250cc Roketa MC-54B-250 Problems.. By Chris Waddle (Read 28,647 times)

[pop1205]

Lol. Well let me discuss my findings today.
Today I had a semi success!
After coming home from work I already had my scoot dissassembled and I went out there and just pushed the tail light connector in really good, and discovered it to be loose. I started my scoot and I had headlights and everything!
Shortly after the vibration shook it loose. So what I did was to completely eliminate the white box connector. One by one I snipped and rewired and twisted the wires directly together and black taped very well! That way I know for sure they have a for sure connection.
It worked! I had headlights. I let the scoot get warm and the fan kicked on! Everything was perfect and bright! It thought I found the problem and fixed it! I started putting my scoot together and at various points of building I would start it and test it and everything was all dandy. After completing everything at 1am I sat on the scoot for the first time and fired it up.
No lights or nothing! Back to square one!
Then they came on.
Went off instantly.
Come on instatntly and stayed on. I was like not again!
I let it warm up and everything again and I let the fan come on a couple of times. I turned it off and went and grabbed my helmet to test drive it and shake it up really good.
I came back, started the scoot, hit the throttle and slammed the brakes (gives lots of vibration to the scoot) and the lights and everything went out.
I am believing I have another semi loose cable that is coming out when the vibration is going.
I'm thinking of following all the cords from the tail lights and doing what I did. To get rid of the crappy white box of connectors and directly rewire and twist together the connections. So they have a solid connection totally and are secured with black tape. Of course use zip ties to make sure everything is in place and doesn't fly off anywhere.
What do you guys think?
Worth a shot or no?
It was nice to see my scoot together and working.
But then it shot me down and failed.
Any input would be appreciated guys!
Thanks for all of your help!

[damin69]

Personally I think you should invest in a soldering iron. Every where you have twisted wires together should solder. everywhere they have multiple wires coming together on the harness solder them.

I had a wire issue on mine to that every time I would turn left it would cut out and kill the motor. come to find out the wire harness was zip-tied tight against the frame where the top of the triple tree connects and there was a sharp edge that had cut the caseing on the wire and every time I would turn left it pulled the wires tight up against the frame and short out. Electrical Gremlins SUCK Good luck.

[pop1205]

Thanks guys! I do have a soldering gun! And a pen for tight spots So you guys thing getting rid of the crappy white box connectors will do the job? Seems like it. I will take my scoot apart again and begin the wiring! Thanks for all the help guys! This is going to take some time but after all the time I've put into it so far, it would be dumb to just quit now!

[Cruiser]

Now you know why I kept insisting on getting both taillights working. The wiring in these scoots can do very weird things which may even be against Ohm's law. The taillight circuit is a good clue to your problem and maybe THE problem. The taillight is certainly in a high vibration area. Make sure the connectors are tight and there are no chafed wires. You may have to do some soldering or terminal replacement as the Chinese crimping isn't the best. It certainly looks like you are zeroing in on the problem.

[pop1205]

Yup Cruiser. I had it working but then it seemed as though something else may have been loose.
I am thinking of getting rid of those white box connectors and solder the wires that are needed to be connected together for precise and good connection. Only along the line that connects the tail lights headlights radiator fan, etc.
What do you say?
Do it or no?

[Cruiser]

When done properly, a soldered connection gives you the best electrical connection. Make sure the connections are isolated from each other with heat shrink tubing or liquid tape. I like the heat shrink.

[pop1205]

Alright I've done everything I could!
I soldered the front wires, the back wires, and even where the radiator fan connects onto and nothing.
Well not nothing, the lights would come on for like 10-15 mins and then suddenly go out! Today they were on, and I was letting it warm up, and I was talking to my mother and they suddenly went out. The days before, I took it for a test drive and it was fine. I got dressed for work and hopped on my scoot and when I got in the parking lot of my job the headlights, taillights, and radiator fan went out (the usual now). I'm not sure what the heck is going on.
Maybe you guys can suggest something?? I'm totally stomped, once again.

[Cruiser]

I know that originally your lights and fan would come on when you pressed the passing switch. Does it still do that?

[pop1205]

Yes sir it is. The lights will be on like they're supposed to, then suddenly go off and when I hit the dimmer switch it will back feed again just like before. But I have day light now and it's taken apart, so I'll see what I can find. I'm hoping it's nothing like a part is a messed up!

[pop1205]

Also! How how is the regulator supposed to get? Mine gets pretty toasty. My lights will be on for a few mins, after the scooter gets nice and warm, they go out. When I touch the regulator it's barely able to touch. It's hot, but not scolding, but if I held the regulator I would have to take my hand away after a few seconds as it would be too hot.
Is this normal? I'd imagine it would have a little heat but should I be worried about this. Getting this hot, would it mean that it's faulty and I need a new one?
I have all my connections together with splice connectors a.k.a. crimps. They are holding very well! Plus, my lights are brighter than ever with this things giving such a good connection.
If this heat of the regulator is out of the ordinary please let me know asap so I can order a new one and get my scooter back on the road! I miss it

[pop1205]

I'm not sure where to find one that would work on my scooter. Would any from this page work??

www.monsterscooterparts.com/rectifiers.html

[pop1205]

Well guys I know for sure the problem. it's my voltage regulator. As I said before it was getting hot, now too hot: Today I went outside to crank my scoot, so it wouldn't just be sitting there getting bad, and I crunk it fine (actually on the first crank, like tap the ignition button and it stayed idiling high)! Well I was saying to myself once the regulator gets hot my lights will shut off as before. Well sure enough, they would randomly go out. I touched the regulator to see if it was hot and had to quickly snatch my hand away! It was HOTTTT!!

I knew immediately what my problem was, bad regulator. Shortly after that I went to show my dad how hot the regulator was and when I was reaching down I saw that it was smoking!!!! Crazy right? So I'm ordering a new regulator from Roketa. There website actually has plenty of parts for the scooter, and actually cheap prices! The same one I was looking at at other websites were $4 more. Shipping wasn't murderous either! I picked one day shipping, so Tuesday I will have it and be back on the road I hope
Wish me luck guys! The past two weeks have been hell with this thing! But doing everything I am doing is actually making it run super better! It crank on the first try. Just tap the ignition button and it came on and stayed on! Didn't try to die down like it usually does. I just know I'm going to love my scoot even more when I get this regulator

[Alleyoop]

Pop1205,
That is great news that you hopefully found the problem. And yes the regulator should not be so hot you cannot touch it. Also when you get the new one make sure it is not to close to the engine. The engine raidiates a lot of heat, same goes for your Coil and CDI keep them as far away from heat as possible.
Alleyoop

[pop1205]

Alleyoop,

Thanks, I will try. It actually is pretty far from the engine. It's kind of isolated by itself. What I think started the problems on my scoot was one day I was letting it warm up and I went inside to get dressed for work and when I came back out my antifreeze was all on the ground and my engine was on HOOOOTTTTTT! Ever since then I've been having electrical problems. I think the heat may have got to my regulator. Even if not that, I have most likely found my problem!
Thanks for all the help guys!

[Cruiser]

The following is a popular mod to help cool the regulator/rectifier on the 250cc scoots.



The smaller R/R on the left is a cheap substitute for the original. It worked for a short while. The two on the right are the OEM R/R's. The fan comes from an old computer. It's a 12 volt 80 mm fan that fits on the heat sink perfectly. I drilled 4 holes through the side of the heat-sink and used zip ties to secure the fan to the heat-sink. I soldered the power wires to the output pins inside the R/R plug. These fans take very little power and do a good job of keeping the R/R cool.

Here's a worm's eye view of the R/R and fan combo installed on my scoot.