HPI ignition not charging and running issues

[rd400canuck]

Hey guy,

Yesterday I decided to install the HPI. Everything seemed to be ok. The bike started up but needed some extra idle screw.

1st issue is it is not charging the battery. Voltage at battery does not change at all when running or stopped.

I floated the ground and connected it to the r/r as showing in my work of art below. Is that correct?

[27 Cycles]

Hopefully M in SC chimes in, I believe you need a few extra/different regulators to run the HPI with a battery.  I asked him about it due to issues with my blinkers.  We both decided it wasn't worth the tear up.

Here is his text when I asked him what I would need:

would need to run the ac thru the rectifier than the regulator . you also lose 30-ish percent of the output ac voltage so it gets weaker.

[m in sc]

kinda depends what that purple lead is supposed to do on the regulator.  judging by the pre modded image, id ground the floated wire and see if you get charge voltage at battery. I bet you do. otherwise, you need to a 2 ac wire input to a regulator/rectifier unit. im going to guess thats a single  phase unit you are using. 

[1976RD400C]

Is the battery and rec/reg grounded ok? If you can't get that to work right this is the one I found works well with the floated ground. Yellow and pink are the ac in, red pos, green neg. After a ride with the lights on battery is right at 12.5-12.6 parked.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Wire-Full-Wave-Silver-Motorcycle-Regulator-Rectifier-12V-DC-Bike-Quad-Scooter/292689887133?epid=828261382&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item4425ad3f9d:g:7-UAAOSwsvZbexa9&enc=AQAEAAACgIQvEcHUrT7nmUC3yY5qbPyaBN1nJEDYW8MyypsJPgXK%2FbHXiSk3bResJq8XcxLpXF88KWmPpOWbp1%2Brb2CiibdSsmWAajcnCtLM4eXN4YgX%2BWdF6MvxFrSSuEYugZ1oHjT7y7yr40rUdTiug%2BioRfrmGBEJ2l7Lyw711ivfbi%2FyfYJgtDFhpGLUwjhKL%2BqZ2SJAIeLizGiRa13PCqt63rxhU7f9R0z4DKSqrTNkf4hRfhikpZX%2FW8T6TTFAoJomvkU09Tbv4iq0rq0mj8SmLYyawqaFuz8psNxWh9ZdyOXP518J7RhnPf4WzGsAyR2hDwfjV3%2BPsAPoG9JlQLv6fNeKnXFlyOPKKi5akWbbUU9T1tznLtu7XcbXNqH0kINwMAIzpz8lUj3aGYXDrWHSGNJjUSg%2F%2Bs3oB9LMXBMDiy2%2BN%2BiWLGUE%2BUu2cKswFVjWsi0T18tVO3xADK7%2BhgtjygUD8Q7OS9j8p%2Fg0tdVlWrfurtG5xUycyCPdMB3Zmp2FBoF17fF%2BIuQaVH7PRV%2BtUYK0FQ1ZXPx97Pl53wXcZlY4MFYdX90c82Hpo%2BTpCr1Bd4xEdpj%2Bw5vJlVyPPeqH88szYPWPY%2BUFFbHlECzDAINDikhlgaZKM5SnTZZqIwCyXfR3UfepdSJRJsqcYrGaeKGCfgjqWuPZJiEH6Xn4vzQ6SrKdE4jZS66lEX6regJrmCFMhzNgERkr0HfQFk6Xhhn%2FTgE0R5wmz4wZMYK6qvWP519r9pyw%2FFMrQ3%2F2b6sGzYLXEr%2FOl9Lm3FDkBVQfgiULeStWE%2BxwM%2FeuyxboMYLAYab4b3SX1XZEiF77I%2Fen%2FrP1jBdQVbB%2FjW5VW45cLps%3D&checksum=292689887133d317fb1a060349c4adfc5960dd5668e5

[m in sc]

^ good advice there. 

[rodneya]

Or just wire it like HPI recommends. You re grounding the purple that is meant to be ac in

[m in sc]

yup. looking at how that's wired, hes right. so you have 2 options, wire it as shown above, or, get the 4 wire regulator above from ebay. looks like the purple wire shunts the charging on the lighting coil when it gets over a certain voltage, its not really an 'input' 

[rd400canuck]

ok, wired as shown now. Voltage on my batt was down to 9.6 and when i revved the engine a little it crept up to 9.9. I expected to see more... perhaps the batter is taking too much because it's low? I took the ground wire that I floated and bolted it to the frame and to the engine.

The thing that bothers me the most is how it runs.

I set timing marks to 3.6 mm (0.14") and the bike is not idling very well. When I use the timing gun the lines seem to be lining up... I thought the ignition would be retarded at idle. Also, when I rev the bike the line on the flywheel does not shift. It's not advancing. Also the line disappears for chunks of time then comes back.. like half a second or so like the plug isnt firing.

I am using BR8ES pugs but the caps... there were stockers and I'm not sure if they are resistor caps. The black wire from the ignition module is bolted to the frame. The orange goes to the coil.

The ignition module is placed on the side were the fuse box is.

I have no clue what to look for to find out why its running like that.

[SUPERTUNE]

You should always use new sparkplug caps, the stock ones are over 40 years old....
Why are you setting the timing so high?  3.6mm?
Set it static to 2.0mm then verify with light at idle.
Chuck

[rd400canuck]

i thought we are supposed to set the timing marks to the most advance it sees which is 25 degrees ?  then the module retards it when running.

[m in sc]

no, verify its getting to 25 degrees when its running. pretty sure it needs to be lined up at the 11 oclock mark on the plate, chuck and danny can answer that better than me (my unit is actually for an lc because of the crank i used)

charge the battery then retest. the charging system is to maintain the battery, its too low for a system to bring it back up (thats for any system really). 

[rd400canuck]

ok... its the 11 o'clock im using for sure.

now I think one of my carbs is flooding my cyl.... when i open the tap i see fuel start flowing through the filter and it continues to do so as I hear the bike idle less until it stalls.

Good grief! 

Im done for today... been in the garage all day in the heat trying to sort this out. Tomorrow is a fresh start and I' report back.

[1976RD400C]

After the rotor is mounted verify that the marks line up at 2.0 with the dial gauge. If not, loosen up the backing plate and rotate as needed to get them lined up with the dial gauge reading 2.0 btdc. Then the lines should line up with a timing light at 6500-7000 rpm (according to the HPI graph) Before 6500-7000 rpm it will be firing before the marks line up and over 6500-7000 it should drop right off and fire after the marks.

[27 Cycles]

I don't know what timing light you are using but I started out using a brand new Harbor Freight one and I had the exact same issue of the light disappearing for extended blocks of time??  I borrowed a very nice Snap on unit from a friend and had 0 issues.  It was maddening, I feel your pain.  If you can, use the highest possible quality timing light you will save yourself a lot of grief.  As Mark always says...  "ask me how I know..."😀😀

Yes, you want to use the large white line on the left hand side, as you look at it, of the HPI logo.  That is the mark for the direction RD's spin.

Also, before getting the timing right with a good light I was about  6-8 degrees retarded and was fouling plugs left and right, that may be your carb issue..   

[Economy Cycle John]

After the rotor is mounted verify that the marks line up at 2.0 with the dial gauge. If not, loosen up the backing plate and rotate as needed to get them lined up with the dial gauge reading 2.0 btdc. Then the lines should line up with a timing light at 6500-7000 rpm (according to the HPI graph) Before 6500-7000 rpm it will be firing before the marks line up and over 6500-7000 it should drop right off and fire after the marks.

If static timing is 2.0 how does it advance beyond that for their curve?? I'm not familiar with this ignition.