electrical problems

[desert1]

Looking for some suggestions......Last Oct. took the bike out for a ride when suddenly, you guessed it, it died abruptly.....turns out its an electrical problem as I've checked and found no fire to any of the plugs......all fuses are good, lights,turn signals, horn etc. all function, motor turns over with the starter.....have checked the pick-up wires and they are fine and solid......I have also gone over all the wiring harness and spade plugs and checked and cleaned them.....

Wondering now if I may have alternator/ reg. unit problems or perhaps ignition box failure, personally I doubt weather it is the ignition unit as they seem to be quite reliable....suggestions welcome.

Bruce Doucette
78XS1100 Alpha

[Ken Talbot]

When you say "all fuses are good", do you mean you actually removed each one and pulled at the end caps to confirm that they have not come apart where you cannot see them? DAHIK

[sixtysix]

I would check each fuse with a meter to make sure, or just replace them all....heck they are cheap. Bruce, have you upgraded your fuse block yet? The weakest link is the clips actually making contact with the end of the fuse, the metal gets weak and corrodes and does not make a good connection. so you would have a good fuse but no power to the other side of clip. Next I would have to say try a new ignition box. I can send you a spare but it will most likely take a month to get to you past customs.

[desert1]

Hello Ken! Gary! hows it going....hows the Tsunami runnin Ken?
I'm still here scratchin my head on the Alpha bikes condition but whatever killed it did it very abruptly.....what I can say is that I have power as far as the "ballast resistor" as that heats up as it should on cranking the bike over, what I'm doing now is working backwards from the coils to see where the power is interupted...I cofirmed that the pick-up wires had resistance on both pick-ups...all the fuses are solid and fuse block, well my fuses are inline and have snap-on plastic shields that have'nt been problematic in 4 yrs.....anyway, looking at my schematic, there is a connection I can't find that I want to physicaly check, its the red/white common lead from the 2 coils, it intersects somewhere between the ballast resistor and the coils with the main red/ white line.

Anyway, tomorrow is another day, look it over again. I will reinstall the rect./ regul. as I don't think its a culprit and take another look at the fuses.....the fuses came shrink rapped in when I bought the bike, maybe I should take a look see whats under the shrink rap.....thanks Guys for replying and offering advice, it is appreciated....let you know what I find..
Bruce
Gee, maybe I ought to buy a VeeMax

[xssiveone]

Bruce, I have a spare cdi box here if you think it might be it. No customs to worry about from here. Let me know if you think it might help.

[desert1]

Multi-plug

Well I reXamined the fuses and lightly sanded fuse brackets and fuses, removed several pieces of shrink rap and Xamined the soldering jobs. I found, the soldering was fine but still no fire. I might add, I used a spare plug and put it the lead for #1 cylinder as i went about looking for the problem, ocasionaly starting the motor to see if I had spark.....well after about half an hour I started again going over the multi-plug connectors. Since it seemed the red/white wiring was the problem I took apart the plug going to the right hanlebar (kill switch) this plug is under the tank and just above #3 cylinder......tediously cleaning the pins and plugs as best I could with a small pocket knife......after putting the plug back together and trying the engine again for spark, yes, there it was! Funny, thats just how the bike died on the road, just like the kill switch was used, and actually it was....

I have a bit of resoldering and shrink rapping to do but its running.

Has anyone ever found a source for replacing these multi plugs?
I found there is quite a bit of gray patina on most connectors and other than sandblasting or dipping them in something corrosive solution, how else can you thoroughly clean them. I use wd 40 and dielectric silicone but it does'nt remove the build-up on the copper.....

Anyway, thanks Guys for advice and the offers of parts, will let you know how she's running when I get it out on the road.

Bruce Doucette
78 xs1100

[RiskyBusiness]

As for Molex type multi conductor plugs, I posted this a couple of days ago on the "wiring harness" thread. It looks like they have a good selection.

When cleaning electronics, be leery of using WD-40. Have you ever sprayed something with WD and then seen how it collects dust? Not exactly what you want inside of electronic components. Use electrical contact cleaner and then lubricate with contact grease. This insures removal of corrosion and also good contact.

[stevec5000]

I don't like to use Molex plugs since they are not rated for the amount of current carried by some of the wires, are not water proof and are tin plated and will get corroded again. Instead I replaced some bad connectors with screw type barrier terminal strips and crimp on lugs to connect the wires. The lugs are easy to find and only cost $5.00 per hundred at most hardware stores. The terminal strips are available in almost any size to match the number of wires that need to be connected. The plus side is that you have a solid connection (as long as the proper crimping tool is used), never have to worry about corroded connections again, and troubleshooting is easier.