Checking the PMA field windings

plane_ben

XS650 Junkie
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I recently blew a Pamco ignition on my bike. I suspected the reason was the cheap reg/rec that comes with the PMA kit. Pete replaced my ignition under warranty no questions asked. Great guy and great product. I'll buy no other.

My question is how would you check the field coils on the PMA windings? Can I do it through the yellow wires and ground without taking off the rotor? Checking out the new ignition on a straight 12 volts and putting a meter on my charging system showed 36 volts going to the capacitor. After shutting down, the capacitor held 13.5 volts and discharged when I turned on the lights. So I'm pretty sure my capacitor is good. Got a new used reg/rec wired and ready to install, I just want to make sure the PMA field windings are good before I proceed.

Thanks in advance of any help.
 
I'm not sure just what the stator windings should ohm out at, but checking the yellow wires to each other and to ground is how you check. The same as the stock stator.
As I said I'm not sure what the ohms should be but as long as they all match is the important thing. If one set reads off then the stator has problems.
I think a PMA stator should check out very close to a field excited stator.
If you are getting 36 volts to the capacitor then your stator sounds like it's working, if it wasn't you would get very low or no voltage.
It sounds like a bad reg/rec.
Once you install a new reg/rec I would suggest running it a few days with a battery powering the ignition and the PMA powering the rest of the bike.
I also suggest adding a volt meter permanently on the bike. There are some out there that don't take up much space. Mount it where it's easy to see.
This volt meter will warn you if something fails. In this case you would have seen the voltage rising to high before it burnt out the ignition.
I have one on my 75. It told me that my rotor was going bad before it totally failed.
After a few days of riding and the voltage meter tells you everything is ok with the PMA then hook the ignition back to the bike.
Leo
 
Well, checked between the yellow field wires. Got about 1.5 ohms across the three possible connections. Then each line to ground where I got infinity on all three.
Fired the bike back up with ignition on the 12 volt battery and checked the charging system. This time there was about 45 volts at my capacitor and 50 volts jumped between ignition hot and ground in the harness.
this is with a new/used reg/rec. So that could be as bad as the first reg/rec.

Any one have a source/part# for a reg/rec that works on a PMA?
 
If you got your kit from Hugh, he probably can help. If somewhere else. Oh well.
On here is a list of stators and reg/recs from other bikes that work.
Hugh sells a reg/rec that works, brand new for I think $49.
Leo
 
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