Hi guys,

I've just found that my car has exactly the same problem as some of you have been reporting recently: It will charge the battery with no lights or sidelights but not with dipped headlights or full-beam headlights. My car is a road legal (SVA, so good lights) Locost Fireblade.

I would like to know wether this is just, say, a "feature" of road legal Fireblades, i.e., the standard Fireblade electrics simply can't provide the required higher power or it is that something needs to be fixed in our particular cars. If it is the former, I could probably try to design some electronics that may help.

Cheers,

Alex

Alex, think u will prob find its more likely to be the battery, its the original thats on so it will be ready probably, there not expensive.

Hmmm.. I'm not sure that a battery in not very good condition would cause the engine to fail charging it.. or try to charge it, that is, put current into it. It is certainly possible that a good battery could power the lights for a good while so you wouldn't notice it is actually not charging..

Anyway, thanks for the info Jon.

Cheers,

Alex

n/p, i have seen this b4 though, i'm no electrician but if the battery is on its way out then the BEC engine seems to struggle to charge and run lights, i would check the battery 1st, the voltage reg on there is one of the better ones and fairly new so i would,nt suspect that, i think you will find unlike a normal car if you dissconect the battery once running it will struggle to produce enough power to run the engine and the lights at the same time, when running "lights on" you need a battery in 1st class condition to avoid voltage drop.

I'm sure some one on here who knows a lot more about the subject will either correct me or explain it better.

The blade electrics shouldnt have any problems powering a BEC's electrical requirements, on the bike it has two 60w main beams just as you do in the car, and there is very little extra in a BECs wiring that isnt there on the bike, a fog light and twin brake / rear sidelights are about the only thing I can think of, so a max of about 60w extra draw even if driving along with the brakes on all the time and the fog light on too

Id have a look at the rectifier, battery and possibly alternator (I have a spare if required), the Haynes manual should tell you how to test all these.

If you do need a new battery then there's a good battery supplier I got mine from on the Yahoo BEC list - let me know if you need his details and I'll dig them out, they're about £35 rather than the £50+ from the bike dealers.

Jasper, I assume you're talking about Mike at MDS Battery, and I agree, very cheap and good service.

Chris

[Edited on 20/10/03 by ChrisGamlin]

Hi guys,

Good stuff, thanks a lot for the info.

Jon, do you have the ref for the regulator, anyway? I'd like to do a quick web search and take the opportunity to learn about it.

Chris, sorry to ask but, what is the Haynes manual? If it's some kind of bible I should have, maybe it's time to order it.

Cheers,

Alex

Yup - Thats the chap Chris.

BTW - had a blinding track day at Bassingbourn on Saturday, great weather, car went like a dream all day, and I've now got my dad into it as well so we can split a few track days between us.

Finally had somebody with lots of 'Seven' experience (one of the instructors) in it who reconned the set-up was spot on and the car handled really well - so I'm a happy chap.

Thinking of doing Goodwood in November with Motorsport Events - weather permitting - interested? Not gonna book it till very near the time incase the weather is sh*t.

quote:

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Originally posted by Alez

Chris, sorry to ask but, what is the Haynes manual? If it's some kind of bible I should have, maybe it's time to order it.

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Jasper, my engine is still in bits at the mo and I havent got any trackdays planned until after Xmas now, as I want to save a bit of cash and do a few upgrades etc. If its the same event that I am thinking of tho (a Saturday 105db day that Easytrack are also promoting) then I will probably pop down anyway and have a look round as there are a couple of other people going I know

Thanks Chris, no doubt I'll buy a Haynes manual then.

Cheers,

Alex

quote:

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Originally posted by ChrisGamlin
If its the same event that I am thinking of tho (a Saturday 105db day that Easytrack are also promoting) then I will probably pop down anyway and have a look round as there are a couple of other people going I know

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You'll be lucky to get on at Goodwood on a 98dB day!

Sounds good!

I'm using a bike battery, didn't know others were using car batteries (I don't quite understand why you would want to use one anyway).

I'm very very new to this all, got my car 2nd hand very recently (just a couple of weeks ago really) but would like to learn as much as possible now.

I'll be buying the Haynes manual for the Blade this weekend to look for hints on the battery charging issue. Actually, I need to learn how car electrics work at all first, but I'll surely get back to you with any progress.

BTW, is this a problem you are experiencing lately or it has always been there and you probably didn't realize because the battery was new and healthy enough to withstand quite some lights-on time?

I now copy this U2U text and put it in the relevant discussion I started a couple of days ago, as it may be of interest to others.

Cheers,

Alex

quote:

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hi.

I posted a similar problem - are you using a car battery or a bike battery?

Get in touch to see if we can both sort our problems ?

matthew@farend.co.uk / www.farend.co.uk

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Most people I know are using a bike battery without any problems.

Most people I know are using a small car battery without any problems.

Well if you dont get any problems with a bike battery, you aint gonna get any problems with a car battery now are ya! The only problem with a car battery might be huge understeer caused by all that extra weight

We need a front engine, rear battery design now!

LOL, just in case anyone didnt realise, that was said purely tongue in cheek

Having said that tho, a bike battery is a cheap way of saving weight, a car battery can weigh up near 10kgs or so, yet the bike battery I have is about 2kgs and works fine.

My mate has a Moto Guzzi and the battery on that is as big as a car battery but costs twice as much.

yours, Pete.

Im not entirely sure of the relevence there Pete, but thanks anyway

My Yuasa 9Ah battery from MDS cost about £22 inc vat, so you wont get a car battery much cheaper. If you speak to Mike Field at MDS (who's an RGB Racer when he's not flogging batteries), and mention the Yahoo BEC list, he'll usually be able to do you a deal thats cheaper than advertised on their website.

Chris

Aaah, good memories this brings! I used to have a BIG Moto Guzzi, 2 x 500cc, a tour bike which I stripped to make it look more like a classic street bike. Pushing it was actually more difficult than pushing a Locost, I remember that well. Still, when it was working, it was a real pleasure to drive, so harsh and rebellious and quite dangerous as well. A couple of pics of the one I had here:
http://212.73.32.211/hosting/0001c/alez/m1.jpg
http://212.73.32.211/hosting/0001c/alez/m2.jpg
Oh and yes, the battery was huge, not to mention the starting motor etc.

Cheers,

Alex

Which car did you get in the end then Alez, Ive just twigged that you are talking about owning a car

he he!!! it said in the first post that he had a locost blade! mr Isons i believe?! lol

Ah yeh, that was a long way up there ^
Last time I spoke to Alez, he was looking at getting a non road legal ex race locoblade, so just wondered what he ended up with.

Chris

I had to go earlier so I posted what was there. I helped with an Indy with a GSXR engine and that was fitted with a small car battery. It was smaller and stronger than the one on the Guzzi and cost about £12 with a 2 year warranty. I have a Honda NTV which uses the same battery as the CBR and the best one I had was a Varta which lasted 3 years. The problems usually start when they are stood about for days or weeks doing nothing, a trickle charger is a good idea for them.

yours, Pete.

quote:

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Originally posted by Peteff
a trickle charger is a good idea for them.

yours, Pete.

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Hi chaps,

Yes I now have Jon's Isonblade in my backyard!
Alez & Locost:
http://www.airtel.net/personal/alez/torpedo.jpg

Cheers,

Alex

So when you coming down for a visit??? And take me out for a spin

Hey Jasper!

It's getting colder and colder now, but I'm sure I'll be taking the car for a ride in the near future, so I'll keep in touch. And BTW, I'm not sure you want me to take you out for a spin for now!!

Cheers,

Alex