Powerdynamo brings new ignition & light 
to your vintage motorcycle

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Assembly instructions System 70 69 999 00

Version 29. 10. 2007

 


IMPORTANT:

Please read these instructions fully before starting work on your bike or any modification on the supplied system. Also, please note the remarks on the information page for this system.
If you have no expertise for the installation have it done by an expert or at a specialist's workshop. Improper installation may damage the new system and your motorcycle.
Before you order a system, please check against the section "you should have received those parts" whether all parts wanted are in the kit. You might want to order a puller tool, light bulbs, fuse, horn, flasher unit etc.
Never use anything other than  a puller tool M27x1.25 to pull the new rotor again. In case of damage to the rotor as a result of use of other (unsuitable) tools and facilities, the warranty claim expires! 

If you have access to the Internet, see those instructions online. You get larger and better pictures by clicking onto them and possibly updated information. System list at http://www.powerdynamo.biz

 


Check packing
and rotor!

The rotor is sensible to blows during transport. We therefore double pack the material (box inside box). Should the system have been despatched to you via a reseller and arrive not packed like this, please inform us.
Before assembly, please always check the magnets (try to push them aside with your fingers). After impact the glued in magnets might have broken loose, sticking to the rotor however by magnetic force, so that one does not notice right away. During run there would be considerable damage as a result.
Before putting the rotor to the engine, please make sure that its magnets have not collected metal objects such as small screws, nuts and washers. That equally would lead to severe damage.
To disengage the old and the new rotor, you will need a puller (same for both) M27x1.25 (part 70 56 799 32).

Note: never use a claw puller, a hammer or any other device, that will shake the magnets off.


You should have received those parts
  • stator unit
  • rotor
  • advance unit (black box)
  • ignition coil & high tension wire
  • regulator/rectifier
  • wires brown, red, blue
  • 2 wire binders 
  • 3 screws M5

Make sure your motorcycle rests securely, preferably on an elevated work bench and that you have good access to the dynamo side of the engine.  

Disconnect your battery and take it out of the motorcycle. Note that you will install a 12 volts system, so you will either need a 12 volt battery or you use the option of d
riving without battery. If you want to drive without battery AND there are indicator lights on your bike, you have to installate a electrolytic capacitor (min. 20.000mF/16V) for smoothing the pulsing voltage in place of the battery. It might be that your local road traffic regulations demand the existence of a parking light facility (and hence battery, please check). You will still have to replace all lightbulbs to 12 volt ones. The horn may stay at 6 volts.

Take the old magneto and the ignition coil off

Take the woodruff key from the crank. You will not need it anymore. Please do not forget to do so, otherwise you will have trouble later on in the assembly. (Remark: This woodruff key does not actually hold your rotor on the shaft, this is done by the cone. It simply guides to the correct setting which will now be otherwise achieved.)


Have a look at the new stator unit. You will find there a little left from the larger black coil a small red marking. This is an ignition marking for timing.
Attention: There is no reason to remove the stator from its mounting plate. But if you do remove it, please insure that it reinstalled as before, otherwise the marking is no longer valid and your ignition timing will be wrong.
This marking is however only valid as long as the inner base plate is set into the outer adapter in such a way that fixing screws are in middle position of the long holes as shown here.

Normally there is no reason for you to tamper with that position. It is set correctly at moment of delivery.

Have a look at the new rotor. You will find on its circumference a small pressed in line. That is an ignition marking too. It is durable, but not well visible, so better highlighten it with some marker pen.

Place the new stator unit onto the engine, same place as the old stator plate had been sitting.

The larger black coil and the wire will show upwards

Place the rotor loosely onto the crank and check that it may move freely above the statorbase, check carefully that it clears the heads of the screws holding the inner plate to the adapter.

Take the spark plug out and bring the piston into top dead center (TDC) position. That is the highest position the piston can reach. It does not matter in what cycle the engine is, as ignition is fired on this system every revolution. The system than will automatically calculate and execute advance timing of up to 38 degrees at full engine run.

As setting the crank to this point is a little difficult with the kickstarter, use the new (loosely put) rotor as a turning knob.


Take the rotor carefully off again without changing the crank's position and reset it onto the crank in such a way that the marking on the rotor aligns with the marking on the ground plate. In that position fasten the rotor carefully with the original crank nut. Make sure not to modify the crank position during this operation, otherwise you have to redo the whole procedure. To undo the rotor use a puller M27x1.25.

With that the work on the engine is finished. Put the spark plugs back.

