Alton, poor service

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Nortoniggy

Nortoniggy

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On the few occasions that I've needed help from Alton with my starter kit they have been pretty good. My current situation is somewhat different though.

My kit is about 2 1/2 years old and had worked fine but lately the charging has become very poor. It now only charges when I'm doing well in excess of 3k RPM which equates to 60 mph+ road speed, so bike is not charging for the majority of the time I'm riding. After some exchanges with Alton, sometimes waiting a couple of days for a response, they have suggested that the magnet ring has lost magnetism. Very rare they say. Whatever the reason, I need a new one. Communication with them has proved very difficult as when I send them an email it is "bounced" back to me by their mail server. I have told them about this via their contact us on their web site and by "whatsapp" but they haven't said anything about it. I am now having to use their contact page and/or whatsapp to communicate.

The situation at the moment is that Maxime at Alton should have sent me a quotation for the part(s) I need last week but did not and Paul at Alton says he is now on holiday! I am extremely frustrated by this situation and trying not to get angry about it. Buying the Alton starter was very expensive and I'm very disappointed to now have a bike I have not been able to ride for several weeks and have no idea when, or even if, I will get it fixed. I am seriously considering removing the Alton kit and putting Lucas alternator back on so I can ride it.

Has anybody else had any problems getting parts from Alton once the warranty period has expired? Sorry to bang on but I am extremely frustrated at the moment.

Ian
 
Nortoniggy said:
On the few occasions that I've needed help from Alton with my starter kit they have been pretty good. My current situation is somewhat different though.

My kit is about 2 1/2 years old and had worked fine but lately the charging has become very poor. It now only charges when I'm doing well in excess of 3k RPM which equates to 60 mph+ road speed, so bike is not charging for the majority of the time I'm riding. After some exchanges with Alton, sometimes waiting a couple of days for a response, they have suggested that the magnet ring has lost magnetism. Very rare they say. Whatever the reason, I need a new one. Communication with them has proved very difficult as when I send them an email it is "bounced" back to me by their mail server. I have told them about this via their contact us on their web site and by "whatsapp" but they haven't said anything about it. I am now having to use their contact page and/or whatsapp to communicate.

The situation at the moment is that Maxime at Alton should have sent me a quotation for the part(s) I need last week but did not and Paul at Alton says he is now on holiday! I am extremely frustrated by this situation and trying not to get angry about it. Buying the Alton starter was very expensive and I'm very disappointed to now have a bike I have not been able to ride for several weeks and have no idea when, or even if, I will get it fixed. I am seriously considering removing the Alton kit and putting Lucas alternator back on so I can ride it.

Has anybody else had any problems getting parts from Alton once the warranty period has expired? Sorry to bang on but I am extremely frustrated at the moment.

Ian
Click to expand...
can any parts be got from Electrex?
 
I assume you have checked the actual alternator output and the associated system connections to ensure the problem is not with whatever voltage regulator system you are using or poor electrical connections as opposed to the alternator itself. Seems unlikely that the magnetic assembly has lost its magnetism - that is something that occurs occasionally but usually over a period of MANY years. It would be very unusual for the magnetism to "go away" in 2.5 years. But I guess it's possible...;)

I have no experience with Alton customer support recently. I had dealings with Alton many years ago with the rotor on the first iteration of their E-start and they were extremely responsive, replacing two 'exploded' rotors before revising the design/sending me the new version. In each case from the time I sent them an email to the time I received the parts in Mexico was five days. OTOH, since my Alton estart has been totally trouble-free since then (early '13), I have had no reason to contact them. Hopefully your communications difficulty will be sorted out quickly!
 
Jan, the parts are exclusive to Alton sadly.

Mike, they sent me a checklist of tests. AC output of alternator with nothing else connected at fast idle should be 20v +, mine is less than 10v. Only gets over 20v at 3,200 rpm.
 
I had similar problems the magnet ring solved my low rev charging I had problems contacting Alton in the end I phoned them and stayed on the line until I got a price and payed for it . Frustrating, trying to do it all online, shame they haven’t got a website where you can just order it without needing to talk to anyone
 
phippsy said:
I had similar problems the magnet ring solved my low rev charging I had problems contacting Alton in the end I phoned them and stayed on the line until I got a price and payed for it . Frustrating, trying to do it all online, shame they haven’t got a website where you can just order it without needing to talk to anyone
Click to expand...

Thanks for that info'. Reassuring to know that it's not just me that they are treating like this. I still find it hard to understand why they are so reluctant to sort these things. It does nothing for their reputation and when you are spending the sort of money these kits are you want to be dealing with a company that you believe will help you when needed.

I can see me phoning them soon and trying to remain calm when I do.
 
Andover Norton sells the kit - do they offer tech support and replacement parts?
 
I'm glad that I've not attempted all of these upgrades for reliability and performance. People seem to have a way of leaving you holding the bag once they have your money. Probably unintentional, but just the way things work out sometimes.... I hope they respond soon so you may get back to riding again.
I've entertained some of the upgrades and keep pushing them off because of reading of issues such as this.
 
maylar said:
Andover Norton sells the kit - do they offer tech support and replacement parts?
Click to expand...
Simple answer is, I don't know, but they don't list any spares on their website. I needed Alton's help to figure out what part I needed and did eventually get that. It's just actually getting the part that is the sticking point now. I bought my kit from a company here called SRM and they will be my last resort. I'm sure they won't have parts but maybe they would have more success in getting them.
 
RGM do carry e few spares , when I was trying to sort mine out , I took the alternator off and had a total loss system even using electric start I could comfortably do 70 miles didn’t try any further but could always start it on electric afterwards
 
Well...we can't even get carpeting for the house until September due to the effects of Covid on manufacturing so it's not really surprising, I guess, that companies are having trouble getting parts...regardless what sort of parts they may be...
 
Magnet ring arrived today. Couriers took a week but that is a combination of Brexit and Covid. Seems to be charging OK again now but didn't have time to ride it today just a quick start up in the garage.

I do like the Alton kit. This is the first problem I have had with it. Maybe they were just having a busy time or something.
 
Nortoniggy said:
Magnet ring arrived today. Couriers took a week but that is a combination of Brexit and Covid. Seems to be charging OK again now but didn't have time to ride it today just a quick start up in the garage.

I do like the Alton kit. This is the first problem I have had with it. Maybe they were just having a busy time or something.
Click to expand...
I'm a complete layman in things like this but could you get the magnet ring re magnetised?
 
baz said:
I'm a complete layman in things like this but could you get the magnet ring re magnetised?
Click to expand...
Simple answer is, I don't know. A friend told me that Villiers Services remagnatise things for Villiers electrics. They are not too far from me so I might ask them.
 
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Nortoniggy said:
Simple answer is, I don't know. A friend told me that Villiers Services remagnatise things for Villiers electrics. They are not too far from me so I might ask them.
Click to expand...
If it's reasonable cost, maybe get it done and stored on the shelf with a keep
Then your new one will never lose magmatism ever again :D
 
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