Hi all,
I've been suffering from a charging fault for some time on my 1951 Rapide, fitted with an Alton of unknown age. I did think for a time it was a wiring fault, as the wiring was, shall we say, slightly idiosyncratic. I have now had a chance to correct the wiring, still nothing from the Alton. No output whatsoever from the leads from the alternator to earth. A friend has supplied me with a "Powerdynamo" of German manufacture, which he bought some time ago to fit to a Comet, but never used. Has anyone any experience of these? It is a completely self contained unit with the rectifier and regulator built in. Along with the Powerdynamo came some paperwork and some emails from one of my other mates (who was thinking of fitting it to a Velocette) to the makers, in which they said it had been withdrawn from the market as it was prone to seizure if it got hot. On no account should it be driven by a gear or chain, although belt was OK (presumably since if it seized the belt would just slip or break). So my question is, is this alarmist, or has anyone experienced problems with this item (on any make of bike - the original fitment seems to be for a pre-unit Triumph)? I'm now having serious second thoughts about fitting it. Where would I get the Alton repaired/overhauled? Do I need to send it back to France?
I've been suffering from a charging fault for some time on my 1951 Rapide, fitted with an Alton of unknown age. I did think for a time it was a wiring fault, as the wiring was, shall we say, slightly idiosyncratic. I have now had a chance to correct the wiring, still nothing from the Alton. No output whatsoever from the leads from the alternator to earth. A friend has supplied me with a "Powerdynamo" of German manufacture, which he bought some time ago to fit to a Comet, but never used. Has anyone any experience of these? It is a completely self contained unit with the rectifier and regulator built in. Along with the Powerdynamo came some paperwork and some emails from one of my other mates (who was thinking of fitting it to a Velocette) to the makers, in which they said it had been withdrawn from the market as it was prone to seizure if it got hot. On no account should it be driven by a gear or chain, although belt was OK (presumably since if it seized the belt would just slip or break). So my question is, is this alarmist, or has anyone experienced problems with this item (on any make of bike - the original fitment seems to be for a pre-unit Triumph)? I'm now having serious second thoughts about fitting it. Where would I get the Alton repaired/overhauled? Do I need to send it back to France?