1100 EFE CDI

[Dezza]

Could anyone be so kind as to lend me a known good 1100 EF CDI unit so I can confirm mine has gone up the shoot? I am near Nottingham and tea and biscuits will be provided I have managed to open mine and there is no obvious damage inside and I have checked out all my other ignition components and wiring. My bike was only running on 2 and 3 and sometimes 1 too. I checked everything out and got to the CDI and buggered about with it for a bit and now I only get very intermittant spark on 1 and 4 and an intermittant spark on 2 and 3. The original symptom must have been no or weak spark under compression on 4 and sometimes 1 but if I can confirm with a known good CDI unit this would be really helpful. Any useful suggestions also appreciated.

 

An obvious alternative is for someone to try my CDI on their bike to see if it induces the same symptoms as exhibited by my bike.

Edited May 22, 2018 by Dezza

[Sheep]

I am not sure if I have a spare or not but something tells me I purchased another one a couple of years ago for test purposes but I wont know till I get to the garage tomorrow...I do know I bought another pick-up assembly for the same reasons.

If I do not have one I will volunteer to be a guinea pig

[Dezza]

44 minutes ago, Sheep said:

I am not sure if I have a spare or not but something tells me I purchased another one a couple of years ago for test purposes but I wont know till I get to the garage tomorrow...I do know I bought another pick-up assembly for the same reasons.

If I do not have one I will volunteer to be a guinea pig

Thanks Sheep! I  very much appreciate your kindness

[Sheep]

 Found it ☺️

Send me your address and I will send it to you mate. 

[Dezza]

2 hours ago, Sheep said:

 Found it ☺️

Send me your address and I will send it to you mate. 

OK, you have PM!

[imago]

Before you consign the CDI to the bin, strip the multi-plug and check the pins and the pins connection to the wires loom side and CDI side. Poor connections there will give you the issues you describe.

Most of the time a faulty CDI will just not operate rather than be a poor spark.

[Dezza]

All new terminals and wiring, all wiring tests out fine, which is why I asked to borrow a good unit in order to confirm it's the CDI. When Sheep's unit arrives I will then know for sure.

[Sheep]

Should be with you tomorrow matey

I bought that one for the same reason Dezza and then some pick-ups...after checking the wiring for the eighth time it turned out to be carb jetting lol....

[Dezza]

Many thanks Sheep. I also thought it was carbs and me and bluedog59 ultra-sonicaly cleaned (my already clean) carbs last week before I noticed my sparks weren't as good as I thought they were!

[Dezza]

The CDI arrived this morning and when installed, the bike fired up OK and now runs well on all four so the diagnosis was correct. It seems that you can have intermittant ignition problems with a faulty CDI; it's not always either a binary works/not works state. In my case the CDI worked OK for cylinders 2 and 3, but only intermittantly for 1 and 4 Sheep came to the rescue and saved me much hassle. Many thanks to Sheep

[Dezza]

18 hours ago, Dezza said:

All new terminals and wiring, all wiring tests out fine, which is why I asked to borrow a good unit in order to confirm it's the CDI. When Sheep's unit arrives I will then know for sure.

I have also managed to removed the old CDI from its case. No obvious problems. I will post a pic later so people can see what the guts of these things look like if they have not seem one open before.

[Dezza]

For anyone interested in this sort of thing, here is the internal anatomy of an EFE CDI unit. I have looked at it in detail with a magnifying glass and cannot see any obvious fault. I suspect anyone with good knowledge of electronics could test all the components, find the faulty bit(s), then replace them for a total cost of about 20p.

 

[NorthernBloke]

Are new units easily available ? just wondering because as you say you could replace all the visible components yourself for about a tenner if you were really desperate, assuming you can get at the solder side of the pcb ( circuit board ) also assuming you can find out whats behind the metal plate.  All the visible components have the type / value or rating on them and someone familiar with electronics could spec them for you.

[Dezza]

New ones not generally available but several hundred quid each when they were available from Suzuki (me thinks). It's not exactly going to be used as a prop in the next Terminator film as it looks so dated so yes, I think it could be repaired. Under the oblong thingy with H1-121 written on it (this is the technical term by the way) are also another load of small components (diodes/resistors/capacitors??) so the oblong thingy would have to be removed before these could be replaced but it's only an exercise on soldering really.

[Swirl]

What have you got to lose it doesn't work already

[Blubber]

14 hours ago, NorthernBloke said:

Are new units easily available ? just wondering because as you say you could replace all the visible components yourself for about a tenner if you were really desperate, assuming you can get at the solder side of the pcb ( circuit board ) also assuming you can find out whats behind the metal plate.  All the visible components have the type / value or rating on them and someone familiar with electronics could spec them for you.

https://www.carmo.nl/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=493_4686_2258_2405&products_id=2157&language=en

there are companies who sell replacements.

 

 

 

This one also diagnoses and repairs original CDI's 

https://www.carmo.nl/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=497_663_2258_2405

Not cheap .. but still better than unobtainable 

Edited May 29, 2018 by Blubber

[Dezza]

I already have a replacement installed courtesy of Sheep. There would be little point in buying a new replacement for 300 quid as an Ignatec ignition is half that. I'll keep the old one but as Maplins has gone bust I am unlikely to attempt a repair, especially as there are more pressing jobs to be done Thanks to all for the input though.

[Cheeky4648]

On 5/26/2018 at 3:46 PM, Dezza said:

 

 

The two little square doohickeys held with the nuts are the coil drivers on a heat sink plate. I would suspect one of them is faulty. 

[Dezza]

3 hours ago, Cheeky4648 said:

The two little square doohickeys held with the nuts are the coil drivers on a heat sink plate. I would suspect one of them is faulty. 

How are they tested? Do I need to get onto coildriversonaheatsinkplate.com ?

[Cheeky4648]

Either that or wizardsofelectrcary.com 

basically I have NFC