[dsn_klr650] electrex warning
Posted: Thu Aug 03, 2000 11:25 am
At 03:16 AM 8/3/2000 +0000, Jim Hyman wrote:
Well according to the Electrex Fault Finding
Chart, Daryl's bike is faulty as well. Well he's charging his battery so I
don't think it's a real big deal. His Third Check (switching line) turns
out to be 0.32 volts. HMMM. OK now I have an idea, I'll make a new
switching wire at the ignition switch and run it back all the way to the
RR. No peripherals. HHHMMMM ... 0.37 Volts OK so I have a little loss in
there somewhere.
One thing to note, {Electrex just called back, and there is a known problem
and a cure..} Now where was I? Oh yeah, I didn't disconnect the original
switching wire, I just jumpered it in parallel, Path of least resistance
should prevail. Anyway, I thought about clipping the original and making a
brand new heavy duty all new peripheral connections, switchable wire. Oh,
that's the Brown wire at the Ignition switch but it turns in to the
Brown/white wire for the RR. So I'm checking both parallel lines for
loss. One other thing of importance here... the test is to check the loss
from the Battery Positive to the ignition switch and all the way back to
the RR. So there is the possibility of that loss being in the White
(always hot) wire that feeds the ignition switch. So I'll build a new one
of those too. 6 gage should be heavy enough for no loss eh? (kidding..
really) But it got late and I wanted some rest. So that will be tonight's
project.
Ok so now I have to rebuild some wires in the harness to ensure that this
isn't the problem. The stator is not the problem, that has been
established. After a new harness, the only thing left is the RR.
****************************************************************************
**********************************
OK about my first conversation (this Morning) with Electrex.... Ritzo is
on vacation, but I spoke with Paul, who is alone today and swamped with
calls etc. I don't feel bad for him, but I do applaud his willingness to
help me solve the problem and listen to what I have done, amidst the chaos
over there.
I'll admit that I wasn't very polite at first (it was a long night and
getting up for work wasn't what I really wanted to do), but I turned into
my normal polite self after a minute on the phone with him. The bottom
line was that he felt that the RR wasn't functioning properly. (I told him
about my test with Daryl's bike) He was gonna call the factory and get his
hands on some specs and perhaps some info on known bugs and solutions. He
said to install the stock RR and if it works properly then send back the
New RR for a refund. I explained that Ritzo basically told me that the
stock RR wasn't capable of handling the HO stator. He didn't want to
contradict Ritzo but in not so many words BULL CRAP. The RR is designed to
dump excess power, it may be 20 watts or may be 200 watts, but the RR is
designed to handle it....AND... since our stock RR isn't a puny little
thing, he didn't see a reason that it couldn't handle it. SO, for lunch
I'll be putting the OLD RR back in to see what happens.
OK now Paul called me back during my typing. He said that there is a Tech
at the factory that has notes and specs and diagrams and stuff about the
KLR. Keep in mind that the KLR is immensely popular in Europe and they
sell these things by the Gazillions. He said that there is a known problem
using the new RR AND there is a Cure, they do it all the time.
He's gonna compile all the notes and diagrams and specifics and send them
to Paul and Paul said he'd return my call within the hour. He's got 35
minutes left and I am counting.
I'll be gathering all the info I can and will write it up after I test it
out on my bike.
So until I hear from Paul and do some work on my bike, I don't really have
much for ya.
