Overcharging problem

[heckertb]

I'm getting up to 18 volts at the battery terminal! At idle its 14-15 volts. I have checked and cleaned every connector I could find. I checked the Field and stator resistances. Rectifier resistances check ok. When I check the regulator, I get 1.5 volts on the green and black wires as per the manual but when I start the engine the manual says the voltage on the same wires should gradually increase to 9-11 volts. Mine just stays at 1.5 volts. Also intermittantly the charge voltage will drop down between 14-15 volts when at 2-4000RPM but most of the time it climbs to greater than 15 volts. Seems like a bad regulator but wanted a another opinion before I sink money into a new one.

This may be related or another problem but intermittantly the Tach drops out sometimes for an instant at other times for many seconds. I notice when the tach drops out, the terminal voltgage drops to less than 12 volts. Connectors ahave been all cleaned and look good, no green oxidation or evidence of any getting hot.
Thanks for any ideas or suggestions.

Bruce (from Michigan)

[randy]

Bruce,

Sounds like a bad regulator, all right.

Randy

[strom]

Originally posted by randy
Bruce,

Sounds like a bad regulator, all right.

Randy

Yep.

LP

[skids]

Before you jump to conclusions...I think the VR for the xs11 is not grounded through the electrical clip, instead, I believe it is grounded through its housing to the frame where it mounts. I could be in left field on this (pardon the pun), but if that ground is dirty, could the regulator not function correctly? What I am saying is it must measure voltage difference between the hot wire and the ground and if ground is weak (high resistance due to corrosion) then maybe it is sensing a lower voltage than exists, thereby sending more to the field coil and overcharging. Also, be sure and check that connection of the ground strap to the front of the battery box (probably only grounds the engine block) and the one from the side of the battery box to the negative terminal just for good measure.

[randy]

Skids,

Right on target with the dirty grounds, that is exactly what a regulator will do in a poor ground condition.

But we are all of us checking and cleaning our connections before calling mayday, right?

Right?

P.S. The XS regulator grounds through a strap with a double brass ring screwed directly to the regulator on one of it's mounting screws.

P.P.S. Replace those &*$%ing screws with bolts.

HTH

Randy

[Geezer]

Now that the problem is resolved, pull out the battery and top up the cells.

Geezer

[heckertb]

Thanks for the tips. I checked the measurements using the ground screws of the regulator and got the same readings. I also removed the regulator and cleaned the mounts, although they looked pretty good. I had already checked the battery ground strap. Had to add water to the battery several times over the past year , thats why I started checkeing the battery voltage. I'm wondering if the regulator could be causing intermittant tach drop out. sooo I'll see what happens after a new regulator from partsnmore.

[heckertb]

Ordered new Rectifier/Regulator from dennis kirk. It had connectors, was a tight fit because it was slightly larger than the original. Also solved the tach drop out problem. Problems solved