sorry if this thread doesn't fit here... electric power and air filter problems

[zaplaje]

Hi, Im currently going north from santiago de chile to california. Im passing Iquique, a very nice place, very cheap because is a tax free city, 1900 kms from santiago. I put on my bike a pair of those "car lighter" little holes to plug my cellphone, battery charger, gps charger... My mechanic plug this thing to the electrical system and doesn't work, never...

this thing has a little red light but doesn't turns on, just when I go up with the RPM's the light turns on but just a little bit, and doesn't charge anything at all.

also I buy a uni air filter. this is my first time changeing the air filter, and the instructions says that I must put the filter on air filter oil, and I donesn't have, can I use other kind of oil to do that?

can you please help me?


thanks

[Walkabout]

Well any oil is better than no oil for trapping the dust that would get into the engine otherwise.
You soak the air filter in the oil and then squeeze out the surplus without twisting the filter (which would probably damage it).

You don't say anything about your bike but you would get a better chance of detailed information about electrics if you post your question in the specific bike tech forum i.e. for Honda, Yam or whatever it is that you have.

I would take care that the electrical add-ons do not drain your battery, assuming that they are not switched in their circuits.

Hope this helps a bit,

[backofbeyond]

I've been running a three socket "car lighter" on my bike for about six months without any problems. It was put on in a hurry a few days before a trip as a quick fix for charging ipod / running gps etc but as it's kept working I've left it for the moment.
The one thing I did do though was to take it to bits, resolder all the connections and rtv the wires to stop vibration fractures. They're pretty simple inside so if your one is not working I'd guess there's a loose connection somewhere. I wired mine direct to the battery through a fuse and a switch. The switch is important so you can isolate the entire circuit when you leave the bike. One thing to check is whether bike vibration is breaking the contact in the socket. I've had to use elastic bands to keep the plugs in place.
Keep it dry! These things will short out in the rain. I used a shower cap to go over it when it rained (I did say it was a quick fix!)

As far as airfilter oil is concerned, others may disagree but I'd just use engine oil. Wash it in petrol to get rid of the old oil / dirt and let it dry. Put a small amount of engine oil in a plastic bag, put the air filter in and work it with your hands until the oil is spread all over the foam (it is a foam filter? - don't do any of this if it's paper). You don't need much oil. You should hardly notice it on the foam.

[zaplaje]

thanks guys

pd: my moto is a klr250 and hada foam filter.

a guy in the road told me that the brake fluid is good to wet the filter... can this be true¿

[Walkabout]

Brake fluid is very corrosive to paintwork. I don't know what it would do for plastics, but it is not a great suggestion as far as I know!

Electrics:
Maybe your alternator cannot generate enough power to charge through this new circuit: it will be quite a small output from a 250cc.
As the previous posts, ensure that the circuit has good connections: you should try running the charger circuit with the headlight turned off.

[DLbiten]

You can just remove the head light bulb from the plug to get more charging power. Your problem seems to be the bike has little spare power. The higher the RPMs the more power you generate the reason the little light comes on.

One problem I have found is not all car lighter plugs work with all charging plugs most work but my MP3 charging plug dose not hate that.

For the air filter they make air filter oil, and air filter cleaner. I use gas (petrol) to clean the filer and new engine oil. Dont use brake fluid it may work but oil is cheaper easer to clean up and will not eat things up.