Accent Electronic Ignition on a GT550A

[Laurence]

I finished my GT550 restoration in 2016 and the Accent Electronic Ignition has been working perfectly since then until now . I now have the situation of no spark on any cylinder and have carried out a basic check of the wiring and all seems to be ok But have noticed that the red LED that should come on once per crankshaft rotation on the circuit board , that is used to set the timing up on the centre cylinder is on permanently regardless of the position of the crankshaft . So I wondered if this indicates that the unit is kaput .
I have e-mailed Accent but wondered if any members had experienced this and could shed any light on it.

Cheers
Laurence

[Alan H]

Trouble with electronic ignition is that if it fails, it fails completely. That's why all my bikes have points.
I take it that the trigger is actually spinning past the pickups?

[Laurence]

Hi Alan
I am still hoping that it is not the Accent ignition, but at the moment the fact that the led timing light stays on permanently is the only thing that seems to be suspicious having checked over the wiring. Hopefully I will get an answer from Accent so I can make a decision on what to do .
The cam supplied with the kit looks to be fine and contains what looks to be a small magnet or metal insert set into the cam followed by a hollow. See photo

[barney01]

Those inserts in the rotor are indeed magnets. The switches that fire the coil are situated close to the rim of the hole it pokes through. I know because i extended the slots on my disc and it was off centre and the rotor damaged the switches.
FYI i have a J and the led never came on so i just timed it with a strobe. Gottwald will sort you out he is a good egg.

[willowden]

This is probably a daft suggestion, but is your battery in good order.
Electronic ignitions don’t like any weakness in battery condition.
Good luck

[asco58]

FYI i have a J and the led never came on so i just timed it with a strobe.

I noticed something similar when I fitted the Accent ignition on my M model. The red LED did come on but when I say 'it came on' it's a bit of an overstatement. It was very dim and it was just about on at the point it fires and it was hard to see in the daylight.

This is probably not helpful but what I also noticed was that if you turn the engine the wrong way from TDC the LED seems to come on more brightly when one magnet passes the hall sensor near the red LED and stays on until the other one passes it or something like that.

[Laurence]

Hi Guys
Thanks for all the replies. It’s interesting that you refer to magnets. As I only appear to have one magnet and one hole in the cam. So have I lost a magnet ? You should be able to see in the photo above .

Cheers
Laurence

[Laurence]

Hi Guys
A correction to my last post . On my Accent cam I have two magnets and two hollows .So when turning the crank clockwise you would have a magnet followed by a hollow then after approximately a quarter turn another magnet followed by a hollow . So have I lost two magnets or are the hollows meant to be there ?

Thanks for all the replies
Cheers
Laurence

[teazer]

Hole is supposed to be there. I don't recall a second magnet on mine which was on a 750. I suspect it would be there to prevent firing in reverse or maybe it's the wrong rotor. Ask Uwe. Or maybe the second magnet is there so it can run in reverse on a 550. Uwe will know for sure.

The instructions that came with mine said that the LED goes out when it is timed up, but I seem to recall on mine that it went on as it passed that point. If the light stays on or never lights up, that suggests that the ignition is not triggering. That could be an electrical failure of a component on the board but could also relate to depth of engagement. The magnet has to be in the right place. If the board is too far out/magnet too close to the crank it won't trigger. And also the converse. If the rotor is too far out from the crank or the board is too close to the crank it won't fire.

I have seen that on custom DYNA systems quite often. Did yours just stop working or did you rebuild the motor or have the side cover apart or in any way change anything since it last ran? Maybe added a washer or used a thicker washer under the rotor or something?

[asco58]

A correction to my last post . On my Accent cam I have two magnets and two hollows .So when turning the crank clockwise you would have a magnet followed by a hollow then after approximately a quarter turn another magnet followed by a hollow . So have I lost two magnets or are the hollows meant to be there ?

I had another look at my 550 accent rotor just in case, and its fits your description; a magnet next to a hollow then about a quarter turn and then another magnet and a hollow.