Charging issues

[3Phase]

But do clean the contacts between the VR and the frame holes. I believe that is how it makes ground.

Heh, good point. The aluminum body of the Regulator/Rectifier itself is not grounded, it uses an external ground through the Black wire in the 6-pole Rectifier connector so it can be safely mounted almost anywhere on any kind of surface with little or no drama. The mount bolts and the frame are where everything in the electrical system except the battery negative wire is grounded so they have to be clean and tight.

Clean and tighten the battery ground wires down by the engine and lower part of the frame too, they're kind of important and they do get dirty.

[Geezer]

A tiny bit of fresh grease on the cleaned spot where you connect the ground wires will keep it from corroding. You don't have to use dielectric grease but it wouldn't hurt...

Geezer

[Phare Est]

A tiny bit of fresh grease on the cleaned spot where you connect the ground wires will keep it from corroding. You don't have to use dielectric grease but it wouldn't hurt...

Geezer

I'll be sure to put some dialectric grease on the ends of those ground wires. I'm starting to think I also have grounding issues with my XS11, most likely at the frame to engine ground wire. I was able to carefully clean one of the ring terminals, but I can't crack loose the Phillips screw that holds the other terminal to the frame (which looks dirty). The battery to frame wire has been cleaned. I should have a bit more time to work on the bike over the weekend.

[DiverRay]

I'll be sure to put some dialectric grease on the ends of those ground wires.

That is NOT what you want on the ground wires! The best thing to use, that is easy to find, is Antiseize. It's oil based with aluminum in suspension and conducts very well. Perfect for ground connections, and cheap and easy to find. The dielectric grease does NOT conduct electricity, so it's good for the connections that must NOT cross connect.

[Phare Est]

That is NOT what you want on the ground wires! The best thing to use, that is easy to find, is Antiseize. It's oil based with aluminum in suspension and conducts very well. Perfect for ground connections, and cheap and easy to find. The dielectric grease does NOT conduct electricity, so it's good for the connections that must NOT cross connect.

I gotcha 👍☺.

[motoman]

I'll be sure to put some dialectric grease on the ends of those ground wires. I'm starting to think I also have grounding issues with my XS11, most likely at the frame to engine ground wire. I was able to carefully clean one of the ring terminals, but I can't crack loose the Phillips screw that holds the other terminal to the frame (which looks dirty). The battery to frame wire has been cleaned. I should have a bit more time to work on the bike over the weekend.

Those screws are NOT phillips head. They are JIS(Japanese Industrial Standard). A JIS screwdriver can be had at NAPA and other tool sources.

[Schming]

Along with the anti-sieze, I've found it best to replace the ground screws(JIS) with Socket Head Cap screws (Allen head), that way you can ensure the grounds are tight.

[MPittma100]

Grounds

Do yourself and the bike and convert all chassis grounds to direct battery grounds.

A chassis ground is sufficient for maybe a tail light. Not good enough for much else.

[Phare Est]

Do yourself and the bike and convert all chassis grounds to direct battery grounds.

A chassis ground is sufficient for maybe a tail light. Not good enough for much else.

I've been thinking of doing that too. Is it just simply a case of using a longer wire to ground the engine directly to the negative battery terminal? I'm a novice at this ☺.

[DiverRay]

I'm going to be different here. The chassis grounds will work well if clean, but I DO put an 8 gauge wire from the battery to the engine for the engine ground. As it's just adding one wire it is easy, but makes a big difference. As of now, engine ground is a wire from the frame to the middle drive mount. When it corrodes, you start to have problems with all kinds of things. The "second path" for grounds keeps the gremlins at bay, and it's one less factor to worry about.

[Phare Est]

Here's an update on my XS11's charging problems. I had time to work on the bike yesterday and today:

1) The REG/REC and harness plug-ins were cut off and all wires are now joined together with crimp connectors.

2) The three white wires running from plug-in behind the fuse box to the REG/REC and the tach were replaced. The stator plug-in behind the fuse box was also replaced.

3) The engine ground wire and the ground wires that were hooked up to one of the REG/REC screws are now all connected to the negative battery terminal.

The same scenario still plays out: when the bike is fired up, the tach light, the speedometer light and the headlight turn on, and the tach needle behaves as it should for about 10 to 15 seconds when I rev the engine. After that, it drops down to 0 rpm mark. The battery stops charging at the exact moment the tach needle falls to the 0 rpm mark (I checked with a multimeter).

I believe I have it narrowed down to two possible causes (in addition to the corroded terminals in the REG/REC and harness plugs-ins, which were removed): i) a faulty REG/REC; ii) a field coil or a stator that is shorting.

I was able to get a hold of an stator and a field coil that was taken off a working XS11 and installed on mine. Since this did not change anything, I doubt this is where the problem lies, unless both these "new" parts started shorting after I had installed them on my bike (unlikely).

The evidence seems to be pointing more clearly now to a REG/REC issue. I tested my REG/REC many times with the multimeter; the readings were fine, except on one occasion, when they were off on one of the white wires. I figured it was a simple case of corrosion on the spade terminal.

I ordered another REG/REC, which I had been wanting to do for some time anyway (in case my existing one happened to die on me). I should be able to provide another update in a few days.

[skids]

I hope you don't have a bad battery.

[Phare Est]

I hope you don't have a bad battery.

It's a Parts Unlimited battery (http://www.parts-unlimited.com/produ...umber=21130205) I purchased in June of this year. It has 12.9-13.0 volts when fully charged and holds its charge very well.

[3Phase]

That sure does sound like a heat failure causing an open circuit in the voltage regulator.

The next time the alternator poops out and the tach quits working, ground the Green wire at the 3-pole voltage regulator connector and see if it starts charging.

The charging system is like an old Chrysler, it feeds unfused 12 Volts on the Brown wire straight off the ignition switch and down to the field coil, it regulates the ground return on the Green wire when it comes back up from the field coil.

When you ground the Green wire, that full-fields the alternator and temporarily bypasses the voltage regulator.

Since you changed all the wires, it shouldn't matter which connector you pick when you ground the Green wire. Grounding the Green wire down at the fuse block will ground it just as easily as it will up at the voltage regulator.

[dansmith65]

That is NOT what you want on the ground wires! The best thing to use, that is easy to find, is Antiseize. It's oil based with aluminum in suspension and conducts very well. Perfect for ground connections, and cheap and easy to find. The dielectric grease does NOT conduct electricity, so it's good for the connections that must NOT cross connect.

I don't have personal experience with this, but this guy seems to: https://www.w8ji.com/dielectric_grea...ive_grease.htm. I'm planning to use dielectric grease on all connections when I'm working on my bike this winter.

In single low-voltage terminals or connections, such as metal-to-metal joints, grounds, or battery posts, almost any pure grease of light viscosity will be acceptable. Caution should be used with greases containing metallic powders to be sure any metal is compatible with the embedded grease metal. Connection enhancement from embedded metal powder is very minor, if it exists at all, and there is increased risk of bad connections if the metal powder has any interaction with the base metals.