Acewell speedo

[Cheersdude]

Hi, is anyone using one of these speedos ? I'm having some trouble with mine, its ok up to about 20mph then it goes off the scale. I think I've entered the correct tyre measurement and have the sensor mounted on the disc brake bracket and the magnet on the inside edge of the disc, and they pass each other within about 5mm.

The other problem is the whole unit flashes on and off when the headlights are on, doesn't do it if just the side lights on or the engines not running. I'm using a varitronic stator with bgm reg/rectifier and a battery thrown in the system for good measure.I have everything running 12v dc, the Headlight has a 35/35 bulb, did have a 65/55 in and thought this might be the problem.

Any help greatly appreciated.
Cheers, Jon

[Wack]

I run an Acewell and there is a specific way to mount the speed sensor in that it is different say, to a SIP speedo. I have a diagram somewhere but you could try QuadTech who sell Acewell stuff . The only problem I have had in about 5 years was it kept turning on n off whilst riding, this turned out to be a loose earth connection so I would check your connections first especially if using the same one as your headlight. Mine runs off a battery and also have Varitronic .

[Cheersdude]

Cheers Wack. I've just emailed them, I'll give the earths a look also.

[MK Monty]

I use the Chinese lookyliky ace well and it has to run full DC. Is this connected to the thrown in battery or hooked on the bgm DC trickle feed to the battery. I found the only way to go consistent voltage was to go full DC with a Wassell. You could try a capacitor to soak up any voltage fluctulations but the battery should be doing that. If it's connected to AC then it's not going to work very well.

[Cheersdude]

Feed from stator to reg/rec to battery to ignition sw to speedo, lights and temp sensor. Have an alarm and 12v outlet direct off the battery.
Ac only to ignition sw to kill engine.
Ignition sw is an ac/dc sw

[Donnie]

not seen these, are they fully digital, ie no cables? And do they do one for the series 2? google only seems to show series 1 or GPs??

[Cheersdude]

Need to turn my sensor through 90 degrees

http://www.acewell.co.uk/Acewell%20Spee ... full&id=18

Think that's the link for the one I used. You have to cut the bottom off the speedo as the housing fouls the gear change and throttle pulleys

[gp200ts1]

it will probably be the fact that it needs dc to run right. I ended up converting my series 2 to full dc with a battery as the bgm regulator wasn't providing a smooth and powerful enough supply to power it. works so well I fitted one to my gp as well. much better than the sip one as everything youll need is supplied and you also have the option of using the fuel level indicator if you want to fit a sender in the tank

[Cheersdude]

I suppose the easiest option would be to convert the lighting back to ac and only have the speedo etc. on dc

Wot would be involved in converting to full dc?

[Donnie]

You have to cut the bottom off the speedo as the housing fouls the gear change and throttle pulleys

When you say cut the bottom off, how much are we talking and are the gubbins not then exposed to wear or dirt etc??

[Cheersdude]

I had to cut about 25mm off. Yes the gubbins are exposed, they are only in the top 10mm if the unit. I just taped over them.

[Wack]

That's the pic I have

[Donnie]

interesting, and there's no actual speedo cable? it's a magnet and sensor only isn't it? Sorry for the thick questions I want to be sure before i put more research into it.

[Cheersdude]

interesting, and there's no actual speedo cable? it's a magnet and sensor only isn't it? Sorry for the thick questions I want to be sure before i put more research into it.

Yes it's a sensor and magnet set up

[MK Monty]

The gubbins inside is basically about 1/2 inch thick so the can on the rear of the speedo is mainly empty with the cables exiting from the middle. Not a lot of room on a series 1 and I had to cut about 1/2 inch from each side of the can so it would fit between the pulleys. I remade the sides with Insulation tape to keep the crap out and its been like this for 3 0r 4 years. No speedo cable it a wire down the stem and out the normal hole onto the forks with in my case a magnate in the old grease nipple screw hole. The sensor sits behind the forks. Measure the travel and enter how far it rolls for each turn. The Acewell is supposed to work OK on a 2 stroke for the rev counter. Mine was not adjustable and would only work on 4 stroke. but it was under £45 at the time. Petrol gauge idiot lights for the indicators all work.
I can understand why you are going through the switch or its on all the time but I would go off the Battery. You could use a relay on your rear light to turn off the relay and disconnect the battery when not in use.

[Knowledge]

I suppose the easiest option would be to convert the lighting back to ac and only have the speedo etc. on dc

Wot would be involved in converting to full dc?

The most popular DC conversion involves a very minor re-wire on the stator, and replacing the traditional regulator with a Wassell rectifier. You can run with or without a battery (a sealed burglar alarm battery is ideal) and it is very reliable.

When running, the system will have at least 13.5v avaiable, which means brighter lights too. It is a win:win. Search this forum for more info, or start a new thread; you'll get lots of advice.

I won't be going back to an AC system.

[Nelly]

I'm on with a Wassel conversion at the moment, also fitting the SIP speedo. The help from this forum has been invaluable and has probably saved me a lot of time in experimentation. If I can help at all drop me a line and I'll answer the best I can.

[MK Monty]

So has anyone done a wassel to a variotronic yet . Surely the lighting coils are similar the magic is elsewhere isn't it?
On a standard stator its a must fit for me.

[rossclark]

I thought the general consensus was that the variation if stator wasn't suitable for conversion to DC?

[Nelly]

Here's a close up pic of a varitronic stator from a post elsewhere, someone from this site may well have originally posted it, the description reads...

The lighting coils are earthed one end to the stator then the first coil is wound in series to the other 2 and terminating at the yellow / white wire(main lighting).The last coil is double wound with the regulator DC feed which is the red/white wire if that makes sense.

I can't make out from the picture as to exactly how the yellow and red wires are connected to the coils, but there may be a possibility here for the lighting coils to be converted as per the usual method of converting a stator to DC. It will depend on how that double wound coil is connected.
If anyone has some more detailed pics of the connections I might be able to decipher it.