Hitchcocks Forum

hi all,

Its been a while since i posted about this bike as i thought i had got it licked but it appears to still have some gremlins lurking in its charging system. any help will be greatly appreciated. I have converted it to a 12v electrical system running a 2 wire stator into a powerspark electronic regulator then to the battery. using a multimeter across the battery i am getting a good 13.5-14.4v so i am fairly sure its charging. But if i run the bike one day and then go to it the next day the battery is dead. and the engine will splutter but not run. This i know suggests a power drain but the battery is isolated by a 2 way 4 pole switch in that both the positive and negative wires both go through the switch to completly isolate the battery. i have checked the switch and cant see any power drain across the switch. The bike has blown its rear bulb and front bulbs. I have also converted it to run electronic points in a distributor. not the original magneto. Just to clarify its the same story when using a standard lucas regulator. Any help greatly appreciated as both myself and the bikes owner are at our wits end. Thanks ed

Ed, dud battery? if not remove and check the battery voltage leave it overnight and check the battery again. If you put it back in the bike and it goes flat again there is a powerv drain somewhere

As Norm says disconnect the battery and if it stays charged you isolater switch is not doing it's job, if the battery still goes flat the battery in knackered.

It does sound like an internal short within the battery itself, test as per Norm/Dennis..

A quick test for power drain, battery connected in the bike..

Remove the main fuse and using the multimeter set to amps scale (10amps) first…

Then milli amps if no direct short..(this order to protect your meter)

Place the black probe on one fuse connection and red on tother..

With ignition off there should be no reading.. if there is, then disconnect various harness connections until problem area, be it lighting or ignition circuit is isolated.. Narrow down from this point, cable damage or consumer failure... gwilly

Thanks for your replys, I shall try removing it overnight to check. But this is the second battery we have fitted to the bike and the problem persists. Gwilliy I am keen to trace any power drain but the loom supplied from our hosts has no fuses in place.
Am I right in thinking I can achieve the same result by removing the positive lead from the battery and placing my ammeter between the battery terminal and the frame.

Not the frame, no.. The meter has to be in series to measure current (amps) so between the terminal wire and the battery post that it came from.. to keep the circuit the same.. Not happy about no fuse though, could you not fit a simple blade type fuse holder somewhere???

Might just save a meltdown or worse...

Thanks gwilly, i will look into it. regarding the fuse, i have ordered a few looms off our hosts (1x crusader, 1x crusader sports, 1 x super meteor and this interceptor loom) and none have fuses inline anywhere. i have wired the interceptor exactly the same as the meteor and so cant understand why this happens when my meteor runs beautifully. with it being 12v should it be a negative earth? thanks ed

Barnes, doesn't matter whether pos or neg earth as long as the wires to the powerspark go red to pos and black to negative and put a bloody fuse in either wire from the battery because one day you could end up with a barbecue without sausages and onions