A.R.C. Ignition System

Laughter13

Rose is my 77' Honda CB400F... my first bike
Have a 77' Honda CB400f and this was under the seat.

Can someone tell me how it fits into the wiring diagram i have here?
 

Attachments

  • IMG00078-20110308-1211.jpg
    IMG00078-20110308-1211.jpg
    139.1 KB · Views: 333
  • CB 400F Wiring Diagram.jpg
    CB 400F Wiring Diagram.jpg
    301.6 KB · Views: 485
Does no one know what this is and how it fits in, or are you ignoring me cuz i dont know something completely obvious.
 
Where do those 3 wires go / come from?


The only way to be ignored around here is with a bad attitude......
 
Looks like a transistorized ignition from a while ago.

My guess is if you look at your points plate you will find a hall effect sensor rather than points.

Wires into the box are likely ignition hot, ground, sensor wire(s), and coil hot(s).

trace the wires coming out of the box and see where they go.

A modern equivalent would be a Dyna electronic ignition.

That's my guess.

All opinions worth less than $.02 with inflation, but still worth more than you paid for it!

Cheers.
 
Big Rich said:
Where do those 3 wires go / come from?


The only way to be ignored around here is with a bad attitude......


Big... thanks for the reply... I a going into the garage in about an hour and going to try and take some detailed pictures of the ARC Ignition thing. I believe one wire is going to the Black with white trace, one to ground, and one... i dunno but will post what i find
 
Bozz said:
Looks like a transistorized ignition from a while ago.

My guess is if you look at your points plate you will find a hall effect sensor rather than points.

Wires into the box are likely ignition hot, ground, sensor wire(s), and coil hot(s).

trace the wires coming out of the box and see where they go.

A modern equivalent would be a Dyna electronic ignition.

That's my guess.

All opinions worth less than $.02 with inflation, but still worth more than you paid for it!

Cheers.


Thanks for the reply... i will take better pics and update
 
I'm guessing it's an ignition booster. Prevents arcing at the points.
 
Bozz said:
Looks like a transistorized ignition from a while ago.

My guess is if you look at your points plate you will find a hall effect sensor rather than points.

Wires into the box are likely ignition hot, ground, sensor wire(s), and coil hot(s).

trace the wires coming out of the box and see where they go.

A modern equivalent would be a Dyna electronic ignition.

That's my guess.

All opinions worth less than $.02 with inflation, but still worth more than you paid for it!

Cheers.


If it's transistorized it most likely still has points. Those boxes usually take the place of the condensers. Pretty much just stabilizes and boosts the spark while still using the points basically as on off switches.. I have the hondaman version. Works great. Mind you, I'm not exactly sure that's what it is but I agree with Bozz that that's what it looks like.
 
Bozz said:
Looks like a transistorized ignition from a while ago.

My guess is if you look at your points plate you will find a hall effect sensor rather than points.

Wires into the box are likely ignition hot, ground, sensor wire(s), and coil hot(s).

trace the wires coming out of the box and see where they go.

A modern equivalent would be a Dyna electronic ignition.

That's my guess.

All opinions worth less than $.02 with inflation, but still worth more than you paid for it!

Cheers.




Yeah... my points dont look like stock.... Here are some pics of the current set up. You can see the red wire on top is actually the black with white trace that comes from the ignition coils, then we have another black with white trace that i dont know where it goes (diagram shows goes to "main switch" and splices with a brown wire and goes nowhere <~~~ what does that mean?), and finally we have a ground.


I am just guessing here, but i think the green should go to ground, the red should go to ignition coils, and black should go to main switch? sound right?


thanks for any input you guys can give as i have tried a few combinations with no luck.... maybe i screwed something up somewhere else?
 

Attachments

  • IMG00101-20110308-1858.jpg
    IMG00101-20110308-1858.jpg
    46 KB · Views: 286
  • IMG00103-20110308-1859.jpg
    IMG00103-20110308-1859.jpg
    41.4 KB · Views: 260
That box is a transistor assisted ignition I think - as someone mentioned earlier. They don't do a whole lot, but they do extend points life.

Ignition wiring is usually 12V to main switch to Kill switch to coils to points and Condensors and through the points to ground.

