charging system. voltage all over the place

[corkypromo]

Hi guys,

I have been on here before about my '78 xs. Had a charging issue which I thought I had solved but recently after a long ride the brand new battery was drained. Recharged the battery and tested after a few days. It is holding a charge nicely. Started the bike and tested the voltage at the battery at it is all over the place...at idle anywhere from 12.4 to 16 volts...constantly changing.

Recently I replaced the stator and rotor, brushes, and installed the radio shack rectifier and the R292 voltage regulator.

Is it a safe bet that the regulator is fried judging by the wild voltage? or do I need to go back to scratch testing the whole charging system?

 

[XSLeo]

I used the R292Z from Advanced Auto. If it quits it won't charge. Not hard to burn one up. Hook the green and brown wires reversed and it cooks right now.
If the voltage is bouncing around I would suspect bad connections on the wires and ground.
I had voltages bouncing around. Bought a new meter and things checked ok. The first meter had bad leads. Try a different meter.
Leo

 

[corkypromo]

finally coming back to this....new baby and frustration have kept me away. Spent sometime looking for a bad ground today without luck. What seems weird is that I got 12.2V on the battery with everything off. started it up with the safety relay disconnected and the voltage was all over the place, but high! 16-30volts! even when I turned the headlight on. does this still seem like a bad ground?

been reading lots of posts here, but not sure what to do next....clean all the connections?

I gonna try to borrow a different meter from someone at work tomorrow....but mine was reading the battery (with bike off) just fine.

 

[XSLeo]

That or a loose connection somewhere.
Check all your wire connections.
Leo

 

[corkypromo]

I never use the starter, always kick but for some reason I hit the starter button today. Nothing happened. So I disconnected the starter from the relay and now she is changing normally!

A happy discovery!

 

[corkypromo]

XSLeo, if you are still seeing this. Your first advice was right-on! Try a different voltage meter!

brought a really good one home from work...11.8 at idle. Damn it! Back to Curly's list.

 

[corkypromo]

just thought I'd give an update. went back to curly's test....

1. failed magnetic field test
2. jumper line from + on battery to hot brush = 18 volts at the battery (rpm's where high since I had started cold and had the choke on).

so, I'm off to buy a replacement regulator.

fingers crossed!

 

[corkypromo]

Got the 292 regulator from Advanced Autoparts. it is BWD brand, but should work, right?


pic of the regulator here...
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/NdUfWzGfjH9R2TxxA29w-g?feat=directlink

 

[corkypromo]

plugged it in and I'm happy to report at 3k RPM I was getting 13.8 volts...nice and steady!