Tool Question (no, not what does 46 & 2 mean) Remote Tachometer

[weekendrider]

Ok I tried this (Thanks again 2M ). After indexing (really important part of the process) I turned it back and forth a little. Nearly no change. An eighth turn L resulted in a reading of 17.?? volts. An eighth R raised it to 18.9?. Finally worked my way to the stop on the L and it was still 13.?? volts. The other meter reading 12,77. Resorting to chemical assistance I gave it a short shot of electric contact cleaner twisting to and fro. After cleaning I ended up back almost exactly at the index mark with 12.79. Now if you just barely breath on it the reading changes so a bit of luck is required to exactly match to another.
The freebie from Harbor Freight also has this adjustment and it is just as touchy. But in the end I have three meters reading 12.76, 12.77 and 12.79 good nuff.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

... Resorting to chemical assistance I gave it a short shot of electric contact cleaner twisting to and fro. After cleaning I ended up back almost exactly at the index mark with 12.79...

Great tip, WER. I was hoping to avoid spraying in there, but since you took one for the team, I'll endorse your "spraydown" tip...

 

[Gordon in nc]

Okay I have to confess I also use the cheapo Raido Shack meter to set points..(to static time)....I have the light bulb set up but like the meter better. BUT......I want to learn this dwell thing and will start reading up on it soon. I have a really good (read $$$) meter in my hands right now and when I get home tonight I'll see what it says about the battery.

I think it would be GREAT since this thread was about a remote tach if one of you guys in the know would help the rest of us understand how to check RPMs with our new yellow meters.

Member of the Yellow Meter Gang .........................."cheap tools save lives".......... Gordon in NC

I have finally saved up enough money to retire in comfort........just not sure what I'll do about money the second week!!!!

 

[Gordon in nc]

Struck out......when I was handed a meter in a nice pouch and told it was a "really good" one I thought I was bringing home a Fluke or Simpson. BUT........this thing isn't any classier than what I have. That's the bad.....the good......is it reads right in there with the rest......I'm going to give in and except that the ones I have are "good enough" for my uses.

Member number 13.36 +- of the Yellow Meter Gang.........Gordon

 

[robinc]

No Gordon as weekendrider so aptly said you are not a 'mere' member, you are the " Founding Father" of the 'yellow meter gang'.
I enjoy reading your threads and your " yellow meter gang" quote was one of the funniest I have read on this forum and it gave me a chuckle on a bad day. I hope I haven't offended by poaching your quote but hoped by doing so I might in return put a smile on your face.

Be well.

 

[Gordon in nc]

robinc.......thank you for the kind words.

BUT......when the book "The Complete History of the Yellow Meter Gang" hits the shelves the truth will be told. Looking back it's 5twins that started the gang, 2M being the clever devil he is keeps it's membership growing by spreading the word and his tech advise keeps those meters on the straight and narrow. I'm just a follower, a tag along.....I don't even have one of the T-shirts yet and the only badge I've earned is DC Voltage....I have such a long way to go.

Thanks again for the kind words and yes, you put a smile on my face. It's easy for me to like this place and the people who hang out here.

Take care, your friend in NC, USA Gordon Gray

 

[robinc]

Gordon, you're killing me. Lol. Hard to type when I'm laughing so hard. So true, we need to give 5twins and 2M the props they are due. Chapters will be devoted to each I'm sure. Please sign me up for an autographed copy of the book.

Thanks for keeping it fun.

Take care

 

[mrtwowheel]

I just will not believe any of the exploits of The Yellow Meter Gang until I see that yellow meter measuring RPM on an XS. OK, legend or myth?

Scott

 

[weekendrider]

Yeah I dunno Scott you are supposed to hook up a ground and to the negative side of the coil. Not sure how to do that with a dual fire coil. I might try it as the sacrificial lamb tomorrow.

 

[mrtwowheel]

Yeah I dunno Scott you are supposed to hook up a ground and to the negative side of the coil. Not sure how to do that with a dual fire coil. I might try it as the sacrificial lamb tomorrow.

Dual fire coil, half it, or double it, something like that.

