Whale Oil Beef Hooked!
B.T. Humble
another look at the CDI/Stator problem on The Terrible Vee (CX500).
It has high-voltage windings inside the alternator to supply ~100VAC
to the CDI, and these must have been designed specifically for the
Australian market by a Japanese bloke who was still peeved about
losing the war...
After a bit of head scratching I retrieved a 240V->12V transformer
from my junk box, and piggybacked the 12V winding onto one of the
15VAC charging circuit windings. I then hooked up the 240V winding to
the high-voltage input of the CDI, and lit the blue touch paper...
Amazingly, it works. At idle (1500rpm) it produces 140VAC which makes
for really good starting, however since this transformer was designed
for use at 50Hz the secondary voltage drops off rapidly as RPM
increases (about 60VAC at 4000RPM), ultimately limiting the engine to
around 5500RPM while under load (I think this is due to the inductance
of the windings?).
Since the secondary transformer winding is rated at 800mA and I was
able to ride the bike for about 30km without burning it out (it only
got slightly warm), I'd guess it's drawing less than an amp from the
alternator, which is the equivalent of adding a 12W light to the
electrical load. (I don't have an AC ammeter so I don't know for
sure).
Looks like a simple inverter will do the job after all, and a lot
cheaper than $200 for a secondhand stator or about the same for a
rewind. Also I'm not enthusiastic about dropping the motor _again_ to
replace the stator, so this'll keep me going for a while. :-)
BTH
Eliminator
Fantastic!
I hope you don't mind e-mails because I'm sure to start hassling you once I
get into my CX a bit further... It sounds like you've forgotten more about
CX's than I'll EVER know!
--
Eliminator - EL250, CX500
ICQ# 5662270
http://www.baconplanet.com
"B.T. Humble" <za...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bea156c2.01112...@posting.google.com...
-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 90,000 Newsgroups - 16 Different Servers! =-----
sharkey
>
> After a bit of head scratching I retrieved a 240V->12V transformer
> from my junk box, and piggybacked the 12V winding onto one of the
> 15VAC charging circuit windings.
Mr Humble, I bow to your superior ratliness. Nice one.
I'd been playing with inverter designs in case the XLV windings
lose it, hadn't thought of using generator AC for the job!
-----sharks
B.T. Humble
> Fantastic!
>
> I hope you don't mind e-mails because I'm sure to start hassling you once I
> get into my CX a bit further... It sounds like you've forgotten more about
> CX's than I'll EVER know!
I must be faking it pretty well then, since I've only owned one for 2
months... :-)
Seriously, when you have sites like http://cx500.gobinet.se/ to use to
pick the brains of experts, you can learn a lot in a short time.
BTH
Stuart Thyer
----------
In article <9u3u0q$md2$2...@zebkrahn.brong.net>, sha...@zoic.org (sharkey)
wrote:
>B.T. Humble <za...@hotmail.com> may well have written:
>>
>> After a bit of head scratching I retrieved a 240V->12V transformer
>> from my junk box, and piggybacked the 12V winding onto one of the
>> 15VAC charging circuit windings.
>
>Mr Humble, I bow to your superior ratliness. Nice one.
Pretty impressive Sharks, but does he have a piece of electric jug lead
keeping his bike going???
Stuart Thyer
Photographer
University of Melbourne
kiwipete
That is a great site... have learnt a lot..
BTW... have a full circuit of the ign box if anyones interested... the one
in all the books is only a basic layout....
kp
Eliminator
I mety a guy down here in melb (posts on cx500.gobinet.se as Don from Oz)
who has basically dedicated his retirement years to keeping CX's alive. He
has a garage full os spares, and about 4 complete bikes. I am meeting him in
the next couple of weeks.
--
Eliminator - EL250, CX500
ICQ# 5662270
http://www.baconplanet.com
"B.T. Humble" <za...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bea156c2.01112...@posting.google.com...
B.T. Humble
No, but at present the wiring between alternator, transformer and CDI
consists of 12" leads with jumper clips at each end... I left it that
way just in case the 12V winding on the transformer burned out, as it
has a second identical winding that I can use as a backup.
When I wire it up properly I'll probably use old computer power supply
cabling, maybe with the molex plugs intact? ;-)
BTH
B.T. Humble
>
> BTW... have a full circuit of the ign box if anyones interested... the one
> in all the books is only a basic layout....
>
> kp
Me please.
BTH
Eliminator
Hey B.T, I'm gunna have a go at the front brakes on the Pig on the weekend,
using your vice-grip method. A couple of quick questions:
1. Did you put anything in the jaws of the vise grips to prevent damage to
the lines?
2. Did you bleed both calipers simultaneously, or one at a time?
--
Eliminator - EL250, CX500
ICQ# 5662270
http://www.baconplanet.com
"B.T. Humble" <za...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:bea156c2.01112...@posting.google.com...
sharkey
> >
> > Pretty impressive Sharks, but does he have a piece of electric jug lead
> > keeping his bike going???
