Two Much power?

[Guest]

Started back on my 80 model GS1000E Bike has been sitting since thieves broke into a storage unit where it was stored and removed bits . Purchased a new battery and did the coil mod and it is wonderful as it places 12.6 volts to the O/W wires going to the coil.The thing is, there is also power to the W and B/Y wires on the other side of the coil connectors. Aren't these supposed to be ground wires? I was attempting to do polarity test on a set of coils a friend had laying about to see if we could render it running until updated this winter and discovered power on both leads.Am I wrong in thinking the power to the O/W wires attached to the relay supply power and the other side is a ground routed through a switching device that turns ground on/off to produce spark? Power to the W and B/Y [MIGHT HAVE ORIGINALLY BEEN B/W] is only 10.7 volts these are factory wires and harness has not been bothered with . Any thoughts?

[posplayr]

You are correct that o/w is switched battery and
you are correct that w and b/y are switched which means the go between close to ground and battery as the engine turns.
check but I think w is 1-4 and b/y is 2-3 on all gs 4 cyl


the spark is created when the ignitor side of the coils goes from low to high.

[Poppy]

A meter shows about a 3 volt drop in readings when starter is engaged 10.7 to about 7.3 Is that all the drop necessary to trigger coil?

[posplayr]

A meter shows about a 3 volt drop in readings when starter is engaged 10.7 to about 7.3 Is that all the drop necessary to trigger coil?

No very clear What you are saying but 10.7v is very low at the coil.

[tom203]

This is across ignition coil ?-Might be meter deceit. Do plugs spark as in step 1 of this link?

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/storagecliff/images/electrical_odd-n-ends.html#A17

[Poppy]

Putting my meter across leads going to the coils I was surprised to see voltage on the white wire as well as the black/yellow .The voltage on the O/W leads coming from the coil relay mod register a strong 12.7 volts thinking the other were to be ground I placed the meter on the battery ground side and touched the red to the white wire supplying the other terminal of the coils .This gave a 10.7 volt reading .When the starter is engaged voltage dips about 3 volts on the white. I thought the ignitor completed a ground firing the plugs but there is indeed voltage present on both leads .Tests to the other side confirm above findings.voltage on both leads.My thinking was power was supplied to one terminal of coil and ignitor connected the ground at specified intervals supplying spark to the other .My purpose was to identify neg and pos terminals using a meter to verify polarity by grounding red lead to engine , black lead to plug wire , with a reverse needle movement indicating polarity was reversed on coil terminals..you know ,O/W supplying power W or B/W supplying ground to complete circuit at required times . with power on [ignition switch] both leads to coils register DC voltage surprising me . Should there indeed be voltage on both leads? Bike was robbed of coils battery light bulbs etc by thieves while in storage and my aim was to get it running again then do whatever is necessary this winter to bring it back to spec.thieves even stole the bulbs out of turn signals,they left the lens with screws laying on the side and only took bulbs!

[tom203]

The thieves must have been desperate to steal bulbs! Anyways, these replacement ignition coils,what do they measure ohm wise, primary and secondary? I don't think polarity is a problem- secondary sparks from one plug to another,so direction shouldn't matter. But ignitor probably needs about a 3 to 5 ohm primary on coil. The voltage that you are measuring on ground side of coils is "creeping" from ignitor and deceiving you- the rapid on/off action of ignitor would befuddle a meter.

[Poppy]

Ole Ben must be right

All tests are within specs so coils must not work with this machine. All ohms from test are within tolerance, battery test done with ignitor and coils will not spark. So it appears I will have to break down and purchase new ones . These coils are 3.7 ohms across leads 12.5 on an ohm scale of 200 k [125,000 ?] but no spark coming out I have been working hard to stay ignorant but looks like home work will be in my future!

[posplayr]

A return every one in a while would make posts easier to read; I gave up.

[tom203]

3.7 ohm primary resistance sounds marvelous. On 200k meter scale , a reading of 12.5 should mean 12500 ohms- which is a good secondary reading plug wire to plug wire with plug caps (boots) removed, i.e meter probes stuck in plug wires- is this what you are measuring???
Are you using a analog meter- has needle not a digital readout?

[Poppy]

Placed a analog meter on ignitor side to see if readings dropped .Used a digital meter to read components as described in testing outline . All readings are within specs as outlined. Everything tests OK but no spark through coils when 1.5 volt battery supplying ignitor is used Coils are used , from a Yamaha , and apparently they do not spark with power applied even though they test good. Guess it is time to break down and purchase new ones . Thanks to all who helped .Slow posts/updates due to other projects [replaced control box on Kawasaki Jet Ski , put brakes on old dodge after finding they would not stop us when pulling skis, fixed a leak on the pool pump, cleaned out the old storage shed, cut grass, all the usual chores] If y'all get down to the Smokies give me a shout. We can do the Devils Triangle Cherohala or the dragon or come see the rod runs in the Forge