Trispark problems?

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BrianK

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A while back, there was a smattering of postings from folks who'd had some issues with their Trispark units.

I haven't heard anything since.

What's folks' experience been with this unit? Thumbs up/down/jury still out?

Thanks - BrianK
 
Got mine from Matt at CNW a couple months ago.

Absolutely perfect, and significantly better than my Boyer because it does not kick back, idles like a rock immediately without hardly any warm up, and because it needs less voltage
than the boyer it idles precisely where I set it, regardless of engine or air temp changes.

I like it a LOT.
 
I sent mine back to Steve in Australia and am still waiting to find out what the problem was... I will say that when I first fitted it, it was a revelation. As you say, rock steady idling, good response etc. After having the problems with the bike I have put nearly 3k miles on the bike using the Boyer and have had no troubles at all. It may well have been a rouge batch. Will wait and see.
 
Mine's going fine. I can't say that I have noticed any signicant differences over the Boyer, as my bike ran fine with the Boyer, I just thought I'd lessen the risk of kick back when starting as I use the electric start all of the time, but I do have a big battery on for this job, and I like it for its compactness.

I've done about 2,000 miles or thereabouts with mine up to now.
 
I installed mine last spring. The bike was new to me last fall, had points and lots of carb issues that I was trying to sort out. FWIW-it was worth the 300 bucks to clean up the ignition and focus on the carbs, or I might have still been trying to get it all tuned right. I am running it on a 750 Combat engine, 28 degree advance, stock plugs and 92 octane fuel. I can't find any weak spot in the curve, the bike pulls like a train at all rpms. The istallation was easy and eliminated a number of connections in the stock harness (a bonus).

I am putting one on my next project. Though I admit I have only about a thousand miles on this unit, mostly short rides and daily commutes.

Russ
 
Have them on both bikes and they are both doing just fine, I also like the quick starting and no fear of kickback to ruin my sprag bearing.
 
Has anyone used the tri spark on a long trip or for rides that exceed a few hours? I'd be curious to see if it is as reliable when hot for long periods of time. I am sold on the original tri spark units, but am still leary about the contained unit and heat issues.
 
No problems with mine so far. Clean start, precision tickover, pulls well and doesnt do the potential conk out when stopping.
Had a fairly hot summer here in the UK and I rode for four hours with a couple of breathers and leg stretch, no glitching with heat and a working temperature engine. For what its worth, as per past forums I did place a card gasket between crankcase and points cover the aim being to possibly dissipate some engine heat!!.
 
aries said:
Had a fairly hot summer here in the UK
Click to expand...

Which day was that?? :?

Oh well...that's another UK summer I've missed!!
 
The concern about heat being that because the trispark is enclosed entirely inside the points cover, that the electronics will get too hot and cause a failure in the unit of some sort?

Versus a boyer solid state unit being exposed to more air flow?

1) I am quite sure the maker of Trispark in hot Australia has given this issue much thought before he began marketing them. He would know more than I do, I trust the design.

2) Matt at CNW is the sold US distributor. He does not mess around with his reputation. Everything he sells he believes in, tests, and puts on his bikes.

3) It gets hot here in the SW United States. Last week I went for a 400 ride with temps hovering over 100 degrees. No issues. And did not expect any.

I suppose if for only piece of mind, one could either remove the points cover entirely in very hot weather, or vent the cover, or vent the trispark by putting on a thick points cover
gasket is cut away in the front and rear so some air flows through there.

All solutions to a problem that does not exist, and has no statistical significance of direct failure of the unit due to excess heat. Don't worry about it, it is just fine!
 
highdesert said:
The concern about heat being that because the trispark is enclosed entirely inside the points cover, that the electronics will get too hot and cause a failure in the unit of some sort?
Click to expand...

I'm currently conducting some points housing temperature tests on my Commando, T140 and T160 using brake thermal strips inside all three points housings, although it's all come to a halt whilst I wait for some lower heat range temperature range stickers to arrive, as the "C" 116-154°C heat range stickers I used appear to be too high a range to show any reading.

Trispark problems?
 
L.A.B.,
I am sure many of us will be interested in your results. I know that norbsa was doing some testing and took some "heat" over the idea of a gasket to help isolate the points cover. I guess we could hold a Norton rally in the Victoria desert summer and see what happens. I can't speak for anybody else, but even if I travel the entire planet on my Commando, the number of hours that I ride in temps exceeding 100 F will be very few, as I don't really enjoy that much heat. When I was a kid I can remember putting in 800 mile Commando days, because I thought it was cool to get somewhere in a hurry. At this point in my life I am more likely to screw around and do 200 mile days. I bet most of us won't push these units hard enough to really ever test the durability.

Russ
 
I'll probably end up with one of these units, but I am always a little paranoid when it comes to electronics and enclosed heat for periods of time. Maybe I'm just not as forward thinking as some and it takes me a bit longer to warm up to new things. If I read enough success stories I'll eventually be sold.
 
I'll add another thumbs up for TriSpark. One year and about 2500 miles with no issues. It's been hot here this Summer as well.

As an EE with 20 years of electronics environmental testing background, I too was skeptical about the possible thermal problems with the design. All I can say at this point is so far so good and that time will tell.

And as a bonus, although it's specifically stated in the literature that their idle stabilization feature is not intended to compensate for other engine problems, I will attest that it can in fact make an otherwise misbehaving Norton run much better. I have some issue on my 850 that causes the left side to misfire at idle and with a Boyer the idle speed varied from stalling to 1500 rpm. After switching to the TriSpark it dialed in to 900-1000 and it's never stalled at a stop. Still misfires but the ignition somehow keeps things stable. Dunno how they do that, but kudos for the design.
 
I've had my Tri-Spark for 2500 miles, with no problems. Knock on wood, I've had no problems with the rest of the Norton either. I'd wager that the Tri-spark's fatal tempature would have to be near or at the temp solder melts; solid state, integrated electornics are, essentially, doped quartz.

I chose the Tri-Spark over the Boyer Micro-Digital only because I liked the highly compact nature of the Tri-Sparks electonnic package. The Tri-spark is over $130 more expensive (give or take) than the Boyer Micro-Digital. The two units have almost identical performance, and the Boyer M-D also operates at greatly reduced voltage, unlike the analog offering. I continue to be impressed with the range of parts that ambitious entrepreneurs are bringing to market to help us make our classic British motorcycles more reliable.

You can buy a lot of stainless for $130...... :mrgreen: ***


***Vested interest statement

RS
 
I think that it is indeed sensible to consult each other on these new developments. We are of course all riding machines which despite a team of factory testers and subsequent users managed to leave much development work to the customer.

With the best will in the world, the manufacturers of the new improvements could never hope to equal this scale of testing and realistically whilst the technology can be proven, the specific application has probably seen no more than a season on their bike and a friend's.

Buyers of a Trispark who are removing an existing electronic unit can easily enough carry the old box of tricks with them on long runs. It takes up next to no space.
 
Steve has informed me that the unit I returned to him had a blown output transistor. He's going to replace it under warranty so good on him. No hassel and endless emails to sort it out. Cheers Steve.. :D :D
 
Would excess heat have caused the transistor to blow? If not, any idea what did? - just a defective transistor?
 
Wait - was your bike intermittent just when hot or did it end up completely dead? If it was a blown transistor it would be dead.
 
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