- Thread starter Cato
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Soon started working on the Trophy 
I wouldn't want to do that on a Friday afternoon as once I get into it I find it difficult to stop until I find the problem.
I wouldn't want to do that on a Friday afternoon as once I get into it I find it difficult to stop until I find the problem.
Cato
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I actually did it for that reason.Soon started working on the Trophy
I have to be back so that Barbara can get up to visit her Mum so I knew I'd only have time for a quick look today.Alternator is putting out 14.4 v, no obvious cable/connector issues, a quick check with the clamp was showing a draw with the ignition off. So out with the meter and something is pulling 0.4 a with ignition off, straight to the heated grips and disconnected them but it wasn't those.
So it's a nice point to start tomorrow morning, panel off and start pulling fuses. If not then look for partial shorts etc and on we go.
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"I only bought it in for you to tidy up a loose wire by the footpeg"Is it home time yet?
Three dozen rusty fasteners, four panels and a fuel tank later and the list of things contributing continues to grow. This is a good example of why it takes so long and costs what it does.
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Cato
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I'm 3 hours in so when I find the cause and let him know I'm half expecting "That's a lot just for a ...."."I only bought it in for you to tidy up a loose wire by the footpeg"
I got onto taking loads of photo's for reference/evidence a while back partly for that reason.
"Given your decades of experience in automotive, plant & machinery repair, how long do you think it should have taken to do this?"
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One of the reasons I've never been self employed, run my own business etc. is my inability to estimate the time required to do a job
so I wouldn't have clue.Greeves246
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Wasn’t just the time taking all the panels off a bike, it was the time putting them and all the fixings somewhere safe especially with new bikes.
Cato
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Customers are quite often happy to tell you how long it will take.One of the reasons I've never been self employed, run my own business etc. is my inability to estimate the time required to do a job
You can't really even give a ball park with a bike this age. Just removing the panels can vary between half an hour and two hours depending on rusty fixings, cable ties, damage, random screws/bolts etc. Then add on questions like "What work has been done to the electrics in the last 23 years?" and the quote becomes "it'll cost the sum of time taken multiplied by my hourly rate.".
Cato
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Well that's the problem found, and as I'm sure you'd have suspected it wasn't just one thing. 3 connectors with terminals bridged by gunk, and a diode pack for the alternator.
Impossible to prove now but I suspect the connector issues did for the alternator diodes as when it wasn't running there was voltage to both sides with the 'high' voltage at the cathode. So I reckon around 5 or 6 volts at the cathode. Start the engine and it was flowing in the correct direction but with full alternator output 14 + volts at the anode. Equally I suppose it could be two unrelated faults. Once the connectors were cleaned and stopped bridging you still had a draw with the alternator connected. Before I cleaned the connectors but had disconnected the alternator there was also a draw although it dropped by about 0.1 or 0.2 of an amp, only when I did both did it stop the draw. This one took some head scratching.
Bit of an odd set up of a partly bussed fuse box didn't help once the mank had taken hold.
Impossible to prove now but I suspect the connector issues did for the alternator diodes as when it wasn't running there was voltage to both sides with the 'high' voltage at the cathode. So I reckon around 5 or 6 volts at the cathode. Start the engine and it was flowing in the correct direction but with full alternator output 14 + volts at the anode. Equally I suppose it could be two unrelated faults. Once the connectors were cleaned and stopped bridging you still had a draw with the alternator connected. Before I cleaned the connectors but had disconnected the alternator there was also a draw although it dropped by about 0.1 or 0.2 of an amp, only when I did both did it stop the draw. This one took some head scratching.
Bit of an odd set up of a partly bussed fuse box didn't help once the mank had taken hold.
