Topic: checking my non-charging charging system

[TwoTired]

Stator, from the back of the Harness Green top left, Red top right. yellow wires starting left to  right 1-3.
1,2 : 1.3
1,3 : OL
3,2 : OL

Somethings wrong here.  All three stator wires should have the same low resistance reading.
Either the wiring to the stator is bad, the stator itself is bad (more likely), or something about your test proceedure is wrong.

The Field coil is probably okay.

The rectifier is looking okay.

The Vreg is working for this mode. Low voltage at battery.  Must check with a full battery.

Your headlight overloads the alternator, which makes sense if the 3rd phase of the stator isn't connected.

Chase the number 3 wire to your stator and find the open connection.  Find that and your bike should charge again.

You're almost there!

Cheers,

[golden_child]

TT--
You have to be right about the stator wire. I checked it twice. The first time is when I got home the second is when I saw your post. I didn't write it down but I swear all three stator wires were between 1.2 and 1.8. I had checked because I found info on another post you made helping someone out with close to the same problem.

I'll check all the numbers again tomorrow after the battery is charged.

Thanks a lot for your time and direction.

[golden_child]

OK, I did some more looking last night. I disconnected the harness behind the airbox and found the individual wires that go to the stator (female end) and tested them for resistance. They seem to have tested ok, so it's not the stator.

So, Next I went to the Male end of the harness and checked the resistance there, from the harness end to the wires at the Vreg. Everything checkout out there as well. Ok, at this point I was completely confused.

I reconneted the 2 ends and checked the stator resistance again, Now the #1 wire is open and the #3 is closed, What the F? So disconnected again tested the wires from the male end of the harness back to the stator wires at the Vreg and all tested Ok again.

Well this went on a few times for about an hour, maybe less. it felt like an hour though. I was just completely confused.
 
So, I keep going back and forth until I really look and inspect the blades of the harness it looked like there was a bit of oxidation/corosion taking place on a few of them.  Two of them leading to what I call the #1 and #3 wire that connect to the Vreg. I had been putting the probe on th tip/end of the blade and getting a good read. When I put the probe on the flat/broad sides of the blade sometimes I would get a good reading and sometimes it would show OL (open). I all depended on where on the blade I placed the probe.

So my questions are, can I clean the blades or get replacement blades and still have the harness work correctly? I personally don't see why not but does anyone have experience doing this?

Is there an easy way to get to the harness behind the airbox w/o having double jointed fingers?

Should I just go with a new wiring harness? if so, can I find a wiring harness for that section (from male end of harness to the Vreg)? or would it be more efficent to do all the connections, I thnk I counted seven in the harness?

Can some one tell me where the other 4 blades in the harness lead to? I might as well check the resistance of those while I'm at it.

From what I recall This Is what blade within the harness looked liked. The numbers maybe in the wrong place though. Well, They probably only mean something to me anyway. I  looked at that thing some many time at so many different angles that I am a little confused on the order. I'll make sure to post the correct illustration this weekend. But I think this is it.



Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to help a newbie out with his problem or even read over this to see if they can help out. I am personally feeling more confident working on this bike. I am also now 1 step closer to riding my bike longer than 40 minutes w/o it cutting out. I can't wait to get back on this bike.

Thanks again.

[TwoTired]

So, I keep going back and forth until I really look and inspect the blades of the harness it looked like there was a bit of oxidation/corosion taking place on a few of them. 

So my questions are, can I clean the blades or get replacement blades and still have the harness work correctly? I personally don't see why not but does anyone have experience doing this?

Oxidation/corrosion act as insulator.  This is a problem when the goal is electrical conduction.  Replacement is the ideal solution, I suppose.  But, cleaning off the corrosion so bare metal is exposed is an adequate cure, too.

Is there an easy way to get to the harness behind the airbox w/o having double jointed fingers?

Sorry, for the the lack of sympathy.  Maybe you have to remove the airbox?

Should I just go with a new wiring harness? if so, can I find a wiring harness for that section (from male end of harness to the Vreg)? or would it be more efficent to do all the connections, I thnk I counted seven in the harness?

My guess is that you will need to clean ALL the wiring connections in the entire harness as well as the contacts of each connected device.  Replacing the harness will only do half the job, as the end devices all have contacts onto the main harness.  Corrosion/oxidation between contacts is resistive,  This lowers voltage and power delivered, as energy is expended into the connection resistance and dissipated as heat.  Imagine if each interconnect on the bike loses 1/4 watt.  You have hundreds of connections. 0.25W X 100 = 25 watts lost.  When working, your alternator puts out 210 Watts at 5K RPM if you have a 750.  And, only about 40 watts at idle.  Thowing away half your charging power won't keep a battery happy.
Now that you've told us your connections are corroded, I expect your best course of action is to methodically clean each connection on the bike and put dielectric grease on them before reassembly, to prevent or delay re-oxidation. The cleaner and tighter each electrical interconnect becomes, the more efficient the bike's electrical system will be.

What you will also have to determine is the extent of the corrosion.  It is only on the terminal contacts?  (Tedious but easy fix) Or, is it also between terminal and wire where it is crimped?  This is more difficult to deal with.

Can some one tell me where the other 4 blades in the harness lead to? I might as well check the resistance of those while I'm at it.

Look at the wire color codes and find them on your schematic.

I can't wait to get back on this bike.

Uh oh.  Electrical problems often need patience and perseverance.  Just a gentle warning than impatience to ride a bike with issues can leave you doing repairs at roadside instead of with the comforts of home.

Cheers,

P.S. My meter came with very pointy, sharp probes.  I learned that the sides of the metallic looking part exposed beyond the plastic has some sort of clear coating except at the very tips.   If your probes are the same type, don't let this disrupt your measurements.

[golden_child]

Once again TT thanks for the info. If not for Fathers day I woulkd be doing the job this weekend. But luckily I've got a three day Weekend next week to work on this. Well, Maybe I'll at least get the harness out this weekend. and doa little at a time during the week.

Thanks again

[golden_child]

Ok, I haven't gotten the harness out yet, it was way to hot to work on my bike over the weekend and it has been raining for the past 2 days. I've thought it over and I think I am just going to replace each of the harness blades. I might as well start out with fresh ones, right? So now I have a new question. What type, name, size of blades do I look for? And where can I purchase them? 

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Go to www.VintageConnections.com

[golden_child]

Thank you.

Go to www.VintageConnections.com

[golden_child]

Well, I finally got around to cleaning some parts of the harness this weekend. I still need to go back and get to the wires behind the headlight bucket. as for the current problem here is what I have come up with.

Stator, from the back of the Harness Green top left, Red top right. yellow wires starting left to  right 1-3.
1,2 : 1.0
1,3 : 1.0
3,2 : 1.0

I put about 40 miles on it, 1.5hrs, all rpm ranges, riding around the neighborhood (staying close just incase it died) with the headlight on and proper turn signal use. I noticed no sign of it stalling I also checked the voltage at the battery after riding I think it was ~12.8v I need to go back and check.

But with all the rain and flooding in the area lately I haven't been able to get it out for another test run.

Thanks to all that have helped.

Especially, TwoTired. Thanks for all your help and information. But most importantly the time you take out of your day to help people like me. Thanks again.