Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Magic Power Box

I was browsing ProCom's web site and ran accross something called a Magic Power Box. Not being a mechanical genius, I really have no clue about this thing. I have no idea if it would benefit us or not, or how it works or installs. Maybe some of you other mechanical minds can shed some light on this thing and if it would be worth it, or if it would not make much of a (if any) difference at all.

Soren

The write up suggests it is just a simple voltage regulator. Keeps your voltage at a constant 13V. Big deal, what good does that really do besides keeping the headlight from brightening and dimming as you slow down?
Sounds like more snake oil to me. I could be wrong, not likely, but anything is possible.

Absolute snake oil. The whole idea behind an ignition coil is to be a "step up transformer" and convert the ~13.8 volts to over 50,000 volts so it can overcome the air gap in the spark plug. It is true that a weak charging system can result in a weak spark, but limiting the maximum voltage will do nothing but limit the maximum output of the coils. It wouldn't hurt anything electronic (like the bike's ignition computer) to have a stable supply, but they already have regulators built into them to arrange this.

Speaking of which, if you REALLY want to try this on your bike, don't spend US$99 on a "magix box", spend about $3 on a 13 volt regulator from any electronics store.

Matt

I bought 2 of their CDI units and then I was told they were duds, I questioned Procom about this and they sent me 2 more saying that they are an improved model. I havent tried any of them and am a bit hesitant to try them, maybe someone else has tried the latest ones from them?

Many years ago, when bikes were much simpler, there was a similar product available, a "black box" looking thing. It claimed to provide similar results as this does. The black box was metal, a few inches square and had some weight to it - it felt like it had to be full of complex and futuristic circuitry.... A bike mag of the time decided to check it out.... They heated it up with a torch and a load of black plastic melted out of it revealing one tiny diode (zener diode, I think) resting under all of that goop....

Horse poop! Looks to me like a shunt regulator. Suzuki uses those and they are worthless. Adding a second regulator would, as they claim, do something magic to your alternator, but you won't like it.
Because dwell time diminishes with speed, your ignition coils will fade away faster if your voltage doesn't increase a bit so, if anything, this would cost you power at the top end.