New ROTOR installed, few questions

[XS650D]

OK, tested the correct green wire brush and got 10.6 Volts, not good!! I guess I got a really bad connection
somewhere. Yes .3 Volts at key is not great but theres another bad wire or connection somewhere ,not sure were to start!!
All the lights work, no burnt out bulbs to direct me to a potential problem unfortunately. I take it this was
the Rotor eating problem, glad I did not take it out!

 

[Jim]

OK, tested the correct green wire brush and got 10.6 Volts, not good!!

Back up a bit and see what the brown wire reads going into the regulator. Compare that to batt voltage. Either you're not getting 12V into the reg. or not getting 12V out. If you're getting 12V in on the brown and only 10.6V out on the green, your reg. is bad.

 

[XS650D]

Tested brown wire going into REG 11.8 Volts. Battery 12.3 Volts
Got 10.76 Volts on Green wire same plug both tests!
Bike off for this test correct? Head light off also.
The New Voltage LED readout I hooked up to brown wire from key shows 12.1 to 12.2 Volts.
I take it thats the brown that goes back to Reg that I got 11.8 Volt on so I lost more voltage on the way to the Reg i take it. I will order a new Reg.I have the Chrysler unit, only few years old.
I haven't tested the Stator yet as I wanted to get bike running first to do the test.

 

[Jim]

Bike off for this test correct? Head light off also

No... with the bike off, you should read 0V at brown wire. Brown is power from the iggy switch. Switch needs to be on.
Ahhh... you meant not running... right? Yes power on (iggy switch)... bike not running.
What you're showing us is a half a volt drop between the batt and reg. That's too much. Do a Tech search for how to clean the contacts on the iggy switch and see if that clears up the drop.
You've got over a volt drop across the regulator... again, too much. I suspect your regulator is bad... that or corroded connections.

 

[5twins]

Looking at a wiring diagram, it appears the brown to your reg branches off to the neutral light 1st. Maybe that's drawing the voltage down a little before it gets to the reg? Maybe put it in gear so the neutral light goes out and re-test the brown wire at the reg?

 

[XS650D]

Tried in gear 5T pretty much the same. Would the new LED readout pull some power.I also have electric
ignition and advance.Would installing a LED bulb in the Neutral be ok. I have pack of them I used for the
Gages last season. Ive ordered a new VR-115 Reg,same unit as before. Hopefully that will be the ticket!
Thx for all your help guys. I miss ridin!
ps: Thx for the video Jim, great stuff

 

[XS650D]

Cleaned the key switch (Electronic Contact cleaner) up to 11.9 Volts into Reg now (key on) Little better.
Surprised,switch new 3 years ago! Battery down to 12.16 (key on) Thats 0.26 Volts. Vid states .2 to .3 Volts acceptable.

 

[XS650D]

No... with the bike off, you should read 0V at brown wire. Brown is power from the iggy switch. Switch needs to be on.
Ahhh... you meant not running... right? Yes power on (iggy switch)... bike not running.
What you're showing us is a half a volt drop between the batt and reg. That's too much. Do a Tech search for how to clean the contacts on the iggy switch and see if that clears up the drop.
You've got over a volt drop across the regulator... again, too much. I suspect your regulator is bad... that or corroded connections.

Jim,based on info above I ordered a new Reg but I just read an old post regarding Reg not putting out proper voltage and it stated that
a bad ground out of the Reg could give a bad reading also. Can u advise if this is possible (with a 77D wiring setup) How do I test for a bad
ground on the Reg. I take it the ground is the black wire and runs from the Reg to the brush with the black wire, correct? Do I just
put my continuity tester on each end and see if it beeps then all ok there. Just trying to cover all the bases before throwing parts at it.Thx

 

[Jim]

Yes... bad grounds can cause all manor of problems.
Don't go by the beep for grounds... you have to look at the reading. Touch your leads together with the meter on it's lowest ohms scale. Note what it reads and subtract that from any further reading. Should be real low... like .1 - .2 ohms That's 'point' 1 or 2. Now touch one lead to a clean metal spot on the frame and the other lead to any black terminal (wire) you want to test. Let us know what you get. The closer to 0 ohms, the better.

