Basscliff Help - Rectifier Installation

[cowboyup3371]

Basscliff, I read your rectifier instructions and tried to follow them as best as I could understand. We already discussed earlier that I should solder the extra ground length but I used the butt connector for now and will try to get a solder iron (don't have one and can't borrow one) later to fix it up. I connected everything up and re-installed my battery which when I left Checkers Auto Parts read 12.5 volts. Too low for greatness I know but I thought it would work for now. Once I connected the battery however and before I turned on the bike I checked it and it read 11.75v. Okay, so I'll jump it using my TURNED OFF truck and the bike fired up. Checked battery again and it read 11.5; not good I know but I thought the rectifier and stator would kick in and raise it much like an alternator does to the car battery. I proved myself wrong as while I tried to drive off and turned on the headlights, the bike died. I have since taken the battery back to Apex Motorcycles to have them recharge it for me. I'll have it back tomorrow night.

In the meantime, I want to make sure I connected these wires correctly.

With the new rectifier, All three yellow rectifier wires went to all three stator wires (yellow, white/green and white/blue), red rectifier to red wire from fuse box, white/red and white/green to the black wires.

On the old rectifier, the yellow and white blue wires from stator went to the rectifier, white/green went to white green, white red went to white/red on rectifier, and red went to red

Is this right? Hopefully I can include the pics of the new one to help you see it.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

When replacing a separate regulator and rectifier with a combination r/r unit, the old rectifier and regulator can be completely removed from the bike.

On the new duaneage r/r unit (You got it from duaneage, right?), the black wire is the "sense" wire and should be connected to a switched 12v source. Most of the time it is connected to the tail light at the rear brake light switch. That's why the black wire has a male bullet and a female bullet. That way you can put the sense wire "inline" with the tail light. The White/Red and White/Green wires do not connect to the black wire from the r/r unit.

The w/r and w/g wires are probably a loop of wire that goes to a non-existent headlight on/off switch. These wires can be cut back and left unused. (You have no headlight switch, right?)

What is the AC output of your stator? It also sounds as if your battery is no longer holding a charge. But find out what your stator output is first.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[cowboyup3371]

Yes I got this from Duaneage and my old rectifier was a combination unit. I still have a headlight switch and I could not get a good reading on the stator. Once I get the battery back I was going to ask for help from Cdnoel on checking it again.

I'll have to find where the taillight wire is and connect it here. Should I check anything else?

 

[salty_monk]

Tail light wire is Orange Green from memory & resides in the pack of wires behind the battery...

The two defunct wires that you have going to the black one can plug into each other to make a completely pointless loop (but it cleans the ends/loose wires up for a neater install).

Now you have taken this loop out of the circuit DON'T run with your headlight off... (starting it with it off is ok) as this will put extra load on the stator.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Thank you Salty. I'll see how it goes tomorrow night.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

So what's the latest?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[cowboyup3371]

Just got home with the battery and will have to wait till later tonight or tomorrow as the missus isn't feeling good and the kids wrecked the house. I still need to start dinner and hopefully have time afterwards to fix wires. Thanks for asking Bass...I'll post something by Friday night for sure.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Oh my! Well, you just take your time and see to the family's needs.

I hope Mrs. cowboyup is feeling better soon.



All the best to you and yours,

Cliff

 

[cowboyup3371]

Thank you. BTW, the battery registered 13.1v at the store at 4pm today and now at 10pm it's registering 12.85v. Is that kind of loss in 6 hours normal when I don't have it hooked up to the bike?

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Yes, the battery will settle down after being taken off the charger. If the battery is still good it should stay above 12 volts, say 12.6, and go no lower for a long time (couple weeks).


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[cowboyup3371]

Update - Need to Fix Harness

Update - Need to Fix Harness

So, taking everyone's advice here, I found the wires leading back to my taillight. About one inch from the connector between the harness and the tail I found this solder joint covered in tape. I thought that would be a good place to put my spade connectors between the wire and the rectifier wire until I found that all three wires are frayed. It seems he did an okay job at the solder joint but left each end of the wire exposed and frayed. I don't personally think I like that idea since it probably could be causing some of my issues.

So although I was going to first buy a new harness, I think I'll take the existing one off, inspect everything, see what I can put new connectors on to fix and even try to solder what joints I can. After that I'll put the harness back, hook up the rectifier and battery, and try to take my first long ride on this bike.

Wish me luck. Sorry for the quality of the image but I was trying to get right where the solder joint was and it was hard to see if I was standing further away. Plus, my zoom isn't the greatest.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Another Question

Another Question

So I pulled the wiring harness out of the bike today and I think I can probably work out a way to re-terminate some wires so it works out better for me. However, I have this one connection where two red wires are joined together and combined into a single red going back to the headlight section of the harness. In that same section, a second red wire has been cut but I can't find any other piece it would have gone to. Is this a standard setup from the factory or is it something the PO could have messed up on doing? Will this cause me issues or should I just press with fixing the connections and putting this harness back on the bike?

Edited to add: One other thing, except for the red wires between rectifier and fuse block, most other wiring is 18 gauge right?

