Relay Fix on Ignition

Tomorrow I will be putting on the relay to the coils to increase voltage from the old vintage 10.2volts and giving it a wopping 12volts.:woohoo: ,.My question to all those who have done this FIX, Is 10.2volts enough to properly power up the 12volt relay? I know how the relay works, but is that 10.2 going to give the relay enough switching power to keep the contacts together?:huh:

I'm not an electrical guy but I believe what the coil mod actually does is bypass a lot of old wiring to apply direct 12 volts to the coil, so if I'm correct then the relay gets 12 volts direct from the battery and it is sent almost directly to the coils. Someone will chime in if I'm wrong but I believe that's the way it works..... kinda.

Yes it gets 12volts through the relay. My question was according to the diagram you take the same wire that gets the lower voltage due to old wiring/contacts/switches is now used to switch on the relay.And that wire (yellow with red strip)is the one that only has 10.2volts. :dry:

mzandmz wrote:

Tomorrow I will be putting on the relay to the coils to increase voltage from the old vintage 10.2volts and giving it a wopping 12volts.:woohoo: ,.My question to all those who have done this FIX, Is 10.2volts enough to properly power up the 12volt relay? I know how the relay works, but is that 10.2 going to give the relay enough switching power to keep the contacts together?:huh:

The wire that read 10.2V did so because of a big honking voltage drop caused by the coil current: stock coils are maybe 4 Ohms, so each one draws 3A. That causes a big voltage drop getting to the coils.

But, that line that previously carried 3A does not in the new circuit: the high current to the coils comes through the relay contacts from a direct feed from the battery. The wire that read 10V before should read over 12V now because it only carries enough current to close the relay which is probably about 0.2A. That will not cause any significant voltage drop.

mzandmz wrote:

Yes it gets 12volts through the relay. My question was according to the diagram you take the same wire that gets the lower voltage due to old wiring/contacts/switches is now used to switch on the relay.And that wire (yellow with red strip)is the one that only has 10.2volts. :dry:

Pop the wires off the + coil primaries and that wire will magically read 12.6V.

No high current = no voltage drop.

When I checked my voltage at the wire going to my coils(yellow/red stripe) I had the coils disconnected. I use a volt meter red to yellow/red wire and black to the battery ground. 10.2 volts, No coils were connected to draw honken currant. All I was showing was what voltage I was getting fron the battery when is has to go through the ignition switch then the kill switch and to the coils which weren't connected at the time I checked the yellow/red wire. so that beeing the case I still get 10.2 from the yellow/red wire going to relay. The other side of relay will send 12volts to new connection at coils

Guys, he's asking if the 10.2Vdc is going to be enough to activate the relay in which case most probably not for that is a significant drop off from 12Vdc. Expect some on/off relay operations while running....

Forget about the relay for a moment, Question, you measured the Red/yellow @ 10.2Vdc but no mention here (maybe I missed it) of the actual battery voltage measurement while running the engine...

Translation, @ idle for say, if the battery itself measure @ 10.2Vdc as well then this relay mumbo-jumbo ain't going to do a damn thing for you....

Give Oldmanrrock a millon dollors. He hit the nail on the head. But as for the volt check I did it NOT RUNNING. Direct check with key ON from Yellow wire with red stripe NOT hooked to coils,Red side tester to yellow/red Black side tester to Negitive side battery. volt meter read 10.2 Sounds to me like I need to rebuild the switches to rid them of resistance to bring up the voltage to the yellow/red wire to achive closer voltage of 12 or near abouts. NOT 10.2 if thats not going to be enought to keep the relay switch constantly working.

check/clean your electrical connections throughout your harness is the best thing you can do for these bikes,adding a bunch of extra stuff just means more things to leave you stranded on the side of road in my experiance

Thats 100% correct.. I haven't cleaned the switches yet. But when I first got the Bike I took apart every connection and cleaned them, including all groung connections. I live on the coast knowing about moisture problems. Salt in the air reeks havic constantly.

I got my relay hooked up and Now have 12volts going to coils, Already notice better running condition. Easier starting and smoother running. I was able to make a harness just for the relay so If ever I need to change anything or to put it back the way it was STOCK ,I didn't cut any wires on the original wireing harness so everything is still STOCK just slightly modified. Cool. Mounted the relay next to the voltage regulator,nice fit there and close to the starter solinoid for easy hook-up. Guy at Knechs Auto found the wire plug for the relay($3.00)Relay was $3.00 nice and clean looking. Awsome,:woohoo: .:woohoo: .:woohoo: .:dry:
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mzandmz wrote:

When I checked my voltage at the wire going to my coils(yellow/red stripe) I had the coils disconnected. I use a volt meter red to yellow/red wire and black to the battery ground. 10.2 volts, No coils were connected to draw honken currant. All I was showing was what voltage I was getting fron the battery when is has to go through the ignition switch then the kill switch and to the coils which weren't connected at the time I checked the yellow/red wire. so that beeing the case I still get 10.2 from the yellow/red wire going to relay. The other side of relay will send 12volts to new connection at coils

If the battery voltage is OK (above 12V) you should be getting more voltage at that line, unless some other high current load is hanging on it upstream like the headlight. I doubt that would happen for stock wiring, but it might have been modified.

Did you measure the battery voltage directly first?

Remember, if you are truly getting a 2V drop along ANY circuit path, that drop has to be caused by a resistance AND a current flowing. It's possible the old switches have more resistance than original, but current has to be going somewhere to create a voltage drop.... and a 2V drop is a big drop.