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[JTL]

Hi all

I'm not a magician or an electrician. Actually to me it's more or less the same. But of course it's not; bottom line is: everything can be calculated as in math. I just don't know how to do it, and until then I practice the old try-and-error way of electrickory.

I have done the AC/DC to full DC conversion to my Bullet 500 home market model from 2003. It was an accident with a bad short (melted wires, smoke etc.) that set me off in that direction. At first when I replaced the melted wires I had to disconnect the amber wires. And as Norm mentions in the "Electrical Issue?" thread, the amber had a black wire spliced in and connected to the frame at the same place as the battery black wire was connected to the frame. In my original Qwner's Manual wiring diagram this is not a part of the wiring. So diagram is one thing; reality is another.

So I'm wondering (just out of curioucity) how does an AC circuit work if it's grounded? How is it separated from the DC circuit if the two circuits are connected at the frame? And how is it possible to avoid shorts (blown fuses and light bulbs etc.), when the circuits connect at the frame?

... all the best ... Jacob

[Dennis C]

Ground or earth are terms used for a vehicle return circuit and in fact are neither and does seem to cause confusion, it is quite common to use this type of return circuit and the fact that multiple circuits use the same return circuit AC or DC will not cause any problem.

[Adrian]

From what came up on the other post it seems that this is another unadvertised factory practice, the AC lighting has its own dedicated return wire from the lights to the alternator (the amber or sometimes orange wire). The extra black wires tacked on are not in the wiring diagrams and quite unnecessary if the orange wire is intact.



Think of the plug wiring on a domestic AC appliance, brown to the live pin and blue to the neutral. Earth would only come into play if there was an insulation break down, and many modern appliances with better insulation don't even have an earth, the earth pin on the fitted plug is just a plastic dummy pin.



A.

[JTL]

I believe the reason for splicing a black wire to the amber wire and then connect it to the frame will remain a mystery. At least there is no explanation in the wiring diagram. Happy I have made more simple to myself converting to pure DC. Dennis and Adrian, thanks for explaining... Jacob

[Adrian]

For pure DC, you'd want a magdyno



A.

[JTL]

Adrian, now you are bringing up something I have no knowledge about at all. Apart from this is the "thing" producing electrical power on old bikes. On my bike it's the 4-wire stator I've made into a 2-wire stator. The bike is runing great, but it's not all good. I don't know yet what's "wrong". I believe in the future the stator/rotor will be replaced with a 3-phase system... Jacob

[Adrian]

The magdyno is an older-style attempt at producing an "all in one" electrics machine beloved of the British bike industry for (mostly) single cylinder bikes from the '30s to the '50s. It comprises a specially adapted magneto (a self-contained ignition spark generator), with a dc generator (dynamo) strapped on top. Redditch Bullets used them until the first alternator models in 1956, they sit behind the cylinder where the contact breaker drive sits on Indian-built classic Bullets.



Alternators were generally considered better than dynamos, though the switch from 6V to 12V in the late sixties was also a big improvement. I think the last notable dynamo-equipped motorcycles were the Laverda 750 twins.



A.

[JTL]

Thanks for explaining Adrian all the best Jacob