Who else has a charging problem?

[billygoat]

 I got a new gel battery, new used diode board (black paint model) a new voltage regulator and brushes in the stator but I still don't get a charged battery. I alsp made a new ground wire for the case and diode board. I just got my bike out of storage and it is a blast!.
Should I replace the rotor or the stator or???
 
 Help please.

[nhmaf]

Hi billygoat,
What model year is your bike ?    Does the "GEN" light come on, if so how brightly ?  Is it always
lit or only at certain RPMs ?   If it has burnt out, you also might not get any charging - it has sort of
a multi-function role in diagnosing the charging system.

This link
http://www.5united.net/html/charging.html
can give you a better understanding of how it works, and some tips on diagnosis..
With more info on your bike, we might come up with other things to check.
 

[willr65]

I had a murderous time tracing my charging fault(s). I had an intermittent fault in the regulator and also intermittent high resistance wiring connectors!  

Get yourself a cheap multimeter and test everything as per the instructions here: http://home.jps.net/~snowbum/trbleshootALT.htm


Good luck my friend,

Will

[billygoat]

 Hello all,
Sorry, my bike is a 1980 model. I read the Snowbum articles and tested the rotor and stator for resistance and continuity. The gen light comes on when I turn the key. I need to pull in the clutch to start the bike but the light goes out when engine is running. If I ride too far, 15 miles or so, the engine wont turn over. I can push start it but that's not fun. I just wonder if it's a problem I can fix myself. I think I'll buy a new rotor from motoelekt. I am trying to have my diode board tested. I went over the wiring harness last year and did the ground wire thing for the diode board. The po had a heated vest and grips so I wonder what I'm missing. This would be nice to fix.
Many thanks,
b.g.

[Bob_Roller]

Before I started changing $100 parts, I would want to make sure that the part was faulty beforehand. During your testing of the stator and rotor, what was the resistance reading ? Did you insulate the brushes from the slip rings before testing, if not you most likely did not get a good test of the rotor. When you have the engine running and have a voltmeter connected to the battery, does the voltage go up to 13-14 volts when the rpm's are increased to around 4000 rpm, or does it stay the same ? Have you checked the connections of the major cables for security and for corrosion ? When your starter doesn't work, do you have low battery voltage ( headlight and other lighting dim), or do just have a starter problem when it's hot ?  Throwing parts at an electrical problem without having some sort of troubleshooting plan, can get quite expensive, and not get you any where closer to solving your problem. Sorry about sounding a little harsh, but I don't know how many times that an owner just starts throwing parts at a problem, and then gets frustrated when it doesn't solve the problem, and not knowing anything your technical background, I can't tell if you are going about this in a methodical way or not.

[thrang]

Arrgh... The only time I truly hate my Beemer's is when the charging system starts playing up. When you bugger an engine, gearbox or something else mechanical there is some pleasure in fixing it, but when the gremlin gets into the wirings I invariably find tracing the problem a nightmare! Hell sometimes I think I'd be better off sacrificing a virgin to the dark gods of Bosch than trying to find the problem with a test meter.

A quick way to test the charging is to shove a test meter on volts over the battery when the bikes running if it gives around 13/14 volts from about 2 thousand up its working and the problems in the battery. Oh and I've had a dodgy regulator in the past that was fine when the bike was cold but once the heat of the motor got to the reg it went tits up.

Rather than buying a new part, I tend to just take buggered alternators and starter motors to the local autoelectrican and get them reconditioned. Its a hell of a lot cheeper and the turn round from the one near me is never more than 48 hours.

[willr65]

If you need to pull the clutch in to start you have a faulty handlebar clutch switch. This swtch allows the starter to turn in nuetral only or when the clutch lever is pulled in!  

You need to get that multimeter out and check every component of the charge system after replacing the handlebar switch.

After 15 miles what is the battery voltage, do the lights work, does the starter try to turn?  

Just because parts are new (but not your diode board!) doesn't mean they aren't faulty!

If your battery is fully charged 15 miles would not cause it a problem unless you have some heavy current draining gear on!

[billygoat]

Hello all,
Many thanks Will. Do you mean the handlebar COMBINATION SWITCH LEFT 61311244420-?
Can this be fixed? Or is it another switch? I replaced the neutral switch. When I bought this bike, the po told me about pulling in the clutch. My Suzuki dr650 requires you to pull in the clutch to start from the factory. I ordered a new diode part number - 61311358268 . and I replaced the wire set coming from the diode board. The bike started this morning after the battery has rested but after 15 freeway miles at speeds of 75+ I cannot restart unless I rest the battery. Three hours later and I took a trip to the store just fine. The voltage at the battery is only 12.5 and then slowly drops when running at freeway speeds. When driving at 3,000 rpm I get 12.5v. The lights go dim with the drop in batt. voltage. I tested the stator and rotor when they were out of the bike. I seem to recall getting 14v at the stator housing when running over 2,000 rpm.

[willr65]

On the clutch lever assembly betwwen the clutch cable adjuster and the handlebars you can just see a black, plastic switch body with a cable. I enclose a not very good photo but it's the only one I have. i can't remember how to remove it to check so it must be easy!

[Bob_Roller]

Hey Billygoat, Motorrad Elektrik has a manual : Classic Boxer Charging Version 2, available for $25 US plus shipping. I personally have not seen a copy of it, but general reviews from people that have, say it's something every airhead owner that does their own maintenance should have around, to demystify the charging system and it's problems.

[Ed Miller]

Your regulator can fail in a fashion that doesn't allow any current to reach the battery.  The test for that is to make a little lead with male spade terminals on each end.  Unplug the regulator and plug the test leads into two of the holes.  Unfortunately there are 3 there, and I can't remember which two to use.  Snowbum's website talks about various tests for the charging system.  Since my problem was the regulator, and since I checked that first, I didn't have to do any of the other tests.

http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/

Oh:  when you bypass the regulator, start the motor (there will be enough fuel in the carb bowls for this test) and put your test meter on the battery leads.  If your alternator/diode board is working right you'll see really high voltage, like 16 or more, when you rev the motor.  

Good luck,
Ed

[billygoat]

 Hey all,
I found my volt meter and hooked it up to the battery and started the bike. Before start reading was 12.6v. When started the reading went up to 13.6 then down to 10v then started jumping from 13.6 to 10v once a second. I suspect there is a loose connection and or the voltage regulator is bad. But I just bought a solid-state non-mechanical voltage regulator from motobins. My bike is a 1980 model. Does anyone know if I can use a solid-state volt reg. or do I need to go back to the mechanical one? I also tested the diode board and got .543 (or so) at the 2K ohm setting. I tested for direction (I think) and there is a flow direction. The diode board I got on ebay is a black one with black diodes. I am now going to check all wires and try again. When I did the wire across the volt reg. leads my bike reved to high rpms after riding some miles and would not idle down until I killed it.

[Ed Miller]

Uh, for the bypassing the regulator test you're not supposed to go for a ride, just attach your volt meter to your battery, start the bike, rev it up to maybe 3-4,000 rpms long enough to see what the voltage reading is, then shut it off.  Did you check the voltage reading with the regulator bypassed?

You can use a solid state regulator, I put one in that I got at NAPA.  I don't know if your oscillating voltage readings can be from the regulator or not, I've never seen that, but it's easy enough to swap them over and see.  I wonder if your battery cables are good and are attached well.

Good luck,

[billygoat]

I think I fixed it!!!
I found a loose wire, the blue wire that runs from the diode board to the voltage regulator. I hooked up a volt meter and rode 20 miles. The voltage was 12.5 and the bike started! It started and worked fine today. I get 13.5 volts at 3,000 rpm now not 16 volts but I'm not complaining. I am so gald to have a starting bike!  :)I remember reading that you could jump the wires if your generator goes out and you need to get home.

[nhmaf]

Good job, Billygoat !

It is always most satisfying to be able to fix problems on your own without bringing the
bike into a shop and running up a huge repair bill !

From your last post, I would have guess either a bad voltage regulator, or possibly a
bad diode in the diode board, but a loose/intermittent wire would also do the same
thing in this case, and it sounds like you've got it nailed.

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