1948 16m charging issue

[got2BaSBT]

Hi folks,
Just after a bit of advice. My old 350 isn't charging the battery. I've put a new battery on it and without the lights on the amp meter sits at zero regardless of revs. With the lights on it moves to 5 amps of discharge and sits there regardless of revs. I've checked the dynamo and all seems good. I've now moved onto the regulator. I've noticed that if I rev the engine and momentarily touch the charge contactor it clicks in and holds in fine until the revs are dropped to slow idle as it should do. This also allows the bike to charge at up to 5 amps. The trouble is it won't pull in the contactor in without me momentarily touching it to bring it in.
Any ideas?

[Mick D]

Hi

I'd go for the four loom connections first to make sure they are clean, secure and electrically good. Then a good clean of the internal components of the regulator, (without disassembly), I take it it's an MCR2 in which case the relevant Lucas service document is 'Workshop Instructions Part 2 - L3 Part A, see here:

http://classicrider.dk/dokuments/Lucas/ ... boxmcr.pdf

I'm sure perseverance will bring it back to life.

Regards Mick, (making way for the 'fit a modern regulator and go 12V brigade )

[Rob Harknett]

are you using correct hollow wire connectors in dynamo and 4 wires to CVC. These connectors are cone shape so push in tight. If you have soldered on bullets connectors change them. Also make sure CVC points a clean

[ajscomboman]

I don't understand why in this day and age people still want to mess with 50's electric tech rather than simply moving to today's electronic fit and forget regulators. Even setting a coil wound CVC box up on a machine within miles due to vibes etc it's out off wack! I've recently had the same issues with an Indian made item that does exactly the same thing. Hold the contacts and it's fine till the revs drop and it won't charge. Cut it all out and put a DVR2 inside and put the lid on, job done and it kicks in and out perfectly.

[got2BaSBT]

It has got the original hollow connectors with the wires splayed out over them. All the connections are good and clean. Looking at the cut out points they are badly pitted beyond being cleaned up. One thing that is concerning me a little is that when I help the contact to close and the bike is charging, one of the brushes on the commutator on the dynamo can be seen to be sparking slightly. Is that normal when it's charging?
The reason I am messing around with 1940s electronics is because I was trying to find where the charging fault was and I had never heard of a DVR2. That might just be the best answer to it though!

[Mick D]

Hi

Yes the dynamo brushes will be more likely to spark as output rises but it shouldn't be excessive - once you get the regulator sorted it should settle down.

It would be a shame if you couldn't clean up the contacts sufficiently to get the regulator back into service, it's part of the bike's original design which is rapidly being lost

Do you ride with the lights on? if not and you are not confident with the MCR2 ,why not just get a battery charger/conditioner and plug it in when you get home, a stop light will take ages to drain the battery.

Regards Mick

[got2BaSBT]

Hello Mick,
It looks like billy bodge has been inside the unit at some point, the cut out points have a deep pit on the side that should be flat and the domed side has an extra blob on it. I've tried cleaning them up but setting an accurate gap is impossible. I've reset all of the other gaps as per the info you sent me (thanks for that) and all of the settings were out. Like you say I could leave it all standard and just charge it up occasionally as I only use it in the day to take my daughter for a chug.

[Group Leader]

I don't understand why in this day and age people still want to mess with 50's electric tech rather than simply moving to today's electronic fit and forget regulators. Even setting a coil wound CVC box up on a machine within miles due to vibes etc it's out off wack! I've recently had the same issues with an Indian made item that does exactly the same thing. Hold the contacts and it's fine till the revs drop and it won't charge. Cut it all out and put a DVR2 inside and put the lid on, job done and it kicks in and out perfectly.

+1 for that. The only reason Joe Lucas didn't use a DVR2 was they hadn't been invented .....

And they fit so nicely in a MCR2 case.

Regulator (1) - Small.JPG

Regulator (2) - Small.JPG

Alan

[Mick D]

The only reason Joe Lucas didn't use a DVR2 was they hadn't been invented .....

And ditto for AMC not using multi cylinder water cooled engines, disc brakes, hydro gas damping et al

the cut out points have a deep pit on the side that should be flat and the domed side has an extra blob on it.

If I understand your description correctly, that's the way electrical points deteriorate - one gets a pit and the other gets a corresponding peak. File off the peak, scour both surfaces and away you go.

Regards Mick

[got2BaSBT]

The trouble is the pit is so deep that if I tried to file it flat then there would be nothing left.