Charging issue! Help please

[flatfour]

Please note: mistake in number three above, it should read wrap terminals of REGULATOR that wires were removed from with tape, the Rectifier has, of course already been removed.

[flatfour]

As I haven't read anything more, presumably all is now sorted with the charging system?

[Wenman]

Apologies flat four,

I spoke with David silver Spares also and they exchanged the reg/Rec for one which has a black and white wire making the wiring side easier! Although the new unit is twice the bloody size which is going to make it fun fitting it under the seat!!😡

I am in the process of cleaning everything up so testing will hopefully be over the weekend!
I'll be sure to update you!

Thanks again for your help!

Alan

[flatfour]

Many thanks for the update.

[bomber]

Seems like I have ame issue, would you be able to post pic of your new rectifier unit?
Many thanks

Apologies flat four,

I spoke with David silver Spares also and they exchanged the reg/Rec for one which has a black and white wire making the wiring side easier! Although the new unit is twice the bloody size which is going to make it fun fitting it under the seat!!😡

I am in the process of cleaning everything up so testing will hopefully be over the weekend!
I'll be sure to update you!

Thanks again for your help!

Alan

[Wenman]

Update...

So having cleaned all the connectors up, fitted new combined rec/reg, new antigravity battery and volt gauge fitted took it for a spin!
At first the batt was riding 12.9 volts... it held at 12.9 v for a good 5 miles. Stopped, cuppa and went again... this time I just watched as the voltage slowly dropped, sat at the lights end of my road and it was reading 11.6 (any more and I risk ruining another £200 battery!😩)
Managed to get home and reading 11.1v. Quickly put it on charge to save battery!

Something is definitely wrong... in my opinion it should have risen to around 14v but instead slowly depleated!
I'm now at a total loss and feel like crying! This project is slowly becoming a very expensive ornament!!

Please help!

Alan

[petermigreen]

Okay so you've changed the reg/rec but all this does is regulate the output from the alternator. Have you proved/interrogated your alternator?

[petermigreen]

Sorry, just read back over thread from start. Okay so people state alternators don't normally fail but it's not impossible. Plus you started the thread querying the readings and then got steered down the reg/req route. I don't know what the readings should be but maybe someone has a spare that could be tried.

[Wenman]

Peter

I could really do with another stator to try but without paying three the nose to have one imported they are far and few between.

I think there are 3 parts to it too, inner coil, outer coil and rota!

Where would I start? Also would 750 coils fit?

Alan

[petermigreen]

Afraid I'm no expert on interchangeability. Not sure which bike you've got? 550? As far as I'm aware, the 500 and 550 engines are the same at the bottom end. My guess would be that a 750 would be different/bigger.

I'm sure someone who visits here has a spare engine or two tucked away under a bench. Besides, stators can be rewound if you can prove yours is faulty. Plenty of companies out there providing rewinds.

You listed ohms readings in your first post and were concerned about the values. In my experience, the values are not so important as how they compare to each other. Where were the values taken. Phase to Phase they should be the same or very similar. Any phase to earth/body/ground should be infinity/over-range. If they're zero or a very low reading then it's shorted and won't work for sure. Again as Mike said, the low resistances in play make it hard to get accurate readings without specialised equipment.

If I get time this week I could pull my 500 apart and get some comparison readings but I'm not promising as I've got 3 sick motorcycles at the moment.

Don't get discouraged, trust me, I've been where you are and it feels like you'll never see the way out. Remember these machines are a collection of components and when one goes wrong it has you chasing your tail but you'll get there you just have to be methodical and try each little thing until you solve it.

Peter.

[Wenman]

Thanks a lot peter! The 5 minutes I've had riding this build had me smiling from ear to ear so I know it's worth it!

Another quick question... I removed the block connector from the rectifier in order to feed the wires through a small hole and re connected the block. Would getting the yellow wires mixed up cause any issues ??

[mike the bike]

No.  Mixing up the yellows makes no difference at all.

[petermigreen]

Okay pulled the connector block on my 500 and with my cheap multimeter I measured phase (yellows) to phase and am getting about 0.9 ohms between phases exactly the same as you so that is encouraging (mine charging okay). With regard to the connection of the yellows I will state this. In the opposite of an alternator/generator (a motor) if you change any two supply phases it will run the opposite way. Probably won't make any difference but just for peace of mind why not swap two phases and see what happens?
Good luck.
Peter.

[mike the bike]

The three phases go through the full wave rectifier so it won't make any difference - trust me.  It might be an idea to check the ac voltage on each of the yellows.  I don't know what the actual voltages are without measuring them but all three phases should read roughly the same.  If there's nothing coming out of the alternator,  the next thing to check is if there's 12V across the exciter coil (the one in the middle).  Without a magnetic field from the exciter coil you ain't gonna get juice in the yellow wires.

There's a little man inside the regulator with a volt meter measuring the battery.   If it's too low he thinks "ay up,  getting a bit low here, best get the alternator going"  so he flicks a little switch and makes the exciter coil get excited,  hence the alternator gets making juice.
If the little man measures it too high he has to turn the exciter coil off or the battery will blow up and the little man will get a bollocking.

Hope this helps.

[petermigreen]

Is the little man Japanese?