Fasten the new ignition coil at the place, where the original coil was fastened. Leave one of the screws loose, you have to add a ground cable terminal here.

You may place the advance unit and the regulator underneath the seat (instead of the battery). For that you have to adapt a 3mm aluminium plate (not enclosed) between the 4 mounting lugs of the frame (where the side covers were mounted). Fasten the regulator at the bottom and the advance unit at the top side.
Fixing the advance unit that way has the advantages that the black box is difficult to distinguish from the previously placed battery and you have good access to the mini switches (for choosing the different advance curves) at the rear side of the unit.

Take during the installation of the advance unit a look at the little blue switching block at the upper narrow side. There are 4 switches for choosing the different advance curves.
With all switches on OFF (opposite ON) the engine will reach full advance of 38° at 3.000rpm, as it should be.

Connect the parts as shown in wiring diagram 91ik12:

*

To facilitate wire exit through the often small openings in the engine casing, the plastic plug of the generator's wiring that leads to the advance unit have not been put onto the wire terminal. You should place the plug there only once all has been properly installed on the engine side.

Look for the advance unit with its female plug and the two wires (red and white).

Put the provided 2-position plug housing onto this plug and insert the two wires (red and white) from the generator. Make sure that the terminals engage securely in the housing and that you connect:

  • white to white
  • red to red

Should you need (or want) to get the terminals out of the plug housing again, enter a paper clip from front next to the terminals and push the little barb aside. Than pull the wire out.

*

The brown wires from the new generator and the advance unit with the round eye terminals ...

... have to be screwed to the holder frame of the ignition coil (ground). This connection is very important. Please don't depend on the frame as the earth-connection. Varnish, oil and dirt prevent often a good contact!
* The grey resp. green cable of the advance unit ... ... is the output of the to the ignition coil and gets connected to the single male terminal there.
*

Important! Never run the high tension cable and the cables from the generator to the advance and/or the grey wire from the advance to the ignition coil closely in parallel (say in one shielding). This will trigger back coupling that disturbes ignition and might even damage the advance unit.

*

The blue/white wire at the advance unit. This is the kill (cut-off) wire.

Note:
Should you experience ignition failures, disconnect as a first measure this blue wire. In  many cases that will permit you to get mobile again (particulars see: technical help)!

Connected to ground - it will stop ignition!

This type of wiring is used in motorcycles which originally already had magneto ignition and therefore switched off by shortcircuiting against ground.

Those vehicles have by design a main lock (or some kill switch) that connects a pin to ground when in OFF position (German bikes: pin 2). The blue/white wire of the ignition coil will be connected here. In that way the cut-off works like previously.

*

The new regulator/rectifier has a compact plug with 6 positions, of which one is not used (before November 2007 it were two). From November 2007 onwards a female plug cover fitting to this plug is delivered. Into this female plug you have to insert the following wires (which have terminals that snap into the plug):

*

The two black cables leading from the generator ...

... connect to pins 1/4 of the new regulator (from there equally black wires lead inside the unit). It does not matter which wire connects to which of the both terminals (1/4) as they carry alternating current.

* The new brown cable with the round eye terminal  ...

... connects pin 3 of the regulator unit (from there equally a brown wire goes inside the unit) with the negative pole of the battery or (in case you drive without battery) to ground (chassis).

*

The new red cable with the round eye terminal ...

Take care:
Wrong polarity will damage the electronics!

... connects to pin 5 of the new regulator (from there equally a red wire goes inside the unit). Here your regulated positive voltage comes out to connect to battery plus, or (in case you drive without battery) to the voltage input terminal of the main switch (ignition lock, German bikes: pin 51/30).

Make sure that you have a 8A-fuse between battery and vehicle circuitry.

*

The green/red wire at pin 6 of the new regulator ...

 

Remark:
Until November 2007 this wire has been a single wire outside the compact plug.

... is for the charge control light. You connect there the wire that formerly did run from the control light to the original regulator.

Sure that this control only functions with a battery present. Should you drive without battery but still connect the wire, you will see that the light glows even as the generator generates voltage. So without battery, do not connect it.

The charge light control function is based on a transistor switch and is an additional function. Even if that should fail, the regulator might still be in ok working condition. Simple check: have the engine running, turn lights on, disconnect the battery. If you have bright lights the unit is ok.
* Screw the high tension (ignition) cable ...

Please do not use any spark amplifying cables, such as "Nology supercables" or "hot wire". This will disturb the system and possibly damage it.

... into the ignition coil and pull over the rubber seal before mounting the coil (it will be easier).

Please do use the cable arriving with the pack and not any old cable.

