gritineye Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 (edited) I have an ex reserve stock BSA charging set, it was all sealed up with no oil in it, so presumably OK when stored. It all looks like new, and it's had very little use since I've had it, only charged a couple of batteries. It's never started using the start button since I had it, so I thought I'd have a look inside, The only thing I could find wrong with it was the insulation cracked and falling off the wire to the capacitor attached to the positive side of the choke, using the old connectors I soldered a new wire in there to fix that. Has anyone had this problem and what was the cure? Is there a test procedure I can run with a multimeter? here's the wiring diagram.. Edited August 10, 2014 by gritineye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Suslowicz Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Since it's working OK on cord start (and presumably charging batteries OK when running), it's likely to be grubby contacts on the start button or a broken connection to the starter winding. I'd start by checking continuity from the moving contact on the start button to the positive battery terminal, then from the fixed contact to the negative battery terminal (to check the starter winding continuity). Then clean the starter button contacts and give it another try. Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gritineye Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Thanks for your input Chris, I have been checking and cleaned/tightened all connections and then got it turning slowly but without enough strength to overcome compression. The answer was the charging cables where too small, so too much resistance, I used some proper jump leads and it's working OK now :-D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Suslowicz Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Thanks for your input Chris, I have been checking and cleaned/tightened all connections and then got it turning slowly but without enough strength to overcome compression. The answer was the charging cables where too small, so too much resistance, I used some proper jump leads and it's working OK now :-D Ah yes, that would do it. I assumed you were using the standard "Cable, Electric, P11" which is rather chunky stuff. Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren Child Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Be careful of the capacitor as they can dry out and fail catastrophically. You should be able to do a resistance test with a multimeter and see the resistance increase to infinity (with one lead disconnected). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gritineye Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 (edited) Reckon I'll make up a pair of "Cable, Electric, P11"s, do you know the cable size by any chance Chris? Or maybe point me towards a web pic of some? EDIT: found one on here, but those cables don't look any bigger than the ones I was using, hmm... http://hmvf.co.uk/forumvb/showthread.php?12162-1963-BSA-24-volt-300-watt-Charging-Set Edited August 10, 2014 by gritineye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gritineye Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Good call on the capacitors Lauren, the insulation on some cables very dry and doesn't like being disturbed, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Suslowicz Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Reckon I'll make up a pair of "Cable, Electric, P11"s, do you know the cable size by any chance Chris? Um, that is the cable size. :-D I'd need to dig around in "Notes on Electricity as applied to Service Apparatus" for the detailed spec., but it's the stuff used for aerial feeders and battery cables. (There's also Cable, Electric, P13, which is a higher current version.) PTS Norfolk (eBay id gten98) has some for sale as "Multi Stranded Single Conductor Earth wire 088-2657 per 1 metre", see: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Multi-Stranded-Single-Conductor-Earth-wire-088-2657-per-1-metre-/111239765644 The usual termination is a slotted lug, or similar, with the conductor soldered into it. (No, I don't know how they avoid setting the rubber insulation alight, though one approved method seemed to be using a "Red Rose" welding and hardfacing unit to heat the lug up!) Of course, if you're just twisting the wire around the terminal and screwing the wing nut down, you'll get a poor contact compared to using the slotted lug with its much greater contact area. That might be the cause. The rather thin wire shown in the other thread is for a 30 volt version of the charging set - if you've got the 15 volt variety, the wire needs to be considerably thicker to avoid too much voltage drop. Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gritineye Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Sorry Chris, what I meant by size was the rough diameter of the conductor wires as a guide.. I've found some nice old welder lead in stock, it's 6mm diameter copper must be 100 strands, so I'll be using that I think. The thinner wire for larger voltage had slipped my mind so thanks for the reminder, you've been a great help and I think I'm all good now so thanks again:tup::... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted August 11, 2014 Share Posted August 11, 2014 Before electric starting make sure rehostat is turned right down. Also there is berillium in the beasts rectifier, be carful when handling dust is very toxic. The other classic I've found with these is to remeber to relase the air bleed on the top of the fuelfiller cap! They don't run to well with it shut:red: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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