Starter Bench Test

[Night Vision]

first off...
Disclosure: Let the records show - I am not real good when it comes to electronics. I've never been schooled on it and can barely use a multimeter.

WARNING: Electricity has been know to cause injury and/or death. Death Kills. Use any and/or all electrical advice that this individual may try give in the future at own risk......


OK, I've had the bike started three or four times now... starter was sometimes intermittent? (maybe because I had no charging system?)... push button.. sometimes yes, sometimes "click"... more yes than click...

Anyway... pulled it out, piece of cake... going to tear down for PM / seals (don't want no problems come 2007 ya know)... read some posts...

Go to bench test it, gear turns by hand each direction.. hook up jumper cables from a spare car battery.. positive jumper from battery to starter terminal,? negative jumper from battery to..........

30th. of November fireworks display!!!!

HOKEY SMOKES!!! touch ground to starter case and I get sparklers!!!! touch ground to a vice on my bench and nothing happens....

WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?

I whacked it a couple times with the rubber handle of a hammer.. same results

IS it or DID I cook it? need more whacking?

[Kiwi_XZ]

First off - were you using a well charged battery.  Motorcycle batteries are small and will not provide a lot of starts without charging.  From my experience if the battery isn't in good condition then you will see exactly what you describe "push button.. sometimes yes, sometimes "click"... more yes than click..."

I don't think you have a starter issue (yet) not unless you can discount the battery.

[Coil Coyle]

Night,
Re: 30th. of November fireworks display!!!! ? ? ? ?:o? ? ? ? ? Thats Mutt's Birthday fireworks!? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ;D? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?HAPPY BIRTHDAY  MUTT
Did the starter spin as the jumpers sparked?? ? ? ?....Try to jerk from rotation? ....or just sit still while the fireworks flew ?

???
Curious minds need to know.... ;) a starters first electrical draw is high and could spark, especially with a timid or poor connection.

coil

[Night Vision]

when the starter was on the bike, it was hooked up to a brand new fully charged interstate battery

the bench test was hooked up to a fully charged (13v) spare car battery.

I really don't know if it was jerking or spinning because the sparks were quite intense! not the typical little spark ya get if you hook a charger to a battery terminal

big sparks...kinda like when you touch two jumper cables together. I did not want to fry the starter or weld my cables to it.

Should I just hook it up again and instead of getting touchy with it... just grab ahold of a mounting ear with the ground cable quickly?

[Lucky]

safety first:
NEVER make the last connection at the battery!!

with the starter in a good vice (the torque of it spinning can pull it out of your hand) hook up the cables making the ground to the starter case last. as you do that one, allow it to clamp on to the ear of the starter, it should spin.

having said that, i'd crack the case & see if there is oil in it FIRST.  you don't even need to to take it all the way apart, just loosen the 2 long screws enough to seperate the case a bit at the front.

under normal circumstances you should get a decent spark when you hook up the last ground & it should spin right away.  you shouldn't need to tap it (which usually means worn out brushes).

Contact Jason Morris i believe at: jsmthefix@optonline.net for anything you've ever wanted to know about Vision Starters.

sorry i missed you last night.

--Lucky

[Night Vision]

yeah, I stayed away from the battery and I am going to crack it open first before I juice it again.

UPS just brought me (6) 20x35x6 seals I ordered on line for $1.33 plus $6.00 handling. Hopefully that will work out to $2.33 each.

I really didn't think the place was going to sell them to me, they were more geared towards commercial sales, but I ordered online, gave them a PO# (xz5507917) and had them delivered to where I work.? ;D


in the mean time... there was this eBay auction.....

So... looks like I'll being GIVING out 30 of them. I was going to try to recoupe some $ but Kevin showed me his generosity and made me feel stupid (guilty)....

I would have spent lots more if I bought everyone a beer for helping me out. I will post those seals up after they come.

[Mutt]

Night,
Re: 30th. of November fireworks display!!!! ? ? ? ?:o? ? ? ? ? Thats Mutt's Birthday fireworks!? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ;D? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?HAPPY BIRTHDAY? MUTT
Did the starter spin as the jumpers sparked?? ? ? ?....Try to jerk from rotation? ....or just sit still while the fireworks flew ?

???
Curious minds need to know.... ;) a starters first electrical draw is high and could spark, especially with a timid or poor connection.

coil

Man and I wasn't even invited!? :'(? If all else fails use a bigger hammer! Actually remember with electricity "safety first". Wear goggles if your going to use a bigger hammer!? :)

Mutt

[Lucky]

Corona with lime please, & a tropical beach on the side...

[kiawrench]

lucky,,
    told you to move here, we already beyond coronas and lime, have switched to full on cabo wabo and a big plate of fajitas!!
  oh, in lower 60s here, and plenty of ride time