Thanks

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

I suggest continuing with your cleanup and repair. Put the harness back on the bike and see where you are. You will probably have to compare the harness modifications with the original wiring diagram to be sure everything is connected that should be. It's hard to tell from here what's going on with the issues you describe.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[cowboyup3371]

Thanks Bass. I'll be there soon if some money comes in Monday or Tuesday. I still need some new wire and connectors.

 

[cowboyup3371]

Update - Wiring Harness Back In

Update - Wiring Harness Back In

Well, I put the wiring harness back on the bike and got about 3/4 of the way done reconnecting everything before I lost daylight after work today. Need to finish a few things on the back and then connect everything inside the headlamp area. I will say one thing though, I hate trying to crimp those insulated blade connectors. I must not be strong enough or something because three of them came off the wires tonight. I recrimped each one and I think I have them fine as the feel tight when I lightly try to tug on them. I see why you all say soldering them but how do you do that when you expect to maybe need to remove them at a later date? Oh well, we'll see how things go tomorrow night and into Sunday (I'm taking kids camping/elk scouting Sat into Sunday AM).

 

[cowboyup3371]

Update - No Change

Update - No Change

So I installed the new rectifier from Duaneage and cleaned or changed out all connections that I could (left some bullet ones in head light area). Put the battery back in and tested it at 13.5v after sitting outside for the last week next to the bike. Tried to start the bike and it didn't want to start for about 10 mins or so, 20 at most. Yes I checked to make sure the bowls had fuel but it didn't want to fire. After some time, noticed the battery voltage dropped down to 12.3 and about this time I jumped it from my truck WITH THE ENGINE OFF. After a few times of this, the bike finally turned over and started running.

I checked the voltage again and it still stayed at 12.3 both at idle (1500rpm) and at 5000rpm. I also tried to check the stator connections but the multimeter a friend lent me only had a 200v setting. At this time, each set of three wires read 2.5 2.5 and 4.5. If I understand the difference correctly that should have translated to 25 25 and 45?

Even with this readings I thought maybe I just had a bad multimeter so I thought I'd take it for a drive. So I grabbed my jacket, helmet and gloves and proceeded to run down highway 94. The first mile I only got up to 50 before making a left hand turn and then only getting up to 55 (at 5000 rpm in 6th gear). The hwy speed is 65 but I am still a little nervous and after making that turn I had a 20mph headwind to deal with. About two or three miles down I turned down a dirt road to so I could turn around and go back to my house. Unfortunately, I didn't think about having it in first gear and stalled the bike when I stopped to turn around. I couldn't start it back up at all (no juice except for lights) so I was stuck. Fortunately, my girlfriend had followed me with the truck so she ran back to the house to get my wooden boards I use as ramps and came back to pick me up.

So, I think based on those readings and everything else I checked from the stator papers this situation tonight leaves me with one issue...my stator is bad. So, I'm ordering a new one tomorrow from Ricks and am hoping it will get here before next week so I can get it running again.

Sorry for being so long...anyone have any other ideas?

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Be sure you are measuring for AC voltage when performing the live test on the stator output. A good stator should give you about 70vAC between each leg and each should be within a couple of volts of each other. Use the guides on my website and the Stator papers.

With the bike running, what is the voltage at the battery at idle? It should be better than 13v. What is the voltage at 4000rpm? It should be around 14.5v - 15v. It's all in the Stator papers troubleshooting chart.

Have you cleaned the connections between the r/r output and the positive batter terminal i.e. the fusebox connections? Have you run the ground wire from the r/r to the negative battery terminal? Keep up the good work.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[cowboyup3371]

Hi,

Be sure you are measuring for AC voltage when performing the live test on the stator output. A good stator should give you about 70vAC between each leg and each should be within a couple of volts of each other. Use the guides on my website and the Stator papers.

Yes, I was measuring for AC voltage but the meter I used only had a 200v setting as its lowest one - that's where I was getting the 2.5 2.5 and 4.5 readings.

With the bike running, what is the voltage at the battery at idle? It should be better than 13v. What is the voltage at 4000rpm? It should be around 14.5v - 15v. It's all in the Stator papers troubleshooting chart.

I had my local motorcycle shop fully charge the battery last week and it kept that charge ever since. Before I started the bike, the battery was at 13.5 but it took forever to start. When it finally started the battery measured 12.3 at idle and stayed there. It never climbed even when running it at 5000 RPM.

Have you cleaned the connections between the r/r output and the positive batter terminal i.e. the fusebox connections? Have you run the ground wire from the r/r to the negative battery terminal? Keep up the good work.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Yes, I did clean all of those connections and the ground wire is run from the R/R to the negative terminal. Unfortunately it hasn't seemed to help. The local used parts house here in town has used stators for $75 and new ones for $120 so I'm going to try to recharge the battery again, run the tests again, and see what happens from there.

 

[cowboyup3371]

I went back and found a page of your tests that I missed the last time. I'll redo the resistance test tonight.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

It certainly seems like your stator is not putting out what it should. Does it look like this?

That's a toasty stator.



Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff