You have got to be kidding me!

[cmyoch]

I have been working on this damn charging system for 2 weeks to the point where I had success with my bike charging by replacing my rotor and stator with a good used one, new brushes, VR115 regulator, and Radio Shack rectifier. I got the bike out today to take an afternoon run and thought I'd do a quick voltage test. Well, no charge again! WTF!

The resistance on my rotor is 5.9 ohms and my rotor magnetizes when I hit the key. I did notice that there is a couple volt difference between my battery and positive brush. My battery is currently at 11.1V and I was at 8.9 on my positive brush with the key on, bike not running. I'm going to consult Curly's charging guide this evening and see what I can come up with. I'm so damn discouraged right now!

 

[jamesgs4]

time for a pma swap.

 

[gggGary]

Use a head light to check continuity in the those wires you may have a bad connection or broken wire somewhere. Remove check and clean your ground strap.

 

[cmyoch]

My first check is going to be the wire to the positive brush and also my key switch. My safety relay is apparently bad since my head light will not kick on when I start the bike. Could that have an effect on the charging system??

 

[Grinder]

The safety relay gets activated through the yellow wire comming out of the stator. If it's not charging you won't get juice through that wire to activate the relay.

 

[cmyoch]

Ugh! That makes sense. I sure hope my new stator isn't shot! I'll test it tonight when I get home.

 

[gggGary]

To test the key switch; disconnect the key switch connector found in the head light, take a short piece of #12 building wire, hammer the ends flat, insert it in the connector brown to the red. That bypasses the key. Do NOT forget and leave this connected with the engine not running it will burn out an ignition coil.

 

[cmyoch]

So can a stator be easily shorted out? I now have 2 of them that failed. Where should I check in my wiring that can possibly cause a short? I don't want to get a new one or a rewind only to have it fail on me too.

 

[bdholsin]

Which brush is the positive brush...the inner or outer ring brush?

 

[jamesgs4]

How much are you going to spend on the old failure prone system? cut your losses and just do the pma comversion.

 

[azman857]

Swapping to a PMA could cause a different set of problems. Stators can fail just as much on PMA as it can on our factory installed system.

 

[cmyoch]

The inner brush is the one that's powered. I considered the PMA swap at one time. I think though that doing the swap now will not solve my stator issue.

 

[Punkskalar]

Swapping to a PMA could cause a different set of problems. Stators can fail just as much on PMA as it can on our factory installed system.

Not trying to be a salesman, but I have not seen more than 3 failed stators for a PMA swap yet (all used) but I have a tower of dead rotors here at the shop

 

[cmyoch]

My rotor is testing 5.9 ohms resistance and is magnetizing. I assume it's still in good condition.

 

[gggGary]

That sounds good how is the stator testing, unplugged.
I would say rotors fail 5 to 1 before stators.

 

[cmyoch]

I will test the stator when I get home this evening.

 

[cmyoch]

I tested .5 ohm across each of the white wires which I assume is okay. I then tested continuity through the female connector to the rectifier connector for any break in those lines. All is good. My only guess now is either a faulty ground or red wire in the harness back out of the rectifier. I will have to delay that test though until tomorrow since it's getting late and it will require me to unravel a whole lot of electrical tape! Is there anywhere on either the red wire or ground that is prone to failure?

 

[bloodthirstysystem]

you need to get 13 (idle)-14v when running at the battery.

make sure you have a good ground for your battery. no paint or rust

 

[cmyoch]

When I get home this afternoon, I'll charge it up and check my ground at the battery. Can I ground my black wire from the rectifier to the frame to test to see if that may be the problem? If the ground tests fine, then I assume my issue lies in the red wire that supplys the power to the battery.

 

[bloodthirstysystem]

you could make any of your ground wires straight to the frame.. i have my regulator grounded twice, on the wiring harness and frame.. somewhere i read that it was a good idea.

a bad ground will drain your battery totally dead while you're riding