 

[XSLeo]

On your stock ground brush it grounds through the body of the stator to engine, frame battery. The black wire runs up to the harness ground. This givers the harness another ground point. It has another up by the coils.
When you hooked the black brush wire to your reg black wire did you unhook it from the harness ground? If so I might hook the brush black wire to the harness and run the reg black wire up to a good frame ground, like where the battery ground cable bolts on.
I would use the beeper on the meter. use the 200 ohm scale. Touch one lead to battery negative post. Touch other lead at both ends of cable and to a spot on frame. If that checks ok then move on to each ground point you want to test.
The ohm scale will read very small resistance while the beeper may not.
Leo

 

[XS650D]

Thx Guys, Tested all the grounds and all good based on your procedure. I found a few poor connections while at it.
I also tested the Stator white wires (engine off) and got .5 Volts.Tested the Yellow and got .4 Volts. So I think the Stator is ok
,Rec ok and new Rotor so it appears that the Rec is bad as I still see approx 11 Volts out on green. Now have 12.16 Volts going in, yes still a little low based on battery 12.5Volts but cant seem to get any better. My new Led Voltage meter is working great, Bonus ! It shows
approx .1 Volt lower than battery, i can live with that.Inside key was pretty dirty as every time if clean ,voltage gets better!
Should have the Reg Monday and can hook up and test again. Think my cooked original Rotor fried the Reg possibly.
Not sure if its worth testing the white wires while running bike as a final .

 

[Jim]

Now have 12.16 Volts going in, yes still a little low based on battery 12.5Volts but cant seem to get any better.

That's a .35v drop. I know that doesn't sound like much, but that's gonna make the alternator work harder... and the rotor run hotter. Have you taken the key switch apart and cleaned it? If (while) you have the headlight bucket apart, you can measure the voltage into and out of the key switch by plugging the meter into the back of the connector while it's still hooked up. That would tell you if it's the key switch dropping the voltage or you need to look somewhere else.

 

[XS650D]

Hey Jim thx for advise, the key switch on the 77 looks like a sealed unit.I have been spraying electronic cleaner
in thru the key hole and then compressed air to blow out. I ran out of cleaner so will give it a few more rounds and see
if that does it. Not ideal way to clean I know! I did test the brown wire on the key switch in headlight bucket, there are 2 brown wires, got same
voltage on both approx .2 Volts less than battery. I take results as soon as I turn on switch as theres a pretty big drop in voltage
as soon as u leave key on for more than a second or two.Maybe I need to test rite at the back of the key switch to get an accurate reading. I have electronic ignition and advance plus the LED Voltage light ,may be a bit of a draw there also. If I leave the key switch on for 5 to 10 seconds the voltage in battery will drop substantially down from 12.6 to 12.2 . is that normal?

 

[650Skull]

Canadian Wiring diagram has the Taillight coming on when the ignition is turned on.......there has to be some drop, as to how much ????, but the longer the key is on there is more draw on the battery.

All connections, (bullet and multi), should be continuity/resistance tested, broken, cleaned and checked, for corrosion and broken wires cleaned and reassembled, then tested again. Do this to all wires between connections and between switches, relays and then test again with the switches and relays in place........Do this from one end of a coloured wire till the full length has been cleaned and tested.

Do this to every wire on the bike........... Be surprised how much this will help stop power/voltage drop.

 

[Gator xs2]

I feel for you brother. I’ve read this book before with non OEM stuff. That’s why now I just gotta bite the bullitt. Good luck my friend. You’ll get it figured out.

 

[Jim]

Just spraying cleaner in there isn't going to get rid of tarnish and corrosion buildup on the contacts. Here.... Ignition Switch Overhaul

If I leave the key switch on for 5 to 10 seconds the voltage in battery will drop substantially down from 12.6 to 12.2 . is that normal?

Does it keep dropping, or does it stabilize at 12.2v? If it stabilizes, shouldn't be a problem.

 

[XS650D]

Yes tail light comes on with key switch so hard to get a good read as the voltage drops so fast!
I do have an LED bulb in the tail though so helps. It does seem to stabilize around 12.2 Volts but I dont like to leave key on to long with electronic ignition, I read that with the stronger output coils I got with the kit it can fry things!!

 

[Jim]

OK... lets make sure we're all reading from the same sheet here.... We're gettin' into two different types of voltage drops. When you energize a circuit (turn the key on), anything being energized (ignition, rotor, tailight, etc) is gonna draw some current. That put a drain on the battery.... causing a voltage drop in the battery. This is an entirely normal and expected voltage drop... and is not a concern, it's baked into the cake.
The other voltage drop comes when you pass a current through something (a switch or connector for example) that has a little resistance built up across it. It takes additional energy (current) to overcome that resistance and causes the voltage to drop going to anything downstream of the unwanted resistance. This is the type of voltage drop we're concerned with. Think of driving with a brake dragging. It takes additional engine power to overcome the resistance of the brake.
Kinetic resistance... the dragging brake, in this example, is exactly like electrical resistance across a switch.... Both are robbing energy... and we don't want that.

 

[5twins]

You can get into a Standard ignition switch. It's not held together with screws like the Special switch assembly, it's got portions of the metal housing crimped in over the switch plate on the bottom .....

Bend those out and the switch plate will come out. To properly clean the contacts inside, you have to take it apart.

 

[650Skull]

That's Interesting........Is that off a 74/75?.......This is from a 76-79 standard.