> You mean that it is not suppose to do that? I have watched that
> wild bouncing
> of the amp needle for so long I just thought it was normal.
It actually is normal for the ammeter needle to bounce around, under certain
conditions. The exact engine speed where this occurs will vary, depending
on electrical load and state of charge of the battery, but it does normally
happen. Revving the engine just slightly higher should make it stop,
though, and voltmeters shouldn't do it at all.
Friend of mine chased a bouncing ammeter needle for a long time on a TR250,
eventually turned out to be paint between the ground lead from the battery
and the body.
> Will a piece of
> fine sand paper or nail file work on the points?
Possible, but not likely. They leave much too coarse a finish, which will
quickly burn again. Fine emery cloth, or better yet a purpose-made contact
burnishing tool (available from Radio Shack). In a pinch, you can use the
striker strip from a book of matches (but remove the staple first). After
using the abrasive, be sure to clean all traces of abrasive away. A piece
of cloth and some solvent (carb or brake cleaner is what I generally use) is
best, but again, you can make do with the smooth paper part of that match
book cover. Move to a fresh section, insert it between the contacts, press
the contacts gently together and pull it out. Repeat until no residue is
left on the cloth or paper.
Being a non-smoker myself, it's kind of funny how many times I've hunted the
shoulder for a cigarette or match pack. The foil from a cigarette pack
makes a good emergency fuse (just wrap it around the blown fuse and push it
back into the fuse block). And a Marlboro box is just big enough to cut a
thermostat gasket from <g>
Randall
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