 

[weekendrider]

The positive to one side of the coil(dual fire) and the negative to the cylinders it didn't matter what cylinder settings the numbers made no sense nor were they steady. It just flashed random numbers but it didn't blow or burn up and it still gave me a believable battery voltage at the end. Maybe if you hook the negative to the battery and positive the coil? Even with just one wire hooked up it would flash random numbers didn't matter if I unhooked the ground at the cylinders or the positive at the coil.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

... retire in comfort........

Oh, yeah, nice little town just nearby. Plenty of room.


I'll have to look into the tach and dwell functions. Down at the moment, sidecovers off, clutch and shifter gobbledygook apart, sperimentin'.

At 1200 rpm idle, our dual points system is poking along at 10Hz (10 sparks per second). That may be a bit slow for the instrument. An idling points-type V8, at 900 rpm, is banging its point at about 60Hz (60 sparks per second), same as your house A/C power. You'd have to rev your XS650 at 7200rpm to get that 60Hz frequency. You could try setting the instrument on the lowest cylinder-count setting, and take a tach reading while revving the engine. See where/if any kind of stable reading occurs...

 

[robinc]

I would happily through my 'Yellow Meter' into the fray and have a go but my tach is acting up. Slow response time so not very reliable.
Maybe the cold? maybe cable needs to be lubed? huh, better check oil pump is working. Valve cover off, yup lotsa oil there.
Got distracted for awhile. Let's start it up again and have another look. Fan on to cool engine, check.
Fired it up, yup tach still slow, how come things are getting blurry?
Is that oil on my glasses?
Where's that coming from?

DOH!

You think you had fun cleaning greasy fingerprints off your freshly polished side cover 2M. Try a half a litre of oil, everywhere. Sigh.
Oh well, oil pumps fine.

 

[grizld1]

WR, I haven't tried the tach function on the yellow meter, but hooking up to the power side of the coil (+ on these bikes, - on old Brit iron) won't work with any electronic tach. The 12V power into the primary windings doesn't change as the ignition fires. Whether the switch is breaker point or electronic, it controls the opening and closing of the ground connection, and that's what the tach needs to read. Try damping the signal with resistors in front of the probe hooked up to the coil; start with 1 megaohm and see if that improves the readings.

Guess I got lucky for a change; the yellow box I got gives voltage readings consistent with my other meters.

 

[mrtwowheel]

Wow, it's been a long time since I used a dwell/tach. That was something that was done at least once every weekend on someone's car that I hung around with. So, can't remember the "hook up", I'm confused as hell, can't believe this. Which is the positive side of the coil? Doesn't an analog dell/tach connect to point side of the coil?

Total Dementia on dwell/tach's and points. Sitting here staring at a Suntune inductive dwell/tach. I know I'll find the info when I need it. The last time I hooked up a timing light I burned out the bulb.

Scott

 

[grizld1]

Let's try the explanation one more time. In a negative ground system the + side of the coil is the one that's connected to 12V switched power, and the - side of the coil is the one that's hooked up to the points (or the igniter box of an electronic ignition). When the points open (or when the igniter box interrupts power to ground) the charge in the primary windings seeks ground through the secondary windings, then through the spark plugs; the plug wire is attached to the secondary windings on one end and the electrode tip of the plug on the other, the ground clip of the plug is grounded to the head, the spark jumps the gap, and the fuel charge goes BOOM. That's why in a negative ground system the tach can read the firing pulses through the - primary terminal, but not through the + primary terminal.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Might have to give it a couple of minutes to let the vacuum tubes warm up...

 

[mrtwowheel]

Might have to give it a couple of minutes to let the vacuum tubes warm up...

Yep, let the tubes warm up.

 

[Gordon in nc]

Robinc.........hope you got all that oil cleaned off by now....hahahahahaahahahah

I got a half a day off from work today and FINALLY got that darn carb cleaned and remounted. Just didn't have the energy to try to tune it but I should get a chance tomorrow afternoon......good Lord willing and the creek don't rise. I'll be using my brand new TA100 remote tach and will report back on the results.

Take care........Gordon in NC

 

[robinc]

Hey Gordon, Ya got it done. Maybe should have left it for good winterization protection in the great white north lol. Good luck with the carb tuning Johnny. Have to give credit that with 5twins help diagnosing that I don't have the correct year carbs on the bike and with the carb guide written by him and Grizld1 I think I have these carbs set up better than ever. Spring time will tell. Getting cold here so time to put her to bed for the winter.

Be well