Sachs Westlake electrical problem

Crisis /

Dec 18, 2001 08:33PM

I took my new Sachs out for it's first test drive since I found it in the trash and fixed it up. Boy, does it run smooth! Quite like purring kitten. I put a larger rear sprocket (40 tooth), compared to the original 38, to give it a little more hill climbing power. I was hitting 31-33mph on flat! I made a discovery today while riding it, and maybe it is something that you guys have seen before. My lights currently aren't working, break lights, and headlight/backlight, could be the bulbs, but listen. When I hit the horn, it gives out a faint noise, and then it kills my engine. Sound familiar to anyone. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.

P.S. Ron, I am still really confused about the Multimeter, so I really haven't started checking my electric just yet. So don't yell at me for asking about my electrical problems. This just seems like something that has happened to someone before, and it just might solve my problems without me retaking the class on the digital multimeter. :)

Swarm and Destroy,

Chris

Re: Sachs Westlake electrical problem

zippy /

Dec 18, 2001 09:39PM

A man goes to the doctor and says "Doc every time I raise my arm it hurts", the Doc replies "So, don't raise your arm!"

The horn is grounding out your system and is acting like a Kill switch, so don't blow the horn.

You can also do a couple of more things. Check the wires going into the horn and use electrical Contact Spray cleaner and clean them and where they enter the horn. Note which side or color goes whereinto the horn(although it shouldn't make a difference. Use needle nose pliers and carefully pull the wires out and use a small wire brush or steel wool to make sure they are shiney, no corrosion. Reconnect them. Now do the same any where you see a wire connected to the frame (ground wires) starting from the tail light forward to the front of the bike.

Or you can just bypass the horn and connect the two horn wires together. This is a common problem on older bikes especially Puchs.

Re: Sachs Westlake electrical problem

mbartell /

Dec 18, 2001 09:53PM

fun ain't it

Mine slows down when I hit the horn. Always has. I really notice it when I'm going full throttle. I've also found out that I can usually yell louder than the horn.

Re: Sachs Westlake electrical problem

Crisis /

Dec 18, 2001 10:02PM

Do you think this could have something to do with the lights not working?

Talk to Wayne.............

don-ohio /

Dec 18, 2001 10:02PM

.............about a REAL horn,Crisis,and just unhook that one if you want.My first Motomarina developed the problem that it wouldn't start unless I unhooked the horn,so I bought a new horn switch at Handy Bikes.But like Bartell says,they are not very loud.Get Wayne's recipe for an air horn.

Re: Sachs Westlake electrical problem

mbartell /

Dec 18, 2001 10:38PM

Well, looking at it, the horn isn't really directly connected to the lights. One problem I always had with the headlight was making sure that it had a good ground.

Inside the headlight there is a little junction box that the horn, stoplight, and headlight go thru. All you have to do is make sure that the colors are hooked up right. yellow to yellow, grey to grey and grey with red stripe, and pinky-brown to pinky brown. Unless they drasticly changed from 1978 hook the red wire to the + on the bulb, and the black is a ground...but not the headlight ground. If you get really ambitious open up the spedometer, and replace the bulb in there too. That's what the black wire is for.

Re: Sachs Westlake electrical problem

Wayne /

Dec 18, 2001 11:26PM

I can give you all kinds of information about add-on horns, some of which have extreme volume levels.

I really would prefer you got your lights running--that sounds dangerous---I know I don't want to get run over again any time soon.

As soon as I do the "Fred's Guide" overhaul on my new moped, I'll begin hooking up various systems, and making routine improvements. I'll post a series of "How To" with parts list, cost, and what I've had to do to make it work.

By spring, I'll have my new moped, with dual air-horns, stereo, 3 speakers, with a bi-turbo, possibly a piston kit, and possibly some neon--I'd like to get a "tube" as well as some of the neon rope someone posted about. I want to have a "control panel" with all kinds of switches for everything-

And, of course, I'll post lots of pics so you can see the end results. I've been thinking about recording an mp3 with the stock Tomos horn, and then a blast from the airhorn for comparison.

Winter is a great time to add a kick-ass stereo to your moped.

Re: Sachs Westlake electrical problem

miguel /

Dec 18, 2001 11:46PM

don't always trust the wiring colors. the colors on the electrical sometimes don't quite match up ... so test them if not sure.

also ... may be a good idea to install a fuse box. my bianchi has one. it runs like a champ. ;-)

Re: Sachs Westlake electrical problem

casey /

Dec 19, 2001 12:21AM

hey miguel... how about this fuse box? where did you get it and what kind? how did you go about hooking it up? how much did it cost? im thinking that may not be a bad idea for my honda, since all the bulbs are sooo expensive (headlight is about 28.00)...

Re: Sachs Westlake electrical problem

Ron Brown /

Dec 19, 2001 10:55AM

Chris,

You're forgiven on thr multimeter, but you should learn sooner or later so you can impress your friends. : )

Zippy has the right idea, from looking at the schematic, it looks like the alternator ground goes to the horn, then to the frame. If the ground connection is bad, the additional load from the horn will cause a voltage drop across the ground connection, which will also affect the ignition power coil ground in the alternator.

You can disconnect the horn, or not press the button, but your ped is trying to tell you something, YOU HAVE A BAD GROUND!. Listen to your ped, or you will wind up posting about a weak spark or pedalling home. : )

Ron

Re: Sachs Westlake electrical problem

Crisis--Cincinnati /

Dec 19, 2001 03:50PM

So, I guess I will just look at the diagram, find out where the ground screw are, and start there.

Re: Sachs Westlake electrical problem

miguel /

Dec 19, 2001 04:24PM

someone had already installed the fusebox on my bianchi when i first saw it. but it should be simple enough. you can get one at radio shack. the fuses are cheap (one dollar for a package). get the female wire connectors and a small fusebox that will hold as many connections as you need (minarelli only needs four). i love it. my fuses go ... but not my lights.

Re: Sachs Westlake electrical problem

Ron Brown /

Dec 19, 2001 04:48PM

Miguel,

I am curious about your fuse box. A ped electrical system produces just enough power to run the attached load. For instance, the lighting coil might run a 24 watt headlamp, a 6 watt tail lamp and a 2 watt speedo lamp for a total of 32 watts.

With all the lamps operating, you would have 2 amps for the headlamp, .5 amp for the tail lamp and .16 amps for the speedo lamps. If you lose any of these three bulbs, the alternator coil will still put out 32 watts with the power for the burned out bulb being divided between the remaining two bulbs. This is not a significant increase in current to the remaining bulbs unless it is the headlamp that burns, so you would have to use a fuse for each bulb rated at just a small percentage of that bulbs current draw. For instance, a 2.2 amp for the headlamp, or it would not blow when the tail lamp burned out. I would expect this to cause you to have blown fuses all the time just because they are running so close to thier rated current.

If any of this makes sense to you, let me know if your fuses only blow when one of the lamps blows and what the rating of your fuses is.

Ron

MOPED ARMY

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