What Did You Do With Your Commando Today?

My ignition light stopped working after I did my iso's , I had pulled the fairly loose spades from the , I think it's called the assimilater , under the tank stuck in that spring mounted to the side of the coil . I just cleaned all mine up slight squeeze to the spade terminals and adjusted the wires not to pull .cheers .

Starvingphotog said:

So when I turn the key all the way over when I usually start the bike that is essentially connecting all four wires together?

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Yes, as one key click clockwise from OFF should be 'Ignition' (brown/blue and white are connected internally) and the second click is 'Ignition and Lights' so all four wires are then connected (brown/blue is power from the battery-).

Thanks for the visual and detail Les. I see it now! Another learning for today!

S-R you may be on to something there fella. Yes, I did take the tank off a few days ago when I was replacing some nuts for the head steady with Nyloc nuts. When I re-assembled maybe I disturbed the spade connectors and on my previous ride the engine had shaken enough to dislodge them and giving reason for it to not start today and also illuminate the ignition light. I will check that out as well. I think I'll take the tank off just to have room to look around at the electrics and take a look at the ignition switch, assimilator, and battery itself. Give it a good look around and make sure the connectors are all solid. I think when I have it in the house over the winter I'll give it a more thorough shakedown and clean up all the connectors and di-electic grease lube them.

Thanks for the very fast and very helpful insights guys!

Shelby-Right said:

My ignition light stopped working after I did my iso's , I had pulled the fairly loose spades from the , I think it's called the assimilater , under the tank stuck in that spring mounted to the side of the coil . I just cleaned all mine up slight squeeze to the spade terminals and adjusted the wires not to pull .cheers .

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However, loose assimilator connections wouldn't be the cause of the lights, horn etc. not working but perhaps some connections under the fuel tank could have been loosened.

Starvingphotog said:

Yes, I did take the tank off a few days ago when I was replacing some nuts for the head steady with Nyloc nuts. When I re-assembled maybe I disturbed the spade connectors and on my previous ride the engine had shaken enough to dislodge them and giving reason for it to not start today and also illuminate the ignition light. I will check that out as well.

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If it still has the rubber double 5-way connector then it should be replaced along with any other single or double-common connectors as the internal sleeves become corroded and brittle.

Good call Les. I think it is a newer cluster, last time I looked at it. I'll check that as well while I'm in there. I'm tempted to just bring it in the house for the season to tear it down some and clean and repair, but I feel that I would like to start it up one more time and take it for one more ride before I call it a season...

Starvingphotog said:

I'm tempted to just bring it in the house for the season to tear it down some and clean and repair, but I feel that I would like to start it up one more time and take it for one more ride before I call it a season...

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Unless there's a break in the earth/ground to the battery(+) then it would be unusual to have three separate circuits (white, brown/green and blue/yellow) so basically, almost the complete electrical system fail simultaneously which suggests the fault is more likely to be between the battery(-) and the ignition switch (brown/blue to T1) or within the switch itself.

Well, your analytical and systematic approach to problem solving on these beautiful machines is uncanny Les!
You got me all worked up over here and I just went out to the garage to follow your hunch on the systemic fail idea, and sure enough the 20A fuse was blown. This, of course, is between the battery and the ignition switch. Not sure why the fuse blew, but I would like to investigate it first. After my ride on Monday, I did change the oil, and count the teeth on my front sprocket so that I can order my correct chain (i.e. 20T is my front sprocket). I wonder if oil spilling around as I poured in fresh oil may have caused a short somewhere. I say this because I did spill a few ounces when the oil bottle tipped over on me.

Starvingphotog said:

I wonder if oil spilling around as I poured in fresh oil may have caused a short somewhere. I say this because I did spill a few ounces when the oil bottle tipped over on me.

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Unlikely I would have thought because oil is normally an insulator so perhaps you shorted a wire.
I was going to ask if you had checked the fuse but I thought surely you'd have already done that.

That's what worries me. I figure it takes a lot to blow a 20A fuse, and assume (without looking at the manual) that's the correct amperage to use. I'm going to look over the wiring to see if there's any breaks anywhere. It could happen anywhere on the loom, so a closer inspection is in order I think. Maybe when it's in the house, allowing me to take a few more rides before winter hibernation sets in.

Thanks for coaching me through this Les, and you too S-R on the assimilator. That thing is a strange little bugger.

Starvingphotog said:

That's what worries me. I figure it takes a lot to blow a 20A fuse, and assume (without looking at the manual) that's the correct amperage to use.

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Just slightly more than the original Lucas 35A blow rated (17A continuous) fuse.

Hmm, curious. I wonder if those are available here in the USA. I've never seen a variable type fuse like that before. But that's not saying much since I'm no electrician or mechanic. Worth a look around though.
Thanks for sending this nugget of knowledge Les!

Starvingphotog said:

I wonder if those are available here in the USA. I've never seen a variable type fuse like that before.

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Yes, they are available in the USA...
"35 Amp Glass Fuse. (British Rating)"

...however, the old Lucas blow rating isn't generally used now so fuses are generally marked with their continuous rating. Owners often prefer to use blade fuses as they seem more reliable and easier to buy.

Just be sure not to replace a 35A blow-rated fuse with a 35A continuous or your wiring will become the fuse!