Ha! That loop of three-core flex is still on the bike ... which
is doing commuting duty every day in the rain!
> No, but at present the wiring between alternator, transformer and CDI
> consists of 12" leads with jumper clips at each end...
See! No effete soldering irons for Mr Humble!
It occurs to me that a 12->240 volt off-the-shelf inverter would
probably work well for this, or possibly make your CDI boxes burst
into flames.
-----sharks
B.T. Humble
> B.T. Humble <za...@hotmail.com> may well have written:
> > Stuart Thyer wrote:
> > >
> > > Pretty impressive Sharks, but does he have a piece of electric jug lead
> > > keeping his bike going???
>
> Ha! That loop of three-core flex is still on the bike ... which
> is doing commuting duty every day in the rain!
>
> > No, but at present the wiring between alternator, transformer and CDI
> > consists of 12" leads with jumper clips at each end...
>
> See! No effete soldering irons for Mr Humble!
>
Effete?! Does that mean that henceforth I have to solder with a
flamethrower rather than a puny little blowtorch? :-)
> It occurs to me that a 12->240 volt off-the-shelf inverter would
> probably work well for this, or possibly make your CDI boxes burst
> into flames.
I wouldn't try it myself, in fact I'd prefer it to be putting out
something closer to 100V than 140V, but since it only does that at
idle it should be OK.
On an unrelated note, at my local Cash Converters today I saw the
biggest domestic transformer I've ever seen. It's a 240->120V
stepdown transformer, and is a cube about 12" on each side. They only
wanted $39 for it, but I don't have any 120V bar
radiators/ovens/toasters/hot water heaters to run with it. :-)
BTH
Eliminator
>
> On an unrelated note, at my local Cash Converters today I saw the
> biggest domestic transformer I've ever seen. It's a 240->120V
> stepdown transformer, and is a cube about 12" on each side. They only
> wanted $39 for it, but I don't have any 120V bar
> radiators/ovens/toasters/hot water heaters to run with it. :-)
Buy it anyway. I'm sure you could wire it into the CX somehow...
--
Eliminator - EL250, CX500
ICQ# 5662270
http://www.baconplanet.com
-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
B.T. Humble
> Hey B.T, I'm gunna have a go at the front brakes on the Pig on the weekend,
> using your vice-grip method. A couple of quick questions:
>
> 1. Did you put anything in the jaws of the vise grips to prevent damage to
> the lines?
No, but I adjusted the vice grips so that they were only putting
enough pressure on the rubber to stop the brake fluid flow, not pinch
the hose in two. Also, I reckon you should clamp the hose an inch or
so away from the banjos, or you might damage the joint.
> 2. Did you bleed both calipers simultaneously, or one at a time?
>
I clamped off the right hose immediately below the T-piece and fully
bled the left caliper, then clamped off the left at the same point and
bled the right.
I found that even when the system was bled as well as I could do it
there was still some "give" in the calipers, and doing it this way let
me force through more fluid for each pull of the lever.
Say hello to Don for me, I last heard from him when he arrived on
holiday in Britain. :-)
BTH
sharkey
>
> After a bit of head scratching I retrieved a 240V->12V transformer
> from my junk box, and piggybacked the 12V winding onto one of the
> the high-voltage input of the CDI, and lit the blue touch paper...
Well, as I mentioned, the XLV's exciter (CDI) coils just went. And
I vaguely remembered this thread.
Last time around, Sharkey said:
>
> Mr Humble, I bow to your superior ratliness. Nice one.
So I tried it. Hulking great transformer from an old power
supply, 30VAC windings across the stator, 240VAC windings
into the CDI boxes. And the bloody thing worked!
Mr B T Humble, should you ever visit Melbourne (eg: the Supers!)
I'll buy you at least a large beer or three.
As an afterthought, Stuart 'GS1000-PD' Thyer noted:
>
> Pretty impressive Sharks, but does he have a piece of electric
> jug lead keeping his bike going???
Well, now I've got both! (never did fix that burnt out wiring!)
-----sharks
Bargearse
That is the best bodgey electrics fix I've ever heard of working (twice!!).
Impressed-Clem
~
sharkey <sha...@zoic.org> wrote in message
news:a3no26$2s4$1...@zebkrahn.brong.net...
B.T. Humble
Be warned, for some reason it stopped working for me after a while.
The CDI still produces a spark, but it's too weak to fire the motor.
I've got another stator now, but I haven't been enthusiastic enough to
test it yet (maybe tomorrow...)
Glad it worked out for you though!
BTH
sharkey
> The CDI still produces a spark, but it's too weak to fire the motor.
It's okay, I ran it long enough to get me home then changed the
stator. The transformer weighed about a kilo and got ... quite warm ...
in any case!
> Glad it worked out for you though!
Well, it was easier than pushing the bike 20km!
-----sharks