no lights?

"the prussian" Shop Dogs

"the prussian" Shop Dogs

New Member
fellow mbers:
have some trouble geting light power from white wire? my buddy and i have the same grubee skyhalk that were made one day apart. we hooked up his kill switch to the blue wire then run "hot" leads from white wire to front and tail light that are grounded to frame. his bike runs fine and the 6volt headlamp bulbs are very bright. hooked my bike up the same way but no dice...
so i've been thru the system four or five times now and am running out of ideas.
i've run all my wires with transducer cable (great stuff) and took care sodering.
all conections are right as far as i can tell. bike runs w/out lights hooked up, stick the bulb in and she kills? so any ideas...
 
First question: Are you using the exact same lights as your friend? A lamp or lamps with a wattage higher than about 2.5 to 3 is as large a lamp as you will be able to run without effecting the engine's ignition system. Keep in mind that, that wattage is total, or the combined wattage of both head and tail light. If you're using lamps of a higher wattage than your friend then that is your problem. If your lamps are identical then there is a difference in your magneto windings. I have one engine that will run a 3 watt lamp and one that will not. Same engine, same seller but obviously something different in the magneto.
Tom
Just re read your post and you say that if you install a lamp it kills the engine. You might want to check to make sure the lamp is not defective and grounding the circuit. I've seen lamps that would do that but looked good. Check it with a good ohm meter, or try another lamp. Does it kill the engine with the lamp installed but not turned on?
 
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"the prussian" Shop Dogs said:
bike runs w/out lights hooked up, stick the bulb in and she kills? so any ideas...
Click to expand...

Your friends bike is probably right on the edge like most of the guys that use the magneto to power lights. IMO it is a bad idea to power anything with the white wire for two reasons:

1. It robs power from a marginal ignition.

2. Life of a less than reliable coil is compromised.

I use an LED bike headlight off 3 AA Hybrid rechargeables that has 6-7hr run time. It's twice as bright as my buddys ignition powered system. He needs to keep his plug gap way down and constantly has trouble starting too. Also brighter and more reliable than another local fellow with 6v gel cell setup.
 
yep same lights and lamp holders ? same wattage? we ran thru it again last night still nada
my bulb and holder work on his ,his kills my motor? gota be the mag winding....
 
Got a switch hooked into the lighting system? You may have to start it with the lights off then turn them on after the engine is running. Odds are your mag coil is right on the edge and not able to produce a hot enough spark to start and power the lights at the same time.
 
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