I have a 66 ironhead that I recently put together. I keep blowing headlights. They worked fine at lower RPMs but when I start to rev it up the headlight goes, Any ideas? I have a 65A generator with a Bosch regulator. I've studied the wiring diagram in the book and everything appears to be wired correctly except I don't have a capacitor. I'm not running a horn so I don't think that would be an issue. I went to the parts store and picked up an old VW regulator but that didn't work, I'm planning on ordering a new regulator in the morning. I bench tested my generator according the this procedure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urYTz1hKn54 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urYTz1hKn54) and it checks out. Other than putting in a new Harley regulator I'm at a loss. After trying the new regulator, to no avail, I put the old one back on so I could at least ride since my tail light worked fine but now I have no lights at all.
had a old mag fired triumph that did same thing.
had no batt. one used a zener diode to bleed off excess power .
those ol bikes did the dim light at idle to bright when revving to blow out top end.
just what a guy needs down shifting going into a dark corner.
zap...no lights.
as soon as I saw ol Floyd spit I knew he was gonna motor that gen.
NOT a good test. It can hurt things. brushes burned and the like. they not meant to be a motor.
no tail light? what kinda batt do you have? any good??
p.s. you getting good headlight or cheapie auto type?
the vibrations on a iron can shake a filament to break.
I work graveyard and decided to ride it to work, luckily I don't have far to go so when I blew my high beam I switched to lows and rode slow.
well hopefully I didn't hurt gen by doing that test. right now I have no lights at all, not because they blew but from having no juice. The battery that I used to test the gen was out my '83 KZ 750. it's a good strong battery. I tested the vibration theory by taking the headlight off the bike and running a ground wire and holding the light in my hand, it still blew. I used a cheapo from the O'riellys and one the ones from the Harley shop and blew them both.
I had a 66 way back when. Seems to me there was an adjustable screw on the regulator. Dialed it back and cut voltage at high RPM's.
A CYCLE ELECTRIC GEN/VOLTAGE SETUP WILL SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS
I went ahead and ordered another regulator off of E-bay. It should be here next week. I didn't see a screw to make any adjustments with. it doesn't mean it wasn't there, I just didn't see it. we'll see what happens when I put this new one on.
again, is the batt in bike good?
your starting it on a mag so no batt needed. if batt is dead and gen is trying to charge. well, it could over amp
I don't think I'm understanding your question. My bike is a kickstart only. There is no battery required. The battery I used to put juice to my circuit and test all my connections is a good battery without a doubt. All my connections are good with no shorts. I tested my generator according to that link that I posted in my first post and it checks out. I hooked up that brand new regulator and I have no power at all. Are you supposed to polarize the regulator, if so how do I do it? It's a mechanical regulator.
Youngin,
I think the "screw" adjustment that was talked about maybe under the regulator cover.
Not sure but look there.
You're definitely putting out to much voltage, as you know.....you got to kick it down.
Try looking up polarizing a regulator on You Tube, it may help.
I'll check back with you.
I couldn't find the screw. I put that new regulator on and i completely disassembled my generator, cleaned it and replaced the terminals on it. I fired it up and lights came on! Sweet! Revved it and they turned off :angry: . Not sweet! so as it idled I tapped on the regulator with my some pliers and they came back on! sweet! revved it again and you can see where this is going. It's a brand new regulator so I have no idea what needs to happen next. :banghead:
At this point with the regulator, I'd "shine" (not clean) every contact on that box and all + and - contacts there is.
Shine it like I said and make sure all connections are tight.
Let us know.
BTW, are you sitting on the seat while tapping the reg or do you have it on the stand running and tapping standing beside it?
I'll give it a shine when I get home from work. I'm standing beside it when tapping.
A Dremel works great or just some fine sandpaper.
Might want to close the garage door and turn out the lights to see where that regulator is arcing.
Don't keep the garage door shut to long, fear of fumes you know.
on my ol iron I dumped the bosch mechanical reg and got a electronic one.
also after rebuilding gen several times over 35 years with the only armatures I could get (cheapie Chinese ones)
I finally, 8 or so years ago, bought the made in US cycle elect gen.
not the one with built in reg. still using my electronic reg.
also the batt the regulator is trying to charge must be good.
maybe a vibration intermittent short in some random wire?
aint electrics fun?
lights should come on with just batt and not running.
gen/reg is just to charge batt to run lights.
ign is mag. is reg wired right?
if you running a total loss system with gen working lights with no batt your gonna need a zener diode to fix problem
Panzer - I popped the top of that regulator off and it's sparking real purdy on on the corner that I can only assume is for the ground. near the D+ terminal.
Garyajaz - I ran all new wires and double and triple check my connections and grounds. Oh yeah, electrics is a blast! lol. What is a Zener Diode and how do I wire it in? I imagine there are different Diodes for different voltages. How will I know which one to choose?
I was looking over the wiring diagram and it shows a capacitor which I don't have. Is it necessary and if it is do you think this one would work http://www.ebay.com/itm/321431731204?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT (http://www.ebay.com/itm/321431731204?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT) ?
We need an update on this one too. :nix:
Any progress?
Looking 4 an update.
Anything?
me too---tired o checkin in with no update :fish:
and a capacitator is not needed
My apologies for taking forever to get back to you guys on this. I ended up moving to Arizona and then just haven't had time to get online between work and school. So funny story, I took to bike out for a little ride one day and when I got home and pulled it into the garage I saw that they lights were on. I have no idea why but the regulator just started working. I'm completely stumped. I will be investing in a new cycle electric end cap regulator when things stop being so hectic. Again I apologize for taking so long.