PMA Failed and left me stranded..Help please!

Tron

Tron

Bearded Sheep Whisperer
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Hey all,

So I just recently got my ride back on the road as some of you may know..

I swapped over to Hughs PMA and Pamco petes ignition.

Running a capacitor, no battery, kick only, minimal wiring with a fuse block in a little tray etc etc. Green monster coil..

Anyways.. SO My bike basically just shit itself and died, leaving me stranded in the middle of no where, with a tow bill. The reason I switched over from the stock charging system/tci to what I have now was for reliability. Yes, the old system worked fine, but I didnt trust it. A bit ironic isnt it??

When the bike died, I waited a few minutes, and it kicked over again than coughed, sputtered and died. This happened about 3 times and then it wouldnt start at all.

We tore back into it, checked the ignition which was fine, put a battery in and bam, fired right up. Once the battery died from being run for a little bit, we knew right away it was the charging system. With a multimeter, we saw that the battery was at 12.3V, and as it kicked it was back and fourth between 11.8-12.7.

I pulled the rotor, saw the connections weren't perfect, so I resoldered them up, got it back in and its still a no go. So now its either my reg/rec or possibly just a shit alternator. Can anyone help me find an answer so I can get this thing back on the road and running again? Im looking for ways to test the reg/rec, and rotor.

Basically, Im running out of patience, time, and money, and I lose my shop in 3 weeks and will no longer have anywhere to continue fixing shit that is supposed to work in the first place. :banghead::banghead::banghead:

Help?!
 
Since the charging system is based on the banshee I troubleshoot it as if it was a banshee... or xv1100... which has a pma stock. Ive never bought a pma kit, and never used one of those chinese reg/rec. I run an xv1100 reg/rec, haven't had one burn out yet. Knock on wood...
 
It should be simple to do a few tests. Re-charge your battery on the bench.

Start the engine and let the engine idle. Measure the AC voltage on any 2 of the 3 wires that come out of the PMA stator. There are 3 possible combinations, so measure all 3. You should likely see around 9 volts AC, with the engine idling. Rev the engine to 3000 to 3500 rpm, and you should see the AC voltage increase to around 12 volts AC. If it does not, then the problem is with the stator.

If the stator is puting out 12 volts AC, then measure the DC voltage across the battery terminals.................expect to see 13 volts DC at idle and 14 to 14.5 DC at 3000 to 3500 rpm. If you only see 12 to 12.5 volts DC as you rev the engine to over 3000 rpm, then the rec/reg is not working.
 
Last edited:
Tron throw the battery back in and test. Could be your capacitor. I would check all of my connections, fuses, and grounds first.
 
Wow, my Road Star and SV make upwards of 70 volts AC on yellow wire pairs when mid-throttle, but I realize the PMA is different. Does Hugh have a troubleshooting guide available?
 
jd750ace said:
Wow, my Road Star and SV make upwards of 70 volts AC on yellow wire pairs when mid-throttle, but I realize the PMA is different. Does Hugh have a troubleshooting guide available?
Click to expand...

70 volts AC would convert to about 99 volts DC! Must be a very specialized charging system.................what type of battery does the bike use?
 

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