Electrical questions

[Chuey]

Rob, that helps immensely. Telling me what the colors represent is huge. At this point I'm starting to catch on to some of the general electrical niceties inside the headlight bucket. I did already know that the brown field at the bottom is ground but the rest is not that obvious to me.

The gauges and wiring harness are all stock BMW items. Several times, I have read here that the voltmeters are not all that accurate. I'll just fly with that for now. I'd hate to think that the gauge is smarter than I am.

By the way, this is the first bike on which I'm trying your extra grounding loom. I got some fancy wire as GSPD did, at the car stereo store.

Today I got some of that thermal paste and I'm heading out to wire up the bike in a little bit.

Chuey

[Ken in Oklahoma]

The gauges and wiring harness are all stock BMW items. Several times, I have read here that the voltmeters are not all that accurate. I'll just fly with that for now. I'd hate to think that the gauge is smarter than I am.

What I've started doing on my voltmeters is to put a dot of tape on the outside glass indicating a proper voltage. With a known good battery with a good charge in it, I'll lift the seat, put a DVM on the battery terminals, and rev the engine to about 2,500 rpm. If the DVM reading indicates that all is well I'll note the needle position on the bike's voltmeter. It may not be accurate but it will be repeatable. That dot now gives me reassurance while riding down the road that all is well with the charging system.

I have a '91RT whose voltmeter always seemed to be running low and coming up to voltage rather slowly. I was always wondering whether the charging system was OK. Now I can glance at the white dot on the voltmeter and know that all is well.

I think I made that white dot with a leather hole punch and a bit of "peel and stick" shelf paper. Anything that will stay stuck to the glass for a reasonable amount of time will work. A small dot of white paint might be a better idea.



Ken

[dougie]

What I've started doing on my voltmeters is to put a dot of tape on the outside glass indicating a proper voltage. Ken

I like that Ken, and will do it. My voltmeter is consistent, but off by almost 1 volt.
Recalibrating an electrical device with a bit of tape is my kind of electronics.

[Chuey]

I guess I'll try tacking this question onto the end of this thread.

When I got everything hooked up, the turn signals don't quite work. The left one is the one I tried first. I could hear the turn signal relay inside the headlight bucket and it was kind of vibrating and sounded as if it knew what it was supposed to do but needed to warm up. After just a few seconds of that, it worked perfectly on the left signal. Then, when I tried the right, I got a too rapid flash of the rear only. I tried another bulb in the socket of the front signal and that didn't change anything. The bulb I replaced, and the new one both look fine.

I'm assuming that there is a problem somewhere in the wires. It would seem to me that it probably is in the front wires. What I'm hoping for in the way of advice is more of a pin point of what to check. That's why I wrote about all the symptoms; in case that shows what I should check first. Thanks.

Chuey

[Duane Ausherman]

Wot he said. See how smart I am.

[Deleted User 62]

I guess I'll try tacking this question onto the end of this thread.

When I got everything hooked up, the turn signals don't quite work. The left one is the one I tried first. I could hear the turn signal relay inside the headlight bucket and it was kind of vibrating and sounded as if it knew what it was supposed to do but needed to warm up. After just a few seconds of that, it worked perfectly on the left signal. Then, when I tried the right, I got a too rapid flash of the rear only. I tried another bulb in the socket of the front signal and that didn't change anything. The bulb I replaced, and the new one both look fine.

I'm assuming that there is a problem somewhere in the wires. It would seem to me that it probably is in the front wires. What I'm hoping for in the way of advice is more of a pin point of what to check. That's why I wrote about all the symptoms; in case that shows what I should check first. Thanks.

Chuey, before changing anything and if you haven't done it yet, try it with the engine running. I've been chasing a similar problem on my '73. Sometimes the battery at rest just isn't enough. DAMHIK

[Chuey]

Thanks Tim, but I have a new Oddesy battery and it is fully charged. The other lights work and are very bright. I'm thinking I got a wire out of place or something is pinched.

Chuey

[DanielMc]

Rapid flash at the rear means an open circuit at the front. I'd check the earth at the bulb holder first as its the easiest, then if that produced no improvement I'd know to start looking back along the live feed.