Regulator problem?

[ebock112]

ok i have an 82 xj 1100 i had problems last week when i was riding my bike it was running pretty funny after about a half an hour so i stopped at the the gas station by my house killed the engine stopped inside came back out the bike was completely dead. went home charge the battery tested the volts and it's reading about 13 i turned the key to the on position and tested the brown wire it read about 12. so next i tired the green wire it also read about 12 i tested the same thing on my xj 550 and the green wire read about 1.5 and jumped to around 9-10 volts when i gave it gas. does this mean that my regulator is shoot on my 1100? or do i have to keep digging deeper i also checked the battery voltage on the 550 and it was about at 12.5 and went to about 14.5 when i gave it gas. the 1100 just stayed the same.

[cywelchjr]

ok i have an 82 xj 1100 i had problems last week when i was riding my bike it was running pretty funny after about a half an hour so i stopped at the the gas station by my house killed the engine stopped inside came back out the bike was completely dead. went home charge the battery tested the volts and it's reading about 13 i turned the key to the on position and tested the brown wire it read about 12. so next i tired the green wire it also read about 12 i tested the same thing on my xj 550 and the green wire read about 1.5 and jumped to around 9-10 volts when i gave it gas. does this mean that my regulator is shoot on my 1100? or do i have to keep digging deeper i also checked the battery voltage on the 550 and it was about at 12.5 and went to about 14.5 when i gave it gas. the 1100 just stayed the same.

If the voltage doesn't rise with RPM (at least until it hits about 14.5 @ 3000 RPM) you have a charging problem. It might be the regulator, but it really needs to be trouble shot properly first unless you have a known good unit sitting around. There are a couple of tech tips on checking the charging system under the tech tips on the XS11 Info menu and troubleshooting steps in the manual on catatonicbugs website which there is a link to in all of his posts. That said, in my experience, the regulator is one of the higher likelyhood failures, but first check ALL the connections having to do with the charging system starting with the big which plug with the white wires behind the fuse box, and make sure the ground to the regulator is good (it grounds to the frame where it fastens, so take it off and clean that up too).

[ebock112]

i read on the tech tips that if your green wire is getting battery volts i'm assuming 12.5volts with just the key on and the engine not running then the regulator is bad and will not "excite" the alternator. i'm just trying to check to make sure i did everything right. because i wired up the bike my self

[cywelchjr]

i read on the tech tips that if your green wire is getting battery volts i'm assuming 12.5volts with just the key on and the engine not running then the regulator is bad and will not "excite" the alternator. i'm just trying to check to make sure i did everything right. because i wired up the bike my self

I believe that is correct, but that can be caused by the regulator not being grounded, so clean up the ground under it first and retest. Then the recommended fix is the aftermarket regulator from Geezer on this site. It's a lot beefier and brings you up to full charging voltage at much lower RPM's.

[ebock112]

well the way i have to regulator grounded is the 2 black wires from the regulator go to the negative terminal on the battery and then that grounds out to the engine.

[CatatonicBug]

well the way i have to regulator grounded is the 2 black wires from the regulator go to the negative terminal on the battery and then that grounds out to the engine.

No, the regulator is grounded to the frame. Remove the 2 screws, and lift it off the frame. Then use a wire toothbrush and get all the rust off the frame and the Reg/Rect around those screw holes. Then, dab some anti-sieze around the holes (increases conductivity) and screw it back on.

Also check all the connections, all the way from the alternator to the Regulator. The big connector behind the fuse panel is a common point of failure. It gets corroded, heats up, and melts.

[ebock112]

i know though like i said i wired it up myself i'm making sure i did everything correct i don't think it would make a difference if i wired it to the battery or the frame because they all have to get grounded right?

[CatatonicBug]

True. But did you ground the actual HOUSING of the reg/rect, or just the wires coming from it?

[ebock112]

i did not ground the actual housing of the regulator the wires just come in the housing in on the frame under the gas tank but i did try grounding something off it before and it wasn't grounding out do i need to ground the actual house out ? i'll post some pictures of the bike too because i haven't done that yet just so you guys can see what i'm working with haha




my garage is a pretty big mess i hope you guys don't mind haha

[CatatonicBug]

Yes, the housing has to be grounded too.

Don't worry about the garage! That just means you've been working! Nice looking bike, BTW.

[ebock112]

ok the only other thing i can think of before i look into buying a new regulator is i have a green and a black wire coming off of my pick up coil is that black suppose to run to the brown wires? and the green to green? or is it suppose to be black to green. and green to brown like it shows in the wiring diagram for the xj1100

[Cobia]

Reminder

I like that reminder on the rear fender about which way it moves!!!

[ebock112]

well the bike is painted like the b-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki it's called the b-29 bockscar if you google that you might get a better idea of why it looks the way it does

[cywelchjr]

ok the only other thing i can think of before i look into buying a new regulator is i have a green and a black wire coming off of my pick up coil is that black suppose to run to the brown wires? and the green to green? or is it suppose to be black to green. and green to brown like it shows in the wiring diagram for the xj1100

If you don't have the case of the regulator grounded it will NOT work! It works by providing a partial ground on one side of the exciter windings to generate the needed magnetic field to run the alternator, without that case ground it's an open circuit, which is exactly what your seeing. If it still does that when the case of the regulator is grounded then you have a problem, but it's not gonna work even with a new one without a grounded case.

[ebock112]

i grounded the case and still got the same diagnosis. i also check with my voltmeter on ohms times one to test the positive leads and negative leads of the regulator and that checked out fine. could it be something with the stator because it seems that the only wire affected with the regulator is the green one?