Charging issues

[WIZ]

I had charging issues back in may and came to the conclusion my stator and rectifier were bad. I replaced both with Rick's. This past weekend my issues returned when my bike wouldn't start. I charged the battery and was able to get it home. When I test the stator it is putting out about 150 amps and around 3000 rpms. I ordered another rectifier to install while waiting on my warranty replacement. Cleaned all the grounds I could find and installed the new rectifier. It charges 13.8 at idle but drops to 13.2 when engine is reved. I put my old original rectifier on and it charges 14.5 at idle and goes up to 17 when reved. I don't understand why with one rectifier the volts go up when reved and the other the volts goes down when reved. Did I get a bad rectifier or what?

Thanks, Ron

[utadventure]

Wiz

 

The system putting 17v across the battery is never a good thing. It may have damaged the battery depending on how long it has been that high.

 

The regulator is designed to shunt excess electricity to ground. After a start, the battery may need 13.8 to get the battery up to full level and then would drop to 13.2 after that. A resting battery should be 12.6 when full charged but will show up to 13.2 or so while charging.

 

Hope that makes sense.

 

Dave

[WIZ]

The rectifier that charged at up to 17 volts was the old original rectifier that I had laying around from my issues back in may I just stuck it on to try after the new rectifier I got would drop voltage as I increased rpms. It was only on for matter of seconds. Just wanted to verify that my stator was charging and not dropping voltage as rpms were increased. The Rick's rectifier I took off was only charging about 10.5 volts.

 

Thanks, Ron

Edited September 29, 2016 by WIZ

[bongobobny]

Do a search on how to check the output of your stator, but in a nutshell, you want to disconnect the connector at the R/R and with a voltmeter on AC, read the output voltage FROM THE STATOR which is the 3 wires that are the same color, NOT the black or red wires. You will take 3 readings on the wires. In your mind label the 3 wires A, B, and C. You will read A and B, A and C, and B and C. At idle you will see a fairly low AC voltage, usually under 20 volts, and they all should be roughly the same. When you rev the engine up, at around 2000 RPM you will see maybe 40 VAC, at 3000 RPM maybe 60 VAC, etc. All 3 readings at the different RPM's should be close to the same. If one reading is much lower than the other then you may have a bad Stator, or possibly a bad connection where the Stator plugs into the main harness under the seat near the fuel pump, fuel filter, etc.

 

Also, with the bike turned off and key off, before you read the AC voltages, switch to the ohms function and check the resistance of the three combinations of leads, AND each wire to ground. You should see the resistance readings approximately the same, AND each wire to ground should read infinity, open...

[WIZ]

When I installed the new stator I soldered the three wires under the seat for the stator. The readings on the three wires at the rectifier is about 25 vac at idle and they go up to about 150 vac at high rpms and they are all three are pretty much identical. When checking them from the ground it shows open.

 

Thanks, Ron

[bongobobny]

Well then, sounds like defective R/R then!! No two regulators will regulate at the exact same voltage, but they should be in the same general range, around 13.2 at idle, and go up with RPM's to their actual regulating point of round 14 volts, more or less, and stay there regardless of how much higher the RPM's go. I had one that regulated around 12.5 volts, it's in a landfill somewhere now...

[WIZ]

I contacted Rick's and there tech told me that it sounded like the rectifier went bad and took my battery with it. I installed a new full charged battery. I tested volts at both the battery and rectifier. It seemed that if I had the ground on the rectifier ground wire and the positive on the battery I would get a higher voltage, so after reading some posts on here I added another ground wire to the rectifier ground and frame. It showed a .2 volt increase after adding the ground. My current number's are idling: 14.08 at battery and 14.53 at rectifier, when revved 13.88 at battery and 14.24 at rectifier. I have unplugged and cleaned every plug that I can find, cleaned all of the controls on the bars and checked the ignition switch. I am still trying to find why i'm losing .2 to .3 volts from rectifier to battery but am stumped as to why the volts go down when revved. Is it possible that because i'm getting 14.53 at the rectifier when idling that the rectifier is shunting extra volts when revved since it is a the top of the output it is designed for.

 

Ron

[bongobobny]

A 0.2 volt drop from the rectifier to the battery is most likely attributed to the resistance of the wires from point A to point B. This drop is called, in electrical terms, an IR drop. It's Ohm's law, the voltage (E) drop across a resistor (in this case a length of wire which does have a small amount of resistance) is equal to the Resistance (ohms) multiplied by the current (I), or E = I x R.

 

I still think you have a defective R/R...

[Flyinfool]

Have you done the diode test on your RR?

Have you done the voltage output test on the stator?

This is a weird one to have voltage drop with increasing RPM.

I am wondering if something in the stator or RR is breaking down as the voltage and frequency of the stator rise with RPM. This could cause the RR input to go from 3 phase to single phase power.

[WIZ]

I did test the stator and rectifier the results are in the original post. I called Rick's again today but they wouldn't let me speak to the tech, they told me I need to contact the company that I purchased the new rectifier from to verify if it is normal for there rectifier to drop voltage when revved. Is the .2 to .3 loss between the rectifier and battery acceptable if the volts at the battery are in range or do I need to dive into the harness to try to find it.

 

Ron

[sho_greg]

i have issues with my new Ricks parts as well- got the high output parts... Mine registers about 12.6 most of the time on mu amps meter... sometimes it reaches 13.2--- seems like on cooler days it does the 13.2 V.

[WIZ]

Talked to our local yamaha service tech and told him my numbers, he told me that they were well within range and should be fine as long as they stay there. I took the bike out for about 120 mile ride today. The warmest part of the day the volts stayed right at 13.8-13.9 volts. When the temperature cooled down the volts went up and stayed at a steady 14.2-14.3 volts. For now I'm just going to ride it and monitor the volts. Thanks to all who offered their help.

 

Ron

[WIZ]

Bob you were right I received my replacement rectifier from Rick's and installed it yesterday evening. My volts at idle are 13.8-13.9 and when revved they reach 14.1 with my driving lights on.

 

Ron

[bongobobny]

Thought so...

[sho_greg]

Fixed mine today.. one of the stator wires had come loose from rectifier... or was never attached.. now charging at 13.2 at idle and about 13.7 riding..