LaterZ
Dash
OK Folks here's an UPDATE! DO NOT..... I REPEAT.... DO NOT BUY FROM ELECTREX.. Until further notice. Under the authority of your sanity. It is an awful thing to hear about Steven's problems and I concur, mine doesn't charge either. Here's the story... of a lovely lady who had... never mind.... Last night, I bonded some more until 3 AM. Coffee.... yeah over hear, can I have a pillow too.... I just got off the phone with Electrex... I'll get to that in a bit. So I installed my good battery, put in my OLD CDI and fired her up just to test the Charging system under 3K RPM. Not good, at 3K I'm getting like 12.64 Volts. I put in my NEW CDI just to check and ... NOPE no difference (not really surprising). So I put the OLD CDI back in to do some testing. I go to the Electrex Charging system fault finding chart. First test is a Positive Battery Connection Check on the Reg/rectifier (RR) that read -0.21 Volts.. fine. Second Check is a Negative Battery Connnection Check on the RR that read -0.26 Volts... fine. The third check is a Switchable +12V supply with the RR and that read 0.44 volts... not Fine. So the fun began and I took my front fairing off to get to the ignition switch and all the connections up front. Done. Take out the ignition switch and take it apart to clean it, Man there was a lot of desert in there. Contact cleaned every single connection. By the way folks, this is the single most difficult fault to find. G' when I do something I do it right eh? Unplugged all the peripherals and checked the resistance of just the line. That shouldn't be a problem as it checked out fine. Stumped for a while, wife laughing and everything, Daryl keeps asking "so what's wrong with it?" GGRRRRR! So I lash back and tear into Daryl's bike to test a Stock Charging system>I just finished speaking with Steven van Twuyver. He's in California >and headed north to Oregon, Washington & Alaska. Fortunately, he >brought his stock stator and regulator/rectifer with him on his trip, >just in case there were any problems with the Electrex units. > >To make a long story short, he did field surgery to re-install the >stock stator & regulator. His symptoms were nearly identical to >Dash's charging system problems. Steven left on the trip with a >brand new battery and still had charging system problems. Everything >is electrically ok now. > >Bottom line, 3 listers have had problems with the Electrex units and >Dash's CDI may have been fried by the Electrex units. > >I'm going to check with a Seattle shop to see if they can sell new >and/or rewound KLR stators as well as higher power regulators. This >shop rewinds aircraft, auto, & m/c rotors and stators. > >Professor A9 Federal Way, WA. [USA]
Well according to the Electrex Fault Finding
Chart, Daryl's bike is faulty as well. Well he's charging his battery so I
don't think it's a real big deal. His Third Check (switching line) turns
out to be 0.32 volts. HMMM. OK now I have an idea, I'll make a new
switching wire at the ignition switch and run it back all the way to the
RR. No peripherals. HHHMMMM ... 0.37 Volts OK so I have a little loss in
there somewhere.
One thing to note, {Electrex just called back, and there is a known problem
and a cure..} Now where was I? Oh yeah, I didn't disconnect the original
switching wire, I just jumpered it in parallel, Path of least resistance
should prevail. Anyway, I thought about clipping the original and making a
brand new heavy duty all new peripheral connections, switchable wire. Oh,
that's the Brown wire at the Ignition switch but it turns in to the
Brown/white wire for the RR. So I'm checking both parallel lines for
loss. One other thing of importance here... the test is to check the loss
from the Battery Positive to the ignition switch and all the way back to
the RR. So there is the possibility of that loss being in the White
(always hot) wire that feeds the ignition switch. So I'll build a new one
of those too. 6 gage should be heavy enough for no loss eh? (kidding..
really) But it got late and I wanted some rest. So that will be tonight's
project.
Ok so now I have to rebuild some wires in the harness to ensure that this
isn't the problem. The stator is not the problem, that has been
established. After a new harness, the only thing left is the RR.
****************************************************************************
**********************************
OK about my first conversation (this Morning) with Electrex.... Ritzo is
on vacation, but I spoke with Paul, who is alone today and swamped with
calls etc. I don't feel bad for him, but I do applaud his willingness to
help me solve the problem and listen to what I have done, amidst the chaos
over there.
I'll admit that I wasn't very polite at first (it was a long night and
getting up for work wasn't what I really wanted to do), but I turned into
my normal polite self after a minute on the phone with him. The bottom
line was that he felt that the RR wasn't functioning properly. (I told him
about my test with Daryl's bike) He was gonna call the factory and get his
hands on some specs and perhaps some info on known bugs and solutions. He
said to install the stock RR and if it works properly then send back the
New RR for a refund. I explained that Ritzo basically told me that the
stock RR wasn't capable of handling the HO stator. He didn't want to
contradict Ritzo but in not so many words BULL CRAP. The RR is designed to
dump excess power, it may be 20 watts or may be 200 watts, but the RR is
designed to handle it....AND... since our stock RR isn't a puny little
thing, he didn't see a reason that it couldn't handle it. SO, for lunch
I'll be putting the OLD RR back in to see what happens.
OK now Paul called me back during my typing. He said that there is a Tech
at the factory that has notes and specs and diagrams and stuff about the
KLR. Keep in mind that the KLR is immensely popular in Europe and they
sell these things by the Gazillions. He said that there is a known problem
using the new RR AND there is a Cure, they do it all the time.
He's gonna compile all the notes and diagrams and specifics and send them
to Paul and Paul said he'd return my call within the hour. He's got 35
minutes left and I am counting.
I'll be gathering all the info I can and will write it up after I test it
out on my bike.
So until I hear from Paul and do some work on my bike, I don't really have
much for ya.
LaterZ
Dash