Transistor switching is wired differently. You could try removing the box and wire as per stock and see if that works.
 
teazer said:
That box is a transistor assisted ignition I think - as someone mentioned earlier. They don't do a whole lot, but they do extend points life.

Ignition wiring is usually 12V to main switch to Kill switch to coils to points and Condensors and through the points to ground.

Transistor switching is wired differently. You could try removing the box and wire as per stock and see if that works.


do my points look right then?


if i try and bypass the box and connect black with white trace to black with white trace and leave the ground i still get nothing.
 
teazer said:
That box is a transistor assisted ignition I think - as someone mentioned earlier. They don't do a whole lot, but they do extend points life.

Ignition wiring is usually 12V to main switch to Kill switch to coils to points and Condensors and through the points to ground.

Transistor switching is wired differently. You could try removing the box and wire as per stock and see if that works.


and what exactly is the main switch, the handlebar switch?
 
I CANT BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!


electronic ignition working again!


All turn signals working again in probably a long time!




Looks like there was a bad ground on the transistor assisted ignition.... rewired, wire brushed, and good.


Turn signals needed a new relay. Picked up a new one from Napa for 11.99 and rewired. was able to test the wires going from the new relay and snap... found a crossed wire behind the headlight.


I want to thank all of you for your input on this one.... being a newb i get a little frustrated with the little stuff and you guys are just the support to keep on pushing and not giving up. THANK YOU ALL!!!!
 
Laughter13 said:
I CANT BELIEVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!


electronic ignition working again!


All turn signals working again in probably a long time!




Looks like there was a bad ground on the transistor assisted ignition.... rewired, wire brushed, and good.


Turn signals needed a new relay. Picked up a new one from Napa for 11.99 and rewired. was able to test the wires going from the new relay and snap... found a crossed wire behind the headlight.


I want to thank all of you for your input on this one.... being a newb i get a little frustrated with the little stuff and you guys are just the support to keep on pushing and not giving up. THANK YOU ALL!!!!


Great to hear. Did you bypass the ARC box or does it work with it now?
 
djelliott said:
Great to hear. Did you bypass the ARC box or does it work with it now?

ARC Box is still in, and i really havent got her started up yet. I need to throw the gas tank back on and then give it a try. I hope i have the ARC box hooked up right..... can i safely assume red to coils, black to main switch, and green ground?
 
Laughter13 said:
ARC Box is still in, and i really havent got her started up yet. I need to throw the gas tank back on and then give it a try. I hope i have the ARC box hooked up right..... can i safely assume red to coils, black to main switch, and green ground?


Now i am thinking black to coils, red to main switch and green to ground?
 
Hard to say what is a safe assumption.

I would guess that having found a bad ground you should return the ignition wiring to the way you found it.

Changing more than one thing at a time is confusing, because there is no way of knowing what your changes have affected.

So change one thing at a time with your ignition (start with the newly improved ground) and see what's what.

We know it worked at some point in the past, so it's safest to assume that it is wired adequately and simply look for faults first.

Unlike the turn signals, the ignition doesn't route through the headlight so there is less opportunity for screwing with things.

At least let's hope so!
 
Bozz said:
Hard to say what is a safe assumption.

I would guess that having found a bad ground you should return the ignition wiring to the way you found it.

Changing more than one thing at a time is confusing, because there is no way of knowing what your changes have affected.

So change one thing at a time with your ignition (start with the newly improved ground) and see what's what.

We know it worked at some point in the past, so it's safest to assume that it is wired adequately and simply look for faults first.

Unlike the turn signals, the ignition doesn't route through the headlight so there is less opportunity for screwing with things.

At least let's hope so!


Yeah... problem is, i took a picture of the original wiring and when i went back to look at it, its too dark to see what goes where. I guess i will just have to do some trial and error when i get out of work and get back to the bike. I was just worried that if i hook it up wrong i could damage the coils or somthing.
 
forgot about this photo i posted in another topic....

Looks like:

Green --> Coils
Red --> Main Switch
Black --> Ground

I will try this after work tonight.... if anyone disagrees with this, please let me know!

THANKS!!!
 

Attachments

  • IMG00079-20110308-1215.jpg
    IMG00079-20110308-1215.jpg
    194 KB · Views: 233
Back
Top Bottom