Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum

Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet Iron Barrel => Topic started by: JordanMix on April 11, 2008, 06:20:42 pm

Title: charging problem- it has to be simple
Post by: JordanMix on April 11, 2008, 06:20:42 pm
I am having trouble with my ammeter not showing a positive charge. this is the situation. I had my primary disassembled, upon reassembly I kicked over the bike to test everything before I fitted the cover back on and filled it up with fluid. Everything seemed to be good, most importantly for this discussion I was getting a positive charge on my ammeter. I put some rtv gasket sealer on the facing surfaces, let it set, put the fluid in, kicked it over and had a negative charge. I have taken it apart once already with the same outcome. I am going to have a go at it again tonight when I get home… here is my idea. Do you think it is possible that if the two soldered points at the top of the alternator are sticking out and both touching the primary case it would case this problem? Is there really any other possibility to cause this .. Charge with cover off, no charge with cover on. All other electronics seem to be working tip top. I just wanted to pick your brains before i take it apart tonight.
Title: Re: charging problem- it has to be simple
Post by: geoffbaker on April 11, 2008, 07:18:56 pm
I would start by checking the wiring from the primary to the system... 4 wires, each with a connector. Make sure they are all tight in their connectors!

When taking off the case, did you remove and reset the rotor? Check the wires carefully to make sure nothing is loose inside or outside.

It does sound like the cover is causing a ground fault when attached, which suggests there's a wire touching it that shouldn't be... check where the wires run out of the casing and make sure there is no worn insulation on the wire. (You could wrap them with a piece of electrical tape to make sure they aren't shorting there).

Sounds like it should be a simple fix, when you find it...
Title: Re: charging problem- it has to be simple
Post by: Peter on April 12, 2008, 01:36:53 am
It should be simple if it didn't fry anything.

Now about this RTV sealant, this is really vile stuff. Sometimes it's of use as a last resort, but before using it one should have tried everything else. The primary case cover should seal without any sealant. Now you have to dig all this RTV out and clean all surfaces very carefully before putting it together again. Hopefully it won't be too much trouble to take the cover off.
This RTV stuff has caused more cursing on my part than any other previous repair job I had to deal with. It makes things stick which should come apart easily, it contaminates and plugs passages, I've seen stripped threads because someone thought it wasn't a problem to let it seep into dead end holes in engine blocks, it's poison for the Bullet oiling system and.....  well, you got an idea what I think about RTV sealant.
Don't worry there is nothing to damage with a little RTV in a KS primary case, but be careful with this stuff. 

Peter
Title: Re: charging problem- it has to be simple
Post by: JordanMix on April 14, 2008, 02:07:07 pm
I put some caps on the end of my alternator wires this weekend, threw the cover back on and I am now showing a positive charge.

I really only use RTV on my primary case. I had a problem with it dripping oil, after replacing the big o-ring seal and carefully cleaning the surfaces I still had a very mild drip… since using RTV it has gone away. I’m sure one of the cases might be slightly warped but I am not going to replace them if I can resolve the problem with a 4 dollar tube of sealer.

I have noticed in several articles/post that a lot of people advise using RTV with the brass head gaskets… does anyone do this? They seem to work fine without it.
Title: Re: charging problem- it has to be simple
Post by: LotusSevenMan on April 14, 2008, 09:39:08 pm
quote "brass head gaskets" unquote.

Suspect you mean copper HG's
Title: Re: charging problem- it has to be simple
Post by: JordanMix on April 14, 2008, 09:52:35 pm
yes... copper
Title: Re: charging problem- it has to be simple
Post by: SRL790 on April 17, 2008, 03:35:24 am
I've had good luck with this stuff.

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?MfrCode=PTX&MfrPartNumber=80697&CategoryCode=2132