TS125 charge light

[DAVID THOMPSON]

oh the joy of bike electrical
i had r27 BMW with its nasty 6 volt points and coil system
we ran it with a 6volt car battery on the rack on the back fender
it was a mate for my dads 125 cc Harley 2 smoker
and the 6 volt systems were junk on both bikes
dave

both bikes ran good but my electric bicycle reminds my of times in the past
did you remember to plug the bike in

[Blurredman]

Hi,

I have had my own charging issues of late, and I know you've fixed it (at least I think you said you did when I saw you last?), but there are a few things I want to add concerning my own issues.


Foremost: With your video, and how it looks like the charge light is on dimly. This, I also thought with my ES250 that the charge light was on dimly when the headlamp was on- but my distinct thought now, is that it is NOT. The effect is produced I believe simply from the clock illumination light bulbs being lit and inadvertantly backlighting the charge light slighty- The glass/plastic insert is only a painted surface (and 50 year old paint at that too- not as opaque as it originally would have been) after all and there are holes in the bulb holders that would and do show light through slightly as well as the clock itself. BUT, what is clear in your video is that this isn't the case, at least in whole. Your charge light was definitely intermittently coming on in dim and bright variations.


I'd been tracking an intermittent charging issue on my etz251 for a little while now, where the charge light would be on either dimly, fully, for 30 seconds, or for 10 minutes, or not at all, or all the time etc etc. Intermittent and seemingly random of rpm, riding conditions, actual battery conditions and regulator charging requirements otherwise etc. It wasn't too much of an issue but as time went on it became ever more common a problem so, eventually after first swapping everything else from a known good working bike including brushes and their springs etc, I admit the next step was one of the first I should have tried: With the help of my multimeter and the audio function for continuity (because the digital display is just too slow), with removing the DF terminal on the alternator side (the other side goes to the regulator through the fuse box on the etz's but straight to regulator on 6v's) and manipulating the terminal with wire positions etc I was hearing breaks in the audio output. I cut back the wire to shiny copper, soldered a nice new spade and so far my problem has yet to appear again. I also tested the strength of the previous spade (which someone, I think even me I don't remember, had crimped on many years ago) and I was easily able to break the wire strands and remove the spade. The copper was corroded, the spade was oxidised.


The DF is a simple wire that any alternator has, purpose is to indicate (potentially, doesn't work in some situations) to the operator that the charging system isn't working in some way- discharging. The 'alternator/gen/charge' bulb doesn't really have a fixed earth. It's electricity floats both ways through that bulb. Light turns on when ignition is on because battery is providing the voltage, when engine is running the bulb is extinguished because the voltage is equalised. But the major factor is that the charge light works only if certain conditions are met and connections are made. So if a brush is fully worn through and not touching the rotor, or the regulator itself has broken and other conditions- these won't tell you. But things like the the battery genuinely providing more voltage than the alternator, because you have a lot of consumable running (thinking like a car you have the heated rear window, the defroster going, all the lights, the wipers etc) then the battery is discharging. The same as if the belt is broken- the battery is at that point providing the voltage. In that circumstance and others such a charge light is of great help. But one must remember that it isn't the be all and end all for alternator condition.

In your case due to the different type of alternator it is the d+ ( or is it still DF I have forgotten ?) which provides said signal and balancing. Anyway: The intermittency is symptematic potentially of corrosed or just plain poor connections or even possible breaks in wires- with literally a single thread of wire core hanging on perhaps - The engines vibrate a lot too, it can stress the old wires and their terminals, esspecially as they age harden and naturally become corrodded internally!


Hope this helps and you did infact solve your charge issue?