Starvingphotog said:

Good call Les. I think it is a newer cluster, last time I looked at it. I'll check that as well while I'm in there. I'm tempted to just bring it in the house for the season to tear it down some and clean and repair, but I feel that I would like to start it up one more time and take it for one more ride before I call it a season...

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If you get it in the house , starting it in the hallway can cause issues with those long rugs , on a wooden floor ! , yep that rug took off , my mate with his trident , he didn't have a misses .

Thanks Les. I ordered 5 British Rated fuses just for fun I totally see your point with mistakenly substituting a blow-rated 35A for the current continuous-rated 35A. I will definitely try NOT to make that mistake. Right now, a standard 20A blade-type fuse is in the bike. When these Brit types come in I'll swap them out.

S-R, right! In fact, when My Combat showed up two Januaries ago I brought it straight into my office where it still resides. I did start it up in the house with the pipes pointed outside and right up to the outside door in my office. It's an old house and the room I work in used to be a doctor's office so he would see patients here and not disturb the rest of the household. So, there are two front doors on the porch. I was so excited to get it running, and at the time didn't realize that it being air cooled meant that I shouldn't run it too long like that. To this day I can't remember how long I had it running at one time, but it wasn't that long. I do remember that my wife had hung new curtains in my office and the wind from the window blew against the curtain and it touched the hot exhaust pipe and melted on the pipe. I figure when I get the Combat out next summer that a little bit of riding will burn that off, but will likely leave an unsightly smear on the pipe. Oh well. Live and learn.

Starvingphotog said:

I totally see your point with mistakenly substituting a blow-rated 35A for the current continuous-rated 35A. I will definitely try NOT to make that mistake.

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Ok, but it's: Don't replace a 35A blow-rated fuse with a 35A continuous.

"35 Amps continuous rating, 70 Amps blow rating."
"20 Amps continuous rating, 40 Amps blow rating."

10-4 Les I got it.

So, took a look again at the bike and this time when I replaced the 20A fuse, there was a "poof" sound and smoke and all lights went dead. I also noticed that the Earth connector dangling by the Zener made a slight spark when it hit the Zener. I remounted the Earth connector by the Zener to the frame. I also took the tank off to investigate that "poof" and smoke. I found that the connector bundle was quite ugly and worn. Likely the suspect? Maybe. I redid it with new connectors just now. Hopefully re-assembled the wires to mate with the correct wires in the bundle... Put a new fuse back in, and lights up correctly, and no "poof". I called it a night and plan to check it over again tomorrow and take it for a wee ride around the block or so to make sure all's well with the electrics. I think though, at some point soon, I will pick up a new loom to rewire the thing just in case some wires are burnt somewhere.

Your wiring looks pretty good for its age, but those big connector blocks not looking so good, that will be your problem, they are prone to failure, they rust as well fall apart from age, I do all my own wiring, my Norton has min wiring and with the Joe Hunt maggie even less wiring and most of my wiring is under my seat where I also have a very small battery and only have wiring to the head light, tail light and horn to the front and rear bake light to the rear, I only have a brake light switch on the foot brake and a earth wire that goes the full length of the bike with 4 mountings, I run my earth wire separate from my power wires and one earth wire for the on/off kill switch for the maggie.
I only ride my Norton in the day so very rarely have to use my head light at all, I keep my wiring simple and less troubles in the long run.

Ashley

Starvingphotog said:

10-4 Les I got it.

So, took a look again at the bike and this time when I replaced the 20A fuse, there was a "poof" sound and smoke and all lights went dead. I also noticed that the Earth connector dangling by the Zener made a slight spark when it hit the Zener. I remounted the Earth connector by the Zener to the frame. I also took the tank off to investigate that "poof" and smoke. I found that the connector bundle was quite ugly and worn. Likely the suspect? Maybe. I redid it with new connectors just now. Hopefully re-assembled the wires to mate with the correct wires in the bundle... Put a new fuse back in, and lights up correctly, and no "poof". I called it a night and plan to check it over again tomorrow and take it for a wee ride around the block or so to make sure all's well with the electrics. I think though, at some point soon, I will pick up a new loom to rewire the thing just in case some wires are burnt somewhere.

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Hope your bike starts in the morning.

I looked to see what sort of ignition you have but couldn't see it, because when I blew the fuse on my bike due to a short at the zenor it destroyed the Pazon black box. Confirmed by Pazon when I sent it for testing.

The fuse rating was too high to protect the Pazon. I now have a separate fuse ( 5 amp ??? ) on the feed to the Pazon. Not sure if that's a good idea but it does work.

Yikes! I didn't think about frying the Pazon. I have a Pazon on there that was installed by the previous owner. I guess I'll see if it starts, or at least if the plugs spark when I turn the engine over with ignition on. I'll let you now how it goes today. Hopefully I have good news, otherwise, John I'll be reaching out to you on what you did to repair your Pazon.

Ashley, yes, the junction was in pretty bad shape, and the aluminum connectors broke with me manipulating them to pull out the bullet connectors. Good call there with Les to update that bit. The rest of the wiring up there looks good. I really like your approach to simplifying the wiring to under the saddle. Safer as well, with only minimal and straight through wiring going under the tank. Do yourself a favour though mate, and ride with your lights on. Easier for others (i.e. distracted drivers texting or talking) to see you this way.