i have a 84 softail it has been converted back to points. its hard to start and when u get it running it only runs on the frount cylinder for a couple seconds then dies. i have checked the wiring to coil and that looks good could it be the condenser. not quite sure how the condenser works?what are some of your guys ideas of what i should check for? thanks for the help

 

I had that a few weeks ago, in wet weather.
Changed my plug wires and no problem now.

 

checked plug wires with ohm meter and they where good

 

Damn, I thought this was a thread on how to run on one cylinder and use less gas!!! MDS for bikes?????

 

Why did you convert back to points?? You have less spark, and dependability. When I remember points, I remember sitting along the road alot.Put a Crane Hi-4 or equivalant in and have more adjustanility and dependability. Sure you see guys posting how they are having possible ignition problem, but think how many members we have that are not posting problems with their ignitions because they are working fine. Hope this helps.

 

Could be a lot of things - weak ignition (and yes, point systems are weak at best) bad valve, low compression, intake leak, mis-adjusted or bad carb... the list is long.... Switch your plug wires on the coil and try that. If the miss reverses, it's the coil, if not, it could be a lot of different things. (and I'm assuming you have single points / single coil?)

The condenser is in fact a capacitor. There are different types of capacitors and I'm not electronic wizard but in layman's terms - a capacitor stores DC and allows AC to pass. Remember that for a minute..... The coil is an electrical transformer. It takes whatever voltage input, runs it through many feet of tiny wire, wraped around an iron core and electrically "transforms" it into a much higher voltage by having another many-many feet of wire wraped around the same iron core, without actually touching. (core - retangle shaped doughnut) Now, you must remember that DC voltage CANNOT be transformed - it's against the law! (of physics ) Electrical current can only be transformed if it's AC. So, with electronic ignition, a transistor is used to accomplish this.

On a (negative ground) "points" system, the (+) comes to the points (thru the coil), which shorts to ground. The capacitor stores that DC(+) voltage. When the points open, it releases that stored energy and sends it back the other way, so to speak. This is how DC voltage is mechanically converted to AC. The condensor is a necessary part of that system.

Yeah, I left out a lot of electrical tech stuff, most of which I've forgotten or never knew - but who cares, gimme a break, that's the basics of it...

So, switch the wires at the coil see what happens and get back to us, we'll go from there.




Typing all this took me a bit of brain-work..... but I think I'm OK now

 

Fairly close, but... the points, when closed, short the coil to ground. The capacitor ("condensor" is the very old term for "capacitor", like from the 1930's or so), is across the points, so when the points are closed, the capacitor is shorted to ground, not charged.

The coil itself is a Tesla coil. Yes, without Tesla, we would not only not have electrical systems on our bikes, but we wouldn't have spark either. Anyway, when the points are closed, current flows from the + of the battery through the coil to ground. This sets up a magnetic field charge around the coil wires. While it is true that transformers dont' work with DC, we have an intermittant (pulsed) DC, not straight DC like from just the battery. Opening the points lets the field that built up collapse, and that collapsing field induces a current flow in the secondary circuit of the transformer. The condenser is there to prevent arcing at the points. You're switching a pretty good chunk of current, like maybe 7-10 amps, and that will arc and fry your points in a short time otherwise.

This is called "flyback."

Modern capacitors are very reliable and rarely need replacing. I used some mylar caps on a Triumph once. I forget the rating. I had a capacitance meter option on my digital VOM then and I just measured a regular one and bought the same value in mylar. 47 uF? Don't remember.

Now, our electronic ignitions are basically a transistor switch in place of the points. Everything else works the same way. The current flows from battery through the coil, building a magnetic field, through the ignition module. The module gets a signal from the pickup in the cone and turns off the transistor, breaking the DC current, field colapses, spark.

A capacitive discharge system works differently. It charges up a capacitor to a high voltage (some were/are 400V) then dumps that in a big slug through the coil primary, inducing a spark in the secondary.


Uh, try switching the wires.

 

spark was pretty weak to back cylinder. so i put new points in since i had them anyway and that helped a little.but still ran like crap so i pulled all the point stuff out and the mechanical advance out to c if any thing was wrong. the mechanical advance was not working right.if i leave the bolt a little loose they work but if i snug it up they still work but it runs like crap like there binding up. shouldnt there be a washer on this bolt? points suck, i dont know why it was converted back to points by previous owner.

 

my bike is an 84 softail the first year is an 80 inch evo with a 4 speed kick and electric start. Ive heard it called the shoveloution because it has so many shovel parts on it. is this a hard to find bike because its the first year of softail?

 

- switch the plug wires ?

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