Voltage Regulator/Rectifier

[neJeff]

Went through everything again today. Took cover off and stared at the stator and field coil...checked the 3 whites from the plug underneath the gas tank and all three are correct at .4 ohms. Checked the ohms on field coil and they are correct. Checked voltage at green wire with ignition on and it as correct. I had printed something about trouble shooting and it has you check voltage on green wire with bike running. Says volts should be 9 to 11 and I get nothing (this is with postiive on green wire, negative grounded to frame). I seem to have lost peoples interest here...can anyone help?

[bikerphil]

My only other suggestion is to try a known good stator and field coil assy, you did state that it was working prior to removing and tightening the screws inside.

[crazy steve]

One check you may not have performed is checking each coil wire to ground. If one coil was rattling around in there, it may have damaged the insulation. You would still get 'good' readings wire-to-wire, but if any wire reads to ground (any metal part), then it won't work...

[neJeff]

Well I have had on /off issues with since I got the bike regarding the charging system. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Your not mentioning the reg/rect...do you think that is fine? What is it that's telling you its not that?

[neJeff]

One check you may not have performed is checking each coil wire to ground. If one coil was rattling around in there, it may have damaged the insulation. You would still get 'good' readings wire-to-wire, but if any wire reads to ground (any metal part), then it won't work...

Ok, 3 whites and the brown/green. Check each of them to ground...are we talking ohms, volts or what? What should I be seeing on the meter?

[DGXSER]

Your checking for resistance, so Ohms.

[crazy steve]

It's tough to diagnose electrical problems long-distance, as it can sometimes be something simple that an inexperienced eye may miss.

With that said, check your coils like I said. If any of the coil wires read to ground, you'll have to find where they're shorting or replace the offending part. I'd also suggest checking the coil resistances at the regulator plugs; if you get any differences in your readings you get at the plugs behind the fuse panel, you still have poor plug connections and that will cause problems. I had to go over mine multiple times before I got good connections.

As to the regulator, these seem to be fairly tough pieces. But again, have you actually done the FSM diagnostic test on it? There's eight diodes in there, and if any of them are bad, the charging system won't work right. One additional test you can perform is to insert the pos meter lead on the red wire at the regulator plug. With the bike running at about 3K rpm, you should see 14+ volts to ground. If you see that, then move the neg lead to the pos battery post. You should see zero volts, or a very small value (less than .1 volt). If you see more voltage than that, then there's a poor connection between the regulator and the battery, maybe even a broken wire.

[neJeff]

Ok, The three whites checked at the regulator connector (down below fuse the connector is gone, wired direct) I get .5 ohms each. Touch connectors on my cheapo mulitmeter reads .04 so that tell me I have .1 ohm resistance correct? Going to check the other wires now...

[neJeff]

Green is 4.5 ohms and brown is 1 ohm

[neJeff]

One check you may not have performed is checking each coil wire to ground. If one coil was rattling around in there, it may have damaged the insulation. You would still get 'good' readings wire-to-wire, but if any wire reads to ground (any metal part), then it won't work...

I guess going by this I am FUBARed then and need a new field coil. If these are suppose to show nothing with key off then maybe I have found my issue...I hate electrical issues

[crazy steve]

Ok, if you're getting .5 ohms between the white wires at the regulator plug (regulator unplugged), then your splices need to be better or the connector is still dirty. As to the reading at the field coil, if those readings are to ground with the coil unplugged from the regulator, then the brown wire is shorting to ground. You may not have a bad coil; check to make sure the wire from the coil isn't bare somewhere and rubbing against a ground. These are routed with little metal clips, and it may just be bare somewhere.

[neJeff]

Not between the white wires, white wires to ground. And its really .1 remember...between themselves I get .4 ohms

[crazy steve]

Ok, that's very strange....

At this point, I'd pull both coils completely off the bike. Check the wiring for any damaged/bare spots. Clear any you find, then check coil resistance again and check each wire to ground (any bare metal part of the coils). If any of the wires read to ground now, the coil is bad...

[neJeff]

Ok, before I read your last post I went out and pulled the cover off and looked for any loose wires, broken insulation, ect and found none. The test you had me do on the brown wire at the plug by reg/rect (disconnected) was 1 ohm. I tried the test under the fuse box (only the whites are connected together, the brown/green here still have a plug) and I can't register a thing on the brown wire, it does not move the meter. I have traced out all the wires and nothing seems to be our of sorts. You say coils..you mean field (outer) and stator (inside) correct? I want to make sure we are communicating correctly.

[neJeff]

Ok, forgot to do your red wire test. 11.6 volts from red wire in connector to reg/rect to ground. Thats a far cry from the 14 we are looking for. What does this mean?