Do you have a voltmeter? From the Clymer manual, disconnect the alternator connector. It is the connector with the three yellow leads coming from the stator cover. Connect an AC voltmeter between each yellow lead and its counterpart in the mating connector. At 4,000 rpm, the AC voltage should be about 60VAC between each of the three wire pairs. If you get the right voltages, then the rectifier/regulator is likely damaged.

 

thanks found the problem....took off the stator and found that it was contacted the flywheel and cut the wire in two...now does anyone think I could just rewire it or should i buy a whole new stator...im leaning towards rewiring th damn thing and putting some shrink on it and hoping it doesnt wear through again???

 

you can probably repair the wiring, but make CERTAIN its liquid tight, I dont know how conductive oil is t electricity but you dont want to be the guinea pig I dont think.

 

Heat shrink and epoxy over. Test stator windings first to see if they're shorted due to the contact w fw.

 

This is the EXACT same problem I'm having, I've been putting my battery on a trickle charger every couple days and it's been working out, but it's a pain to have to jump my bike occasionally. Also, my bike stalls out sometimes when I'm riding if I let the RPM's drop. Can you provide some pictures on how you are replacing/ where the stator is? I can't find any info and it looks like you know what you are doing, help would be appreciated.

 

You would need to inspect first visually who knows maybe your magnets fell off? Maybe a wire is cut? Maybe the stator went bad internally?

 

Well it runs fine as long as I rev like a demon at stop lights. So I don't know if my battery or charging system is at fault. I'd like to fix this so people can stop staring at me every time I need to stop. It's a good thing I'm mostly on the interstate and country roads.

 

Your battery wouldn't have enough energy to start the bike if your charging system was bad unless you put a charger on after each use. So if your bike starter turns, and you haven't used a charger recently, there is nothing wrong w the charging system. Did you try raising the idle?

 

I have to put the battery on a charger often (once a week at least) and how do you raise the idle?

 

I am working on the charging system of a 95 right now. It has symptoms that are similar. The alternator is unable to supply the spec'd 60VAC output at 4,000 rpm. Its actual output is about 30VAC at 4,000 rpm on all three windings.

I placed an ammeter in series with the positive battery lead to the bike. At idle, there is about 1A charging the battery, at slightly higher rpm, the charging current increases to 2A, but at 2,000 rpm it is not charging and at 2,200 rpm the battery is being discharged. At higher rpm, charging resumes.

The reason this happens is because of the very simple voltage regulator design. The regulator uses thyristors to short out parts of the AC input to reduce the AC signal to the regulator. It does so at trip points and not continuously. With a marginal alternator, hitting a trip point can reduce the alternator output below what is needed to charge the battery.

If a person rode around on this bike with rpm's right around 2,200 they would be continuously discharging the battery, but if they rode at 2,500 rpm it would be charging.

 

You can do a quick sanity check of your charging system by removing the negative wire from the battery while the bike is running. If the engine does not die and the running lights stay lit, its OK. If the bike dies then there is a problem with your charging system.

If you have a multi meter any easier way to check is to just check the voltage at the battery with the key in the off positon, and again while the engine is running. A fully charged battery will have a voltage of ~13.2v. With the engine running the voltage at the battery should be ~14.5v.

If a trickle charger won't charge your battery up to 13.2v it's a sign your battery is ready for replacement. You can kill a lead acid battery by letting it fully discharge more than a few times. Also check the electrolyte level in the battery if it is not the sealed type.

 

needs a battery to run as far as I knew.

 

If I just go ahead and replace the regulator do you think my bike will be fixed? It cut out on me at the end of my street after a half hour ride today because I let the RPMs die down, it's nerve racking knowing you could be stranded at any moment.

 

You will need a multimeter to do AC and DC voltage tests to determine which component if any is wrong with the charging system. Most auto parts stores and Walmart, Target, etc. will have one. It does not have to be great one. Many are under $10.

 

I didn't know Walmart carried them. Thanks!

 

needs a battery to run as far as I knew.

Since the battery is in parallel I can't see why not. The wiring diagram does't show any reason it should not work. That said the only real way be 100% certain is to verify it. I'm going to have to give this a try now.

BTW - Never remove the positive, since if it comes in contact with the frame or any metal part of you're bike, you'll short the alternator. Always the negative as it is at the same potential as the frame.

 

If you look at this link there is a schematic and explanation showing why it will not work. It is not in parallel. The regulator runs on the battery and stops if either end of the battery is disconnected.

http://www.ex-500.com/index.php/topic,17401.msg225235.html#msg225235

I did look at the diagram and it is in parallel. Like I said I'm going to have to test this now. But I don't see any reason from the wiring diagram why it would not work.

 

Try and report back, I'm curious now.

 

Battery needs to be hooked up for it to run. The battery can be almost dead but still needs to be there. We have talked about this more than once in several threads and yes others have tried it and it simply doesn't work.
OP; get yourself a clymer manual and troubleshoot your problems by the multi page flow chart in the manual. There is an order of things to test and all their values. Electrical troubleshooting starts with a known good battery. Without knowing that you are just playing guessing games. Get a manual everything you will ever need to know is in there.