June2018 Hall effect TFI ignition was made from parts recovered from Ford Falcons c1983 -1993? These are commonly available car parts which are cheap (or free). A spare ignitor chip was mounted as a permanent fitting. The wiring was made to reach both chips for easy swap. Strobe timing shows marks as very, very stable. Bike runs smoother, with more power. Idle speed had to be slowed.

Hall effect pickup and TFI breaker module as found.

Donor Ford Facon (6cyl) distributor

Here is the Hall mounted on the Harley "distributor". I used all existing holes in the base, no extra drilling/tapping. The original points post is to the right and clears the rotor.

TFI chips mounted on aluminum plate which is also the battery hold-down clamp. Plate is grounded with a dedicated ground wire. Extra chip in case of roadside breakdown. The original FLH chrome under-seat cover fits over so these are concealed.

Red-green-black paint color codes the 3pin plug orientation as it must not be inverted!

Harley Evo rotor to left. Ford 6 cylinder rotor to right for comparison. The Harley rotor was adapted to the existing points-cam and fastens with set screws.

Modified Harley rotor c1984 -on. The boss was eventually brazed to the rotor. It was a nice fit onto the existing points cam and secured by two allen head grub/set screws. The screws landed on the "flats" of the points cam and are accessed via the two windows. Also the original points doesn't physically rub on these "flats" so no damage therefore points could be refitted at any time.

Dual outlet 1.5ohm Dyna coil using copper core HT leads. Harley 12v (points) coils were about 5ohm so this conversion gives a useful increase in spark energy.

The engine runs great. It's notably smoother with more power. The strobe timing light shows timing marks considerably more stable than with points. I increased the plug gaps .010" to .040".

8Jul2018 Update: The coil appears to be overheating and I'm not happy with starting though it runs very, very well. Will be studying the issue closely.

17Jul2018:  I believe the unit would be more suitable if bike had a starter motor.. Have removed this ignition and refitted the points. Continuing to evaluate options.
24Aug2018 I have permanently suspended development of this EI project. I was able to fix coil issues by using a 1/2 ohm coil as per Ford. However starting did not improve. I believe the issue is the "stall timer". It does not play nicely at kick start speeds.

Points

30Nov2018 I noticed the rivet on the points spring was loose. I measured circuit voltage drop under load. I peined the rivet just enough to hold firmly. The voltage drop reading slightly improved so I was satisfied.

20Sept2019 Timing with a strobe light

Wrap black tape around "screw-in plastic viewing window" as pictured. Paint timing marks with paint. White for flywheel face and black highlight for the mark itself.

Lean bike hard over to the right to help keep sloshing oil away from the viewing window. Warm bike up can help as well. I rest the RH footboard on a large wooden block and bike will happily run like this. Update: Also good is to hold bike vertical as on a bike lift. Viewing timing marks is easy this way.

If yours has auto advance timer, rev till 1500 or so. Manual advance timers check at idle speed. Familiarize yourself with what you expect to see for timing mark. Any doubt as to what/where your full advance mark is, remove spark plug and measure down 7/16" BTDC on front cylinder.

24 Jan 2020 HT leads and coil secondary test.

A simple test for High Tension circuit as per picture.

The multimeter set to ohms. The leads attached to each spark plug cap. Polarity is irrelevant.
The reading will approximate coil secondary winding resistance plus any resistance in the HT leads. This proves there is continuity, which is perhaps more important than the actual figure. If reading is an "open circuit" (no continuity), suspect HT caps or leads not plugged firmly into the coil.

  

29Aug2020

Trialing these little LED lights for day riding. They're too bright to look directly into them but whether they're effective remains to be seen.

Update: removed these, they weren't bright enough in open sunlight but moderately OK in low light conditions.

29Aug2020 Dynatek 12v Electronic Single Fire Ignition DS6-2

 Dynatek recommend 5ohm coils for road use. 

Plan: I have a  pair of 4.4 ohm coils so will run these and monitor coil and module temperatures

So far max coil temperature is 39°C.

The DS6-2 will operate in clockwise rotation so module orientation is as per picture below. I have an auto-advance timer..

 Base of timer/distributor..

Housing to adapt pickup plate.

Auto-advance mechanism with rotating magnet.

Modules marked front and rear.

12v coils allow single fire.

In testing the bike started very well.

Dyna single fire DS6-2 running in modified Pan distributor..

Went for a good 40 mile road test, mostly open road. The engine is the smoothest its' ever been. It's smooth from a vibration perspective and engine behavior. The coils are lukewarm only. Starting is very satisfactory.

A timer cover is made and fitted. It allows pickup wires to exit via a notch. I tiny dowel stops cover from rotating and stressing wires. It uses the standard Pan bayonet clip retainer.