CL77 Charging Issues

Cap'n Dave · Post by **Cap'n Dave** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 8:49 pm

I am having charging issues on my CL77 and was curious about testing my stator: With a voltmeter and checking output voltage at high RPM I am getting 35V, 35V and 14V across the three possible wire combinations on the stator's brown, pink and yellow wires. A spare stator give the same results. New battery, all charged up.

Stator wires have continuity almost themselves and don't have continuity to ground. Original rectifier passes unidirectional continuity tests I think ('flow' only in one direction). Tried a Radio Shack rectifier as well. In the end a voltmeter on the battery terminals with the engine running never indicates more than static battery voltage, 11 volts or so. Any comments out there; is there something obvious I' m missing ????

cadman · Post by **cadman** » Mon Sep 15, 2014 3:55 pm

Which combination is giving you 14 volts?

Cap'n Dave · Post by **Cap'n Dave** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:07 pm

Hi Cadman:

Thanks for the reply. At high RPMs the Yellow/Brown combination puts out about 14V, and the Pink/Brown and Yellow/Pink combinations both put out about 30-35V with either the original CL77 stator or the 'loaner' from the Superhawk. Is there something out there that says two of those wires can be joined together to up the charging voltage at the battery. Not sure how that would be done.

cadman · Post by **cadman** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 6:20 pm

The stator has 3 pairs of two coils much like a normal stator. However the pink wire is tied to two pair four coils (2/3 of output)and run through the switch to add additional charging power for the headlight. The remaining two coils (1/3 power) are tied together (yellow wire) and provide charging for running without the headlight. This was done because there is no voltage regulator.

So the 35VAC you see between the yellow and pink is correct. The brown wire is the common. This is referred to as a two wire alternator. The problem is, as I see it, no regulator. Cruse around slow and the battery discharges - go fast and it over charges.

I have been the same thing as you - multiple stators - they are all the same. On Honda fours I am used to seeing well over 50VAC from the alternator - not so here. Remember this alternator probably outputs about 3 amps maximum - barely enough to start with and that's at a fairly high rpm. The only reasonable solution is to tie the pink and yellow together and use a Kohler regulator/rectifier. Just make sure you have an excellent ground to the Kohler unit.

Cap'n Dave · Post by **Cap'n Dave** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 8:04 pm

Thanks for great help Cadman. I connected the pink and yellow stator wires to each other and noted 13 to 14V at higher RPM with the headlight switch 'off'. Awesome ! As soon as I turned the headlight switch 'on', the voltage wouldn't go above the old 11V readings. Any thoughts on that ?

cadman · Post by **cadman** » Tue Sep 16, 2014 8:26 pm

Same problems I have. I usually see about 35VAC from the alternator - I have seen as high as 50VAC - Don't know why. Charging voltage can be as little as 12.2 or as high as 13.2 - don't know why. All this with two different stators and a Radio Shack rectifier and a Kohler regulator/rectifier.

No one on this forum has a good answer. I get "I have been riding this for 10 years and it works fine" to- "Why is my battery dead all the time". So all you can do is reduce the amp draw - led's where possible - keep your foot off the brake when stopped - use a charger - don't ride with the headlight on. I have a spare stator and have been contemplating doing a rewind to increase output.

I guarantee if you ride around town a fairly low speeds the battery will die. Remember at its best it only makes about 3 amps and that is at a high rpm.

Could be one set of your stator coils is bad. You may be producing enough volts but not enough amps. I found a broken wire in one of mine where the wires exit the housing.

Cap'n Dave · Post by **Cap'n Dave** » Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:31 pm

Thanks again Cadman.....I going to reinstall the RadioShack rectifier (vs. functioning original rectifier) and also reinstall the CL77 stator that seemed to put out 35V versus the CB77 30V unit. I noticed the model numbers on the two stators were slightly different. Nothing to lose. Do you know of any LED headlight mods for the CL77 sealed beam OEM ? Perhaps there is an automotive LED out there that could be modified ?

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