Trouble kickstarting, capacitor dumping voltage

[XSLeo]

From some of the reading I have done on here the Pamco with E-advancer won't work well with just a cap. It needs a battery.
You might try Emailing Pamcopete with an IM from here or at his website.
Leo

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

...So, 2M, with some of your comments I have to ask. Are you an A&P? I somehow imagine you in a quonset hut at an airport working on something cool (extra 300?) with a bunch of people speaking german, drinking shiner bock...

Ahhh, that brings back memories.

Did a lot of A&P work under the tutelage of an A&P IA...

 

[MrBill]

Thanks guys, I probably won't get to play around with the bike for another day or so. In the mean time I'll reach out to Pete and see if he has any input.

When i got stranded my battery was completely dead, couldn't even push or jump start it. Luckily I was only like an hour away from the house. MrsBill ended up picking up a new battery and dropping it off for me (she's a keeper). Once the new battery was in the bike ran fine.

I attribute the dead battery to a lot of stopping and starting and not enough highway driving. I checked the charging system according to one of the threads on here when I got home and it was operating normally. My thought process was that if i get rid of the battery i won't have to worry about a dead battery in the future, plus i'd be swapping out 30+yr old components with newer components and getting rid of that hideous battery box.

A volt meter to monitor the system health would have been a cheaper alternative but I was planning on doing this at some point anyway. I thought it was a good excuse for a winter project.

 

[MrBill]

Just to follow up. I reached out to PamcoPete and he suggested the same thing you guys suggested, either a larger capacitor or a battery.

Since i didn't want to wait for a new capacitor I picked up a small battery similar to MMM's from the local Batteries + Bulbs and wired it in parallel with the sparx cap and put the headlight on a switch. The bike starts with one kick, gives 12+V at idle and runs great. I think i'll swap out the sparx for a larger capacitor in the near future, i don't trust the battery 100% but it works for now.

Thanks again for your help and suggestions.

Posted via Mobile

 

[Clarko]

I just hooked my '72 up with a 10000 uf 25v eBay special capacitor and I am having similar issues. Well, my bike starts super hard and will barely idle. Turn the headlight on and she stalls. Goes fine down the road however.

I'm going to try the multi-capacitor setup, I'll let you know my results.

BTW I am running stock points ignition, when I first looked at this thread I thought "no way in hell are you going to run the pam-co E-advancer sans battery!" that was the impression I was under any how.

Let us know how it turns out!

 

[DrewMartin]

Just to follow up. I reached out to PamcoPete and he suggested the same thing you guys suggested, either a larger capacitor or a battery.

Since i didn't want to wait for a new capacitor I picked up a small battery similar to MMM's from the local Batteries + Bulbs and wired it in parallel with the sparx cap and put the headlight on a switch. The bike starts with one kick, gives 12+V at idle and runs great. I think i'll swap out the sparx for a larger capacitor in the near future, i don't trust the battery 100% but it works for now.

Thanks again for your help and suggestions.

Posted via Mobile

Paralleled battery and cap should still be significantly more reliable than just one or the other. If plate growth and the electrolyte degrades enough for the battery to no longer be effective it'll be harder to start but you'll still be able to get it home.

I just hooked my '72 up with a 10000 uf 25v eBay special capacitor and I am having similar issues. Well, my bike starts super hard and will barely idle. Turn the headlight on and she stalls. Goes fine down the road however.

I'm going to try the multi-capacitor setup, I'll let you know my results.

BTW I am running stock points ignition, when I first looked at this thread I thought "no way in hell are you going to run the pam-co E-advancer sans battery!" that was the impression I was under any how.

Let us know how it turns out!

Good to know on that 10,000 uf cap. After reading a few threads recently where people are complaining about capacitor issues, or charging issues I've actually given up on caps all together and plan on just running my bike on a total loss system... on the street. Lithium Polymer batteries have come a long way and I happen to have some rather scary (650a continuous discharge rating) ones that calculate out to being able to run my headlight, taillight and ignition for several hours and will easily fit under my seat. Most LED's aren't picky enough about their voltage to care and there's some really cool DC switching regulators out on the market that are more than small enough to fit anywhere if something is voltage sensitive.

If anyone reading this has done any research on super/ultra capacitors, I can't say for certain because I haven't tried it myself, but I'm willing to bet these are going to be the ticket for something small that still has enough capacitance to buffer out the voltage spikes.