1983 heritage special does not seem to charge

[deshi]

OK I ran through curly's charging system tests and all come back ok. We also checked for grounds and those are gold too, replaced plug wires, and new stock ignition. The brushes are worn and I didnt measure them but my father in law said they are ok looking to him. I also replaced the reg/rec when I first got the bike as it tested bad then. Yesterday everything was ok when you rev up the headlight would get brighter and turn signals would work fine, and i rode about 70 miles mostly highway at 3k rpms or higher to ensure the charging system would be engaged. Each time I got home I tested the battery and it would always say 12.5v. This morning I get up to head to church and electric start would not engage at all but indicator lights came on. I do not have my own working multimeter and my in laws shop was closed so i could not get an exact test of the battery at this time. I did however kick start it and rode around the neighborhood which is all highway and it loses power bad and wants to stall and I am assuming it is because the battery is too low? I already plan to replace the tail/signal lights with LED's to lessen the power draw, I am not sure what headlamp is on this bike, But today when I got home and I rev the headlamp does not get brighter at all. We cleaned every electrical contact on the harness as well, but the keyswitch test is off from curly's guide I just remembered that while writing this. it was llike 10.3v or something and my in law said that should be ok but he is not really a bike mechanic he works on cars and for bikes he only tools around with harleys. This is my situation I need to figure it out for a cheap solution as I was disabled for 12 years and jobless and i just spent the last of my money on getting this bike runable after it was given to me as a gift. I need it to get to a job till I can afford a proper replacement of the charging system or whatever it is that is wrong. I do not want to have to spend any money on replacing something now unless im 100% sure that is the cause. I have searched the forums and done so many tests but I am not a big mechanic type...yet. Right now for the time being I am wondering if putting it on a charger when I am not using it would be a viable solution until I can get things worked out? will doing that damage anything? seems I can get about a day out of it without a charge.

 

[retiredgentleman]

You need to measure the brushes. Remove both brushes and if they are less than 3/8", then buy new ones. While the brushes are out, measure resistance from one slip ring to the other slip ring...............should be around 5 to 6 ohms. Also measure from one slip ring to the alternator frame..............should be very high resistance. The slip rings need to be bright and shiney...........clean them with very fine emery paper.

If you measured battery voltage with the engine off, then 12.5 volts is normal. You need to measure battery voltage with the engine running at about 3000 rpm...............normal would be around 14 volts.

The starter motor is an excellent "load test". If it fails to spin the engine, it may mean you have a defective battery ( battery voltage appears to be present, but the battery cannot deliver the large amps required for the starter motor.) Make sure you remove the ground cable (both ends) and the + battery cable, to check for corrosion that will cause high resistance.

You should only have a small volatge drop across the ignition switch. If you are seeing only 10.3 volts, that is bad. The ignition switch can be taken apart and contacts cleaned.

 

[deshi]

OK I checked the brushes myself and they must be brand new they are both just a hair over 1/2 inch so i am assuming they are good. Now I checked the ground strap and it seems the frame was powder coated recently before I got it and it had never been ridden before the previous owner gave it to me as he got parkinsons and couldnt ride and work on it anymore. I can see without taking anything off that it is attached to a painted section so I am going to ride it down the road to my father in laws shop here and sand it down and get it all proper on that ground. and I will also check the reg/rec ground as well to make sure that is kosher not sure if it needs to be grounded to the frame or the lead wire but i will check both and can't hurt to have dual grounds. Any other suggestions are welcome the headlight does get brighter when I rev it when i did the test in the garage in the dark so I can tell it is getting at least SOME charge. I also need to ask my father in law what battery her got for it and if it was new or used as I was not with him when he grabbed that.

 

[deshi]

I have the service manual for this bikle but cannot find anything in it for cleaning the ignition switch in there and I seem to be google challenged to find step by step on how to do it.

 

[deshi]

ok interesting when i test volts while at 3k rpms it goes from 9.5v at idle to nothing which is weird not sure if it was the vibration on the bike hitting the meter since i didnt have clips i had to hold the points one with foot and other with hand while reving. the ohms on the slips are good at 5.5 ohms with analog and the volts i tested with digital.