Digital voltmeter

[gripper]

I've just sent off for a digital voltmeter that plugs into a cigarette lighter socket from ebay. 99p plus £1.60 ish P&P Also bought a waterproof cigarette lighter socket. the plan is to reduce the duplication of wires and have my heated grips plugged into the socket. (Means I can bring my inflatable friend to the next camping rally and blow her up ....................................with my electric pump) I haven't found a suitable windproof ashtray yet. Von Tripper?

[andy588tt]

Hi GripperSounds good about the pump But be warned if your lady is on the large size the cheapie pumps will fail after 5 mins the trick is don't bit her neck . A company called motor works mainly for BMW can supply great cig lighter with a nice rubber cap and leads that goes straight to the battery. I got mine when I got my large oddiysee?? battery for the Rotary Motor works are very quickRide safe Andy

[FloridaMike]

It isn't the voltage that's the problem in running the pump for your companion, it is the amperes. How many amps does the pump draw and does this change as the pressure at the destination increases (man, that's kinky . . . )?While a cig lighter socket will handle quite a few amps, it is only for a short time. If it runs continuously there is a risk of cooking the wiring to the socket.Suggest you arrange a dedicated power outlet near the battery and connected with some decently large wires. Look at the pump and see how large the wires are to it (remember that the wires were specified by the accounting department, engineering may well have wanted larger, more expensive wires) and go a size to two larger. Higher quality connectors might be in order as well, most cig lighter sockets and plugs are pretty poorly made and not very durable.I'm a bit reluctant to use the delicate, expensive factory wiring harness to handle loads not anticipated when the bike was designed. (I'm not sure that particular accessory even existed back then.)I've also seen the little pumps fail. (I was trying to inflate a TIRE, honest!) There's a small pot-metal gear with a pin on it, and when it breaks, which appears to be pretty regularly, the pump is unrepairable because the gear/drive pin isn't available separately. Company named "Harbor Freight" (a/k/a "The Chinese Tool Embassy") sells them here, they are evidently all made by child laborers working in tents in some ghastly third world people's republic of Awfulstan because the pumps are all the same no matter what label is affixed later.With best regards,FloridaMike

[vontripper]

hi Gripper, fisrtly i would strongly advice you against smoking at your age [it bad for your heath] i have been smoking for 50 years now and to old to give up. regaurds ash tray as with my large windsheald i can smoke freely at low speeds and to get ash off i stick my arm out and let the wind take ash off, so i find i have no need for ash tray on bike, but anyone thats behind me thinks iam turning right or left !the other draw back with fitted ash tray is when its raining your sigs. get wet when you use ash tray.what do you call your blow up friend ? mines Lillo Lill

[Dell Boy]

Fitted digital voltmeter to Red Commander which informed me that I was getting a very good charge until I put the lights on when it only showed 10.1 volts going to the battery.Had a think about the shortfall & came to the conclusion that a "lighting coil" wasn`t being switched in when the lights were turned on to balance the load.The Al Osborne 3 phase regulator I had fitted only had one red [power] wire coming out of it.This I had joined to the two original connections in the harness.My spare original regulator has two red wires. I swapped this onto the bike using the two reds to the two connectors in the harness.All is now well with a good charge with everything turned on.I shall carry the Al Osborne regulator on the bike as a "get out of trouble" spare if the original should fail.Having a big, clear digital volts display in front of my nose is very reassuring. Wish I had fitted one years ago.Derek F.

[Dave]

Hi , i recently posted regarding my Commander not charging properly, the two replacement regulaters i fitted (one was to small, so was changed for a larger output one by the supplier) both only had a single red wire fitted, but when you look at the two wires fitted to the loom, they are connected together inside, so i have only used one of them and taped the other one up unused, Also i bought the cheap plug in digital voltmeter, and used it yesterday as a test, and all appears ok, but the volts are a bit low with lights and heated grips on together, according to the digital meter the original is reading around 3-4volts to low, but how accurate the new one is i dont know, mine was around 7 quid off e bay, dave

[Dell Boy]

Hello Dave,Mine was about £7.00 too but I flush mounted it on the dash & wired it in.With heated handlebars [not grips] & all lights on showed about 12.2 volts.What is yours showing?Derek F.

[johnbirchjar]

Hi Guys,after all the grief & agravation over the years Iv'e had with VCR'S & Ign boxes,I too decided to fit a voltmetre(mine is annalog)unfortunatly there is nowhere to fit it on the Classic,so I had to make up a "carrier" for it,like Del Boy says,reasuring to know thing are working as they should,(or not )with all the lights on(twin h/lights on my old girl)she charges at 12.5volts. I also fitted the TTO Temp gauge on Saturday,took the bike for a blast down a local duel carriage way and it would seem that the orriginal VDO? gauge & sender are stll spot on,so it's "back to the drawing board" to find a way to the engine. While I was grubbing about under the bike I had a look at the bottom cooling fins and they are "gung"free,no muck at all,(as are all the rest,)I see a winter project to fit a fan?ride safe,J.B. ps,the temp gauge cost £44-80 inc p&p and is a doddle to fit,Trial Tech Products Ltd;Galashields.01896-753111.

[Dave]

Hi Derek, i checked mine today, and at revs above 2000 rpm, mine is reading 14.1 v with nothing on, and drops to 13.8v with lights, and 13. 2 v with lights and grips on, I would have thought that around 13.2 would be the very minimum needed to put any charge back into the battery, mine is connected directly to the battery, I did check the new digital voltmeter against my workshop one, and the readings were very close, the only time mine drops below 13v is at tickover, im no expert, but would assume you realy need around 13.5 volts as a minimum, to keep the batterys charged, dave (my original fitted one reads o with everything on and around 11v with it all off, i cant see why?, but i wonder if it makes a difference where they are wired into, which is why i tested mine from directly from the battery)

[rustynuts]

but i wonder if it makes a difference where they are wired into, which is why i tested mine from directly from the battery)

In theory it doesn't matter where the voltmeter is connected, but in practice on an old motorcycle with corroded connectors, the voltage at one place could be quite different to the voltage somewhere else.The voltage was a bit low on my IP2 and it didn't charge the battery very well. In fact the voltage was so low that the heated grips would turn themselves off when I put the indicators on. The problem turned out to be poor connections at the blade terminals on the starter relay for the main power take off and the voltage regulator output. I re-made the connections with ring terminals to give a more secure connection.

[gripper]

I've waited 40 days for the plug in voltmeter to arrive from China and have now started a complaint procedure with ebay. A pity because it's quite a good piece of kit.