Battery or earthing problem?

[Hubie]

Hi Muskrat,

I am on night shift at the moment but I also do morning and afternoon shift.  I have a feeling that the battery may have been flattened by the stop lamp staying on.  I've noticed a couple of times the stop lamp staying on after I have lifted my foot off the lever.  Give the lever a little nudge and the lamp goes out again.  Perhaps I forgot to do this on one occaision and flattened the battery this way.

Cheers,

Hubie.

[muskrat]

Hmmmm,

[Hubie]

Checked the volatages today.  Once the revs are up enough and the reg kicks in, voltage on the battery is 7.4 volts and will go up or down with revs, switch lights on and I still have at least 6.5 volts.  I think I may have flatenned the battery with my stop lamp issue.

Cheers,

Dave.

[Hubie]

I did some more testing today and I now think the generator is the problem.  It will run fine with normal voltage output and after a short time will cut out, giving nothing more than one or 1.5 volts.  I am not sure what the cause of this is or how to test it.  As previously stated, electrics are my weakness.

Cheers,

Hubie.

[muskrat]

G'day again Hubie,
                         I'm no wiz on electrics either. I think that if you have a battery that is down a bit the reg tells the gen to work and charge the battery. Once it's full the reg tells the gen to take a break and there is little or no output.
Try the same test with the lights on. Remember the motor needs to be reving at about 1500 for the gen to work ( about double idle speed). The gen should put out enough to keep up with the lights.
Cheers

[Hubie]

Hi again Muskrat,

I did just that, no dice with lights at all.  Gen will only come on intermittently even at revs.

Cheers,

Dave.

[trevinoz]

Hubie,
           Go trawling through previous posts and you will find plenty of info to test your generator.
Generators usually work or don't work, possibly your regulator is failing intermittently.
If you can't find the test procedures, I or someone else will surely re post them.
Trev.

[Hubie]

More testing today.  Bike charged up again for short while, disconnected the regulator for a short time and then reconnected it, charged again for a short time.  Maybe the reg has had it?

[trevinoz]

Hubie,
            First things first.
Test generator then go for regulator.
          Trev.

[wilko]

Sticky brushes.

[Hubie]

Just a question (haven't had the chance to get the gen out owing to a death in the family),

Will a 12v reg work with my setup, or a reg/rectifier?

Thanks,

Dave

[muskrat]

G'day Dave,
                not 100% sure but I don't think so. A reg/rec is for an alternator type system where the rec converts AC to DC. Generator systems use a reg only.
Cheers

[wilko]

They've been making 12v reggys for 30 years for 6volt gennys. I believe the Podronics are the best. You just change your brush and field wire configuration.

[Hubie]

The generator is putting out 1.2 to 1.7 volts.  According to the test data, this means there is a fault in the armature winding......

[Josh Cox]

Hubie,

That 1.2 volts, is that whilst reving the engine or at idle ?.