You will do yourself a favour to treat your bike to new spark plugs and spark plug sockets (preferably some between 0-2kOhm). Plenty of problems are to be traced back to "apparently good" (even completely "brand-new") sparks plugs, terminals and cables.
Do not use spark plugs with an intern suppression resistor. NGK (e.g.) offered such spark plugs coded with an "R" (for resistor).

*

Finally - and before installing the battery and before the first kickstart - please re-check carefully all connections and fitments against the wiring diagram. Do check battery and light bulbs for correct voltage (12V).

Should something not work, please consult our trouble-shooting guide on our homepage. As a first step disconnect the blue wire from the coil and re-test.

* IMPORTANT: During crank shaft repair the dynamo shaft is often machined and gets shorter. The result is a rotor sitting lower, possibly touching now with its rivets the stator coil. The result is a destroyed stator and ignition failure.
For more detail and how to check see (online) here.

 

Important safety and operating information

#

Safety first! Please observe the general health and safety regulations motor vehicle repair (MVR) as well as the safety information and obligations indicated by the manufacturer of your motorcycle.

#

Ignition systems generate high tension! With our material right up to 40,000 Volts! This may, if handled carelessly, not only be painful, but outrightly dangerous. Please do keep a safe distance to the electrode of your spark plug and open high tension cables. Should you need to test spark firing, hold the spark plug socket securely with some well insulating material and push it firmly to solid ground of the engine block.

#

After installation, please check tightness of all screws, even those preinstalled. If parts get loose during run, there will be inevitably damage to the material. We pre-assemble screws only loosely.

#

Give the newly installed system a chance to work, before you start to check and test values, or what is worse is to apply changes to customize the firing point before running the system.
Our parts have been checked before delivery to you. You will not be able to check much anyway. At any rate do refrain from measuring the electronic components (such as ignition coil, regulator and advance unit). You risk severe damage to the inner electronics there. You will not get any tangible results from the operation anyway. Bear in mind that also your carburettor, your spark plugs and spark plug sockets (even if completely new) might be the reason for malfunction. The general experience with our systems is that the carburettor will have to be re-adjusted to lower settings. Should the system not start after assembly, first disconnect the blue cut-off wire directly at the ignition coil (or in some cases advance unit) to eliminate any malfunction in the cut-off circuitry. Check ground connections carefully.

#

The spark of classic, points based ignition systems has with about 10,000 Volts with little energy and looks therefore yellow and fat (hence it's visible). The spark from our system is a high energy spark with up to 40,000 Volts and therefore very sharp (needle thin focused) in form, and blue in colour, which makes it not so visible. Furthermore you get spark only at kickstart operated speedss and not by pushing the kicklever down slowly with your hand (as you might get with battery based ignitions).

#

Systems using a twin outlet ignition coils have a few percularities. Please observe that during tests on one side, the other has either to be connected to an fitted spark plug or securely earthed/grounded. Otherwise there will be no spark on either side.

#

Never do electric arc welding on the bike without completely disconnecting all electronics.

#

Electronics are very sensitive to wrong polarity. After work on the system, do check correct polarity of the battery and the regulator. Wrong polarity creates short circuits and will destroy the regulator, the ignition coil and the advance unit. As a rule, wiring will always be colour to colour. Instances, where colour differs between wires it is expressly mentioned in our instructions.

#

When you handle the new rotor, take care not to damage its magnets. Refrain from direct blows to the circumference of the rotor. When transporting never put the rotor over the stator. Observe our information relative to transport of the material.

#

Do not use spark plug sockets with a resistance of more than 5kOhm. Better use 1 or 2kOhm ones. Bear in mind that spark plug sockets do age and thereby increase their internal resistance. Should an engine start up only when cold, a defective spark plug socket and/or spark plug is very probably the cause. In case of problems check high tension cables too. Never use carbon fibre HT-cables, never use so called "hot wires", never use resistor spark plugs.

#

It is a good idea to cover the rotor in a thin layer of oil to reduce the risk of corrosion.

#

Never use a claw puller or a hammer to disengage the rotor. Its magnets might become loose in the event. We offer a special puller screw for disengaging the new rotor again (see assembly instruction)!

#

Should the motorcycle not be in use for some longer period, please disconnect the battery (so existing) to prevent current bleeding through the diodes of the regulator. Though, even a disconnected battery will empty itself after a while.

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Please do observe these remarks, but at the same time, don't be afraid of the installation process. Remember, that before you, thousands of other customers have successfully installed the system.
Enjoy driving your bike with its new electric heart!