6 volt or 12 volt

[Greybeard]

I remembered that I put a tiny tri-colour LED device under the headlamp cowl that shone a coloured light into the ammeter. Red for discharge, amber for neutral and green for charging. I rarely rode at night and it was not really visible in daylight. I could have drilled a hole in the cowl and mounted the device there if I wanted it more visible.

[muskrat]

G'day GB.
Just an on/off toggle switch for ignition (brake light on with ignition) and a three way toggle for lights ( off, park, head light).
Cheers

[Rickj]

Thank you for all your responses. Charging theoretically sorted. In the interim I decided to go for powder coating the frame. However, it appears difficult to remove the swing arm. I cannot find anywhere to position my puller to achieve a direct pull. Unless anyone has any better suggestion, I’ve decided to turn a die to fit the swing arm pin and try pulling the pin out with a threaded rod !! So that’s tomorrow sorted and it’s reducing my time in the pub…a healthy hobby then.

[limeyrob]

The swing arm is most likely rusted in the metalastic bushes.  Chances of getting it out slim, try moderate force then stop.  After that its saw the pin and burn out the bushes.  I'm not a fan of poweder coat and prefer synthetic enamel, easy to spray or brush or touch up.  The metalastic bushes last a very long time and are an absolute pig to change so be prepared to leave them alone.

[Triton Thrasher]

Leaving Metalastik bushes alone is a good plan.

Haven’t I heard recent stories about new ones that don’t fit?

[Greybeard]

Why, if rubber has lasted for 60 years is it that modern 'rubber' only lasts for one year?

[Worty]

Totally share the view of leaving the bushes in if they're serviceable.  I couldn't believe how much of a b*****d they were to get out.  Involved about two hours work and an oxyacetylene torch to completely destroy them and remove all the last fragments.  Putting the new ones in wasn't easy either.  Even bent the handle on my wood vice pushing them in.  Then, the spindle wouldn't fit so the bushes had to be reamed out

[limeyrob]

Tell me about it. On the Land Rover a "New" rubber gaiter will last 13 months (12 month warranty) when the one that came off had done 30 years.  The hand brake gaiter didn't last 3 months.  A lot of its not even rubber, its like black cardboard.  Rant over, but I would leave those bushes well alone.
The big risk is that it takes so much force to free the spindle from the bushes that you bend the frame. The frame tube wall thickness is only around 16 gauge and its easy to dent in a frame tube and near impossible to repair it.
This discussion has reminded me that many years ago I did swap a set of SA bushes. It was an absolute pig even though the pin came out relatively easy and this was in the days when you could get original parts.  After a day of fighting I finally got it all back together and - it was exactly the same.

[Rickj]

Thank you for all the helpful comments again. It looks like I’m leaving the bushes in and spraying the frame myself. Back to the dynamo issue… once I’d skimmed about a thou off the armature, checked the brushes were okay and re-assembled, all was fine  until I flashed the field windings with -ve earth, now there is no output but the field windings still show 3 ohms approx. Someone mentioned it may need running for a while, well I have done that with the battery drill for a few minutes under no-load, still no output. It appears flashing the field with -ve earth has “done something”. Not sure whether to try flashing back to +ve earth ??

[Triton Thrasher]

Leave it running at over 2,000 rpm, connected to regulator and battery.  Briefly connect battery live to F while it’s running.

[groily]

If it didn't kick in when driven by the engine whereas it did before at +ve, it does sound as if something has happened. Hard to say.

But a battery drill probably doesn't spin fast enough if that's what you've been using with the dynamo off the bike and on the bench. My ones don't, anyway. Try a mains-powered one (that will spin the required way of course) and give it more beans. A couple of thousand revs is good. (Oh, as TT just said too.) Flashing shouldn't have 'done something'. The field resistance is about right for a standard 6v winding and is very unlikely to be a problem - flashing shouldn't have hurt it.

[limeyrob]

Agree, flashing shouldn't harm it.  My dynamo had been resting for a good 20 years and was very reluctant to get going.  In the end i put it in a vice, got a drill on it (correct rotation!) and wired it to a 12v bulb with F and D connected together.  I motored if first and made sure the rotation was correct, then spun for a good while - 30 secs then it slowly came up to some output.  Since then its been fine - still a bit slow to excite but OK.

[Black Sheep]

"still a bit slow to excite" - clearly an age thing.

[CheeserBeezer]

Lots of discussion on here about exciting (?) dynamos. It is worth remembering that Lucas dynamos, whilst adequate, were not built to close tolerances. The fact that the whole thing is held together with two, very long, flexible 2BA screws isn't a good start, given the working environment, vibration and strain. Dynamos, invariably come loose and start 'chattering in use. The two useless little pegs at each end get worn, and the holes in the alloy end plates wear so the pegs don't locate properly, so the armature runs crooked in the body and makes physical contact with the pole shoe or armature. Brushes get grubby. Field coils and armatures are pretty crude. The proximity of the field coil to the pole shoe varies depending on what time of day, particularly Fridays, Lucas made the field coil. The yoke (body) is inclined to go oval if held too tightly in a vice or clamped too tightly on the bike, which will affect the proximity of the armature to the pole shoe and can cause physical contact. Another thing which affects the proximity of the pole shoe to armature is the extent to which the armature has been skimmed at time of build, also the quality of the pole shoe casting, which is variable. The proximity of armature to pole shoe is absolutely critical in terms of initial excitement. The commutator end of the armature shaft is so thin it can be bent when removing the tiny, unsuitable, bearing at that end, consequently the armature won't run true etc. etc. The Tufnol brush holder plate is held on by three pathetic little brass screws (5BA - if I remember correctly) which allow the plate to flex thereby affecting the quality of contact between the brushes and the armature. All these things will affect the ability of the dynamo to get excited. So, given the dreadful build quality, don't expect consistency.  I spend a lot of time fixing dynamos and it's not an exaggeration to say that, in terms of condition, I haven't come across two that are the same! They're all worn to a degree. In spite of all the above I love Lucas dynamos because they're so simple to work on and it is possible to transform all the crap that gets sent to me into reliable bits of kit if they are put together properly!

[Worty]

..... and there I was thinking the A10 was an engineering masterpiece