ignition wiring issue

[Loudjosh81]

I have an issue with the wiring on my ignition. i was using points, but found i had to adjust them every 200-500 miles. i was constantly losing cylinder 1&3.
i went ahead and bought a Newtronic ignition based on a recommendation from a friend. very easy to set up. basically plug and play.

in the directions it says "hook the black and white wire from the ignition unit to the black wire on top of the ballast resistor. then connect the other end to the resistor"

so i do this. check for spark. no spark. well, not entirely no spark. the plugs all light up at once when i turn the key on/off. it only sparks when i turn it on off.

i think whatever this wiring gremlin is, is the problem ive been having with the bike all along, and not necessarily my points being out of whack.

Can the black wire that feeds the resistor be bypassed and a new 12v hot signal be sent to the resistor? im assuming somewhere in the harness i have a short. its also possible the directions for the newtronic ignition are wrong. i have reached out to them, im waiting a reply.

thanks for the help!

josh

[cfairweather]

I am not familiar with the Newtronic unit but it may be very similar to the DS1-3. I just posted some tips and information that may help you. Take a look: viewtopic.php?p=392267#p392267

[Loudjosh81]

I am not familiar with the Newtronic unit but it may be very similar to the DS1-3. I just posted some tips and information that may help you. Take a look: viewtopic.php?p=392267#p392267

Thank you!

I've read through everything there was on the dyna units, as this bike had a Dyna when I first got it. It was very old and had failed years before that.

I just don't get why it is sparking when I turn the key. Somewhere I have a crossed wire, for sure, but it would be somehow buried in the harness and nothing has been modified with my harness :/

I'll keep digging at it and hopefully something presents itself

[cfairweather]

Are you using the ballast resistor or do you have it bypassed? If you are using it, are you aware that it is bypassed when you press the start button? I am not certain where you are connecting power for the Newtronic unit, but I would check for voltage at the unit when you press the start button. If you don't have power, you are going to need to bypass the ballast resistor or find a different wire to supply power to the Newtronic unit. You will need modern coils if you bypass the ballast resistor. There should be voltage when you turn on the key (without the start button being pressed). It seems like you could get a spark when you turn the key, if the Newtronic unit is positioned at the trigger point.

You need the full 12VDC and full power for these electronic ignition systems as they draw a lot of current. Please read the document that I posted or at least the part about the options on where to power the electronic ignition. The Dyna information does not contain some of the the information I provided in this document.

[Rambozo]

I just don't get why it is sparking when I turn the key.

That is pretty common when you turn the key off. It is exactly what the points do when they open. If the coils are powered up and grounded, when you remove power they fire.

[Maz]

I am not familiar with the Newtronic unit but it may be very similar to the DS1-3. I just posted some tips and information that may help you. Take a look: viewtopic.php?p=392267#p392267

Just for info, I've had two Newtronic systems and they both failed after a year. Cylinders 1 and 2 stopped firing.
Maz

[Loudjosh81]

Are you using the ballast resistor or do you have it bypassed? If you are using it, are you aware that it is bypassed when you press the start button? I am not certain where you are connecting power for the Newtronic unit, but I would check for voltage at the unit when you press the start button. If you don't have power, you are going to need to bypass the ballast resistor or find a different wire to supply power to the Newtronic unit. You will need modern coils if you bypass the ballast resistor. There should be voltage when you turn on the key (without the start button being pressed). It seems like you could get a spark when you turn the key, if the Newtronic unit is positioned at the trigger point.

You need the full 12VDC and full power for these electronic ignition systems as they draw a lot of current. Please read the document that I posted or at least the part about the options on where to power the electronic ignition. The Dyna information does not contain some of the the information I provided in this document.

So as far as the coils go, they are brand new. Reproductions, but brand new. (I think emgo?)

The newtronic ignition gets it's 12v from the black wire that feeds the ballast resistor (this is the main ignition/power wire)

I am going to try to (temporarily) run a hot wire direct from the battery and see what happens when I hit the switch.

Somewhere in the circuit, I'm losing power once I turn the key on. That's the only thing I can think of, as I lose spark as soon as the key is on.

[cfairweather]

I looked that the diagram and understand what you are saying. You should have full power on that wire.

[Loudjosh81]

I am not familiar with the Newtronic unit but it may be very similar to the DS1-3. I just posted some tips and information that may help you. Take a look: viewtopic.php?p=392267#p392267

Just for info, I've had two Newtronic systems and they both failed after a year. Cylinders 1 and 2 stopped firing.
Maz

I've had pretty good luck with them before, and I've had a couple china made optical ignitions that were decent, too.

I think it's all a crap shoot. Ive had dynas fail, my points on this bike, no matter what I do, don't stay in spec more than 50-100 miles, I've kind of been through everything and sort of just roll with it when machines get to this age

This bike had ignition issues when I first got it, and it had a Martek ignition. I removed that (cause it had failed) and put it back to points. All NOS from Honda. It was the least expensive of options, but worked great for a few days at a time.

But when she's all dialed in this bike is a legit blast to ride, so Im gonna keep plugging away at it

[cfairweather]

When you had points, did you ever replace the condensers? If one was bad, it might explain why you had to adjust the points so much. You removed these with the new Newtronic system, correct?

[Loudjosh81]

When you had points, did you ever replace the condensers? If one was bad, it might explain why you had to adjust the points so much. You removed these with the new Newtronic system, correct?

Yeah, I had all brand new components with the new points. New condensers, new coils, plug leads, caps etc. . .

I could adjust the points and they'd be fine, then go out of whack, so it's why I kind of assume it was a different failure.

And you're correct, for the newtronic ignition the condensers get unplugged, but the ballast resistor stays connected.

[DenverWinger]

Isn't there supposed to be a foamy sort of thing which rubs on the cam lobes for the points? You put a little lube on the foamy thing which helps reduce wear on the rubbing block for the points...

[Loudjosh81]

Isn't there supposed to be a foamy sort of thing which rubs on the cam lobes for the points? You put a little lube on the foamy thing which helps reduce wear on the rubbing block for the points...

If I still had points, there is a felt pad that they rub on and the oil in it helps to keep dust out of the system. There are no touching components in the optical system.