Charging Light

[MotoG5]

Hello All,

In the last few weeks I have noticed that my charging light does not always come on when the ignition switch is turned on. This usually happens when the bike is first started up in the morning. The next time it will come on in the prestart check mode and go out when the bike is started as it is supposed to do. I will be looking into the porblem in the next week or so and will be back with an up date. I did check the black ground wire on the voltage regulator mounting screw. It was snug but not tight. I backed it off and turned the connector a few times to break up any possible corrosion and retightened the mounting screw. I will have to ride the bike some to see if this has any effect on the problem as it is an on and off type thing. If this does not help I will have to look into the bulb socket and wiring to see if a problem is developing there. Has anyone else seen this?

Ray

[callison]

If it weren't actually charging, you would already be pushing the bike. However, looking at the schematic (http://home.pacbell.net/guzzi007/schematics/V11_Wiring.gif) the charge light works by the regulator sinking current to ground. The other side of the charge light is the same 12V that is used for other indicators, brake lights etc. So if those work, there are only four choices for the suspected problem, the bulb, the bulb socket, the wiring and the regulator. Since it works after "initialization" the wiring and the bulb would be considered good. You've also done your part for the wiring as well. The bulb socket could be fritzing and the vibration of the bike running put's it back into operation, but that would also mean the the bulb could work and the vibration would be equally likely to take it OUT of operation. So... I would say have the regulator checked. If it is operating as it is supposed to, then ignore the errant charging light as the circuit that shows charge operation is not the circuit doing the charging (at least I hope so). Otherwise, consider replacing the regulator. I would suggest checking into the Electrex RR51 as it is a better design than the Ducati Electronica one that comes with the bike. http://www.electrexusa.com/SHOPPING_RRs/Pr...Prod_RR_51.html

[dlaing]

Mine does the same thing with the oil light and the charging light.

The other lights are fine.

I am 99% sure the problem is the bulb connector. I tried cleaning and siliconing, but it is still hit and miss, usually it does not work at all.

I am considering soldering the bulbs on, or converting to LEDs.

Or, maybe a connector and bulb from another bike.

[callison]

I've already converted the illumination for the tach and speedometer to LED's. I haven't looked at the indicator light sockets yet, but I suspect they're of the same or similar poor quality as the ones used for illumination. Here's a copy of the submission I made to Greg Fields for inclusion in the Tips section in the MGNOC newsletter. I haven't made any photos. I guess I should...

 

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Radioactive blue. Neat color. It's the ghostly blue you see in the pictures of heavy gamma emitters deep in a water pool. It's also the color of the instrument lights in my V11 Sport TT. The incandescent bulbs are gone, victims of the poorly constructed lamp holder found on the V11 Sports. That lamp holder has a tendency to to disassemble itself, then short out to the housing and fry the fuses. Not a positive thing to be sure. I took my instrument panel apart, and couldn't successfully repair the socket (I'm cheap), so I grabbed a white LED from my parts bin (rainy day purchase, just for an experiment like this). A bit of soldering, some duct tape (I have no style, besides, who's going to see this?), and Voila! An instrument illumination scheme worthy of a 1000 RAD Cobalt 60 source. Only not deadly.

 

So what does it take?

 

Well, first, you need to take the cruddy original lamp holder pieces and keep the part that inserts into the instrument. Take the spring, contact and back portion of the lamp holder and chuck them in the garbage.

 

I've used Radio Shack part numbers because that's what available to me. Some of you are fortunate enough to live in a metropolis with a real electronics store. In that case, these part numbers will not apply.

 

You will need some soldering skills and tools, white LED's such as Radio Shack #276-320 ($5 each - whew, but blue LED's were nearly $20 when they first came onto the market, it's all relative), and a 1/4 watt 660 ohm resistor. Since Radio Shack doesn't carry a resistor in the 600 ohm range and the nearest real electronics store is 65 miles from me, I bought a bunch of 330 ohm resistors (# 271-1315) and soldered two in series to make a resistor chain of the necessary resistance for the LED. I kept the resistor leads fairly short and soldered one end of the resistor chain close to the base of the LED on the longest lead (this is the positive lead on the LED) and then clipped off the excess LED lead of the long one. DO NOT clip off the shorter lead on the LED, we'll need it intact at the end of this procedure. The rest of the positive lead and resistors was covered with a piece of heat shrink. The other end of the resistor received a male terminal (#64-4040). The LED was wrapped in duct tape to increase it's diameter to fit snugly in the portion of the original lamp holder that inserts into the tach or speedometer. The part we kept. You didn't? Go fish it out of the trash. Just put tape on the bottom half of the LED, leave the emitter region clear to broadcast light in a hemispherical pattern. The smart money is on the guy that checks out his work BEFORE he puts the bike back together. Use some clip leads to a 12V power supply or even a simple 9V battery and make sure that your bulb lights up. If it doesn't, reverse the leads to see if you have them backwards. If you do, then just make sure that the positive lead is the one with the terminal lug. If it doesn't work at all, check out your solder connections. The other lead of the LED (the one you weren't supposed to cut) gets folded up and across the outside of the duct tape where it will make contact with the lamp holder piece when you insert the duct taped LED into the lamp holder. Which is the next step... insert the duct taped LED into the lamp holder far enough for the LED to protrude into about the same region the incandescent bulb would occupy. Now stick the modified lamp holder into the instrument, hook the lamp wire to the terminal lug and put everything back together. Check it out in a darkened garage or at night. I think you'll be pleased by the results. The LED should outlast your bike by several decades.

 

If you have a Sigma bicycle speedometer on your bike, you can use this same approach for an illuminator. Instead of duct tape, just use a piece of heat shrink all of the way to the end of the LED so that it doesn't broadcast light peripherally. I opted to put a piece of coat hanger wire under the heat shrink at the same time that functions as a support. It's about 4" long and the bottom end of the coat hanger wire is hose clamped to the handle bar. I told you - I have no style. How you derive the 12V supply to power the Sigma illuminator is your problem, but I used a couple of very tiny wires stripped from an ethernet cable and soldered those to the speedometer bulb socket while I had everything apart. Those two wire are hooked to the Sigma illuminator with standard bullet connectors (#64-3085).

[MotoG5]

Hi All,

Well for the most part I am still stumped on this. I have had the light pod apart. Poor quality sockets I guess! At any rate the bulbs were good and the light actually worked after fiddleing with it some and putting it back together. Then it started doing the same thing again on the next strat up. I really dont think its the voltage regulator and more than likely it is the crappy bulb sockets. These really look like great candidates for vibration related problems. My dealer has made note of the whole thing in case it does turn out to be the regulator after all and for the time being I am just going to ride and let it go. This winter I will look into some type of up grade if nothing else shows itself to be the problem. I wil be on the look out for suggestions and comments on this and of courese any ideas people come up with.

Ray