High voltage

[harre]

Hiu.
I just got my Steamer back from 4000 km service. The mechanic told me that I have a problem with the alternator output. It's apparently 17 volt, indicating that something is wrong. Can it be caused by a bad battery or perhaps bad earth connection? Has anyone experienced anything like this before? Any suggestions?
By the way, I have purchased TT600 coils from ebay, and I am eager to test them, though I haven't figured out how to connect them yet.. Picts?

Cheers
Harre

[John Stenhouse]

Sounds like the rectifier is U/S.

[harre]

Yeah, the mechanic also thought so, I was hoping for a cheaper solution and wanted to check here with you guys first. I think a new rectifier was about $100 here in Sweden so I'll just have to replace it if this is the most likely cause. I also may have to replace the battery I think. The mystery is that the battery appeared fine last season, so the 17 volts were at least not bad for the battery, but how long I have ben riding with the high voltage output is another issue, I do not have a volt meter on the bike (yet).

[nightrunner]

If your mech measured 17 volts at the battery then that's too much and should have boiled the battery.  Maybe its a recent failure.  Hopefully the regulator will do the trick.  I heard a new alt is US$800.

On the coils, you have to run some extension wires from the existing connectors over to the plugs.  The tricky part is that those little coils use tiny little contacts, too small for the standard 1/4" spade-type wire connectors.  You can get smaller (like 1/8") female spade (aka flag) connectors from Radio shack or other electronics vendor.    As far as I could tell the coils are not polarized so no worries on which wire goes where (either that or I guessed right 3 out of 3 times and I doubt that).

I made up splice wires to insert and kept stock connectors in place so I could go with Nology option if TT600 failed.  Alternative is to cut and splice.

Then you'll have to decide what, if any, sort of boot you want to use tp fill the gap around the new coils.  So far I have left mine with the gap.  No plans to ride through mud so should be OK.  Some day I might rig up something to fill the void.

[harre]

Thanks Nightrunner
OK, so maybe the mech measured the voltage somewhere prior to the battery and I have huge losses along the line to the battery, so the battery was saved, I will have to check this myself.
It's a good idea to make new connections to the coils and save the old wires. It would have been handy to have the original connectors, but I 'll go for the thin spade connectors and isolate the area. I do not have the bike available for inspection right now, but correct me where I'm wrong, shouldn't I replace the whole wiring from some unit prior to the original coils and connect low-voltage lines to each new TT coil, bypassing the old coils? Sorry to bother you with this, I wish I could check my bike at home, but I am trying to prepare so I can make the best use of the time I have fiddling with the bike when I go home.

[nightrunner]

I was thinking that it usually takes months (of riding) to ruin a battery so the 17 volts is likely a recent problem.  But yes, never hurts to check yourself.  Hey, if its an oxidized connector on the wire that senses the battery voltage, then maybe the reg is just doing its job and working fine.  This is common with the old Transalps.  That wires develops a voltage drop so the reg thinks the batt is low and cranks up the volts.  If that's the problem, then your reg and alt may be fine.

Yes, bypass the coils.  I removed mine.  I rigged up some adapter extension wires with male 1/4" spade to connect to the harness, and 1/8" female spades (and shrink wrap) at the other end to connect to coils.   I would be happy to shoot a couple pics but I had surgery last week and cant do any lifting (like a full steamer tank)  for a while.    I guess the ultimate setup would be to have the TT connectors too and spice those into the Tiger connectors.   Tough trick tho.  A motorcycle wrecker is going to want to sell the whole wiring loom.  Not sure if you can order those connectors new from Triumph.

[harre]

Yeah, I hope it,s just oxidization somewhere, quite plausible on an old bike. If I can figure out what was wrong I'l let you all know. Thanks for the coil info, I think I'm ready to hook up the TT's now. I have tried some bike wreckers, but no-one has wires/connectors for sale. Wrecked Steamers are really rare here in Sweden, could be a good sign. Thanks for your time and have a good recovery.