Wilf,
Your question tells me I'm reading the diagram wrong. Here is how I was reading it.
First, let me number the coils on his diagram. Starting at 12 o'clock coil and that as #1, and going CW, we get coils 1 thru 6.
With lights off
Terminal three makes a circuit via"
Coil 5 thru center connection thru 6 to term 1
Coil 3 thru center to coil 6 to term 1
Coil 1 thru center to coil 6 to term 1
That 4 of 6 coils.
With Lights on
The above and
Term 3 to coil 3 thru center to coil 6 to term 1.
But based on your question, I now assume that the path is always thru a pair of coils connected at the center. So it should be:
Lights off
Term 3 thru coils 3 and 6 to term 1
Lights on
The above plus
Term 3 thru coil 5 and 2 to term 2 which is connected via switch to term 1
Term 3 thru coils 1 and 4 to term 2 which is connected via switch to term 1
Got a little smarter today. Thanks.
Warned you I was a flangehead
Rob
Over voltagePersonally, I think that the manual diagram that you posted that shows how the stator is wired is what makes the stator diagram in the wiring diagram make sense. Everyone talks about the light coil (singular) when in fact it is lighting coils (plural).
Getting back to the problem at hand here, and reading Jensen's explanation for how the coils are wound in the twins thread, if that analysis is correct, then it sounds like the lighting coils are intended to maintain voltage on the system when the added load of the lights is put into play. Otherwise, the primary, no lights, charging coil can handle the load. So, getting back to HSF's problem again, the fact that the battery goes dead with our without lights and he has measured no current with the system off, says there is no charging taking place. So, I go back to what Wilf and I recommended, which was to measure across the stator side of the rectifier terminals with the meter on AC for both conditons (lights on/off) and then again on the battery side of the rectifier with the meter on DC for both conditions. One last thought is wiggle the wires coming out of the stator to the rectifier during your testing to see if you get any breaks in current flow. You might have a broken wire that is making intermittant contact and this is the root of your problem. Might be a stretch, but good to check that the wiring is sound to eliminate that variable. regards, Rob
Everyone,
Well first of all I would like to apologize for the numbers and tests I've done for they have all been incorrect. I feel both dumb and embarrassed for posting this information with out thinking things through and for confusing everyone. Im pretty new at understanding electricity on this motorcycle and have made some mistakes on the way. The test I did using VDC was as suspected from y'all and was one lead on the terminal of the rectifier and one lead touching ground. When I did this test I was thinking in my head that VDC was the way to read things because of it being a 12V system and the electricity from the rectifier was being sent back to the battery to charge it. After posting the numbers and confusing you guys, I realized that I made a mistake because I already knew that alternators (stator) produce AC current. So the tests I've done have been a loss. Now, going back to what Wilf said and taking things one step at a time before jumping all over the place I started with the battery and worked my way from there. First I bought a new DMM so theres no guessing or subtracting to try and figure things out. Starting with the battery, I took it out, tested it, charged it, and now reads 12.4 VDC. So the battery is good. I tested the ground between the frame to see if theres a ground issue as suggested (and tested) earlier and still good there. I followed the positive lead from the battery to the starter relay and still good there. No bad connections or broken wires since its a new cable anyways. Next I followed the red wire that leads from the battery to the rectifier and same there. (no bad wires for its been checked and also new harness) Now going back to what Rob said and to never rule something out just because its been replaced, I took the rectifier (if you remember the one I bought for oregonmotorcycleparts.com) and pulled it out to test it by itself. I went online to the website I bought it from and in the FAQs section they have a explanation on how to test a rectifier. (http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/FAQ.html) So in conclusion and stopping there, one of the AC terminals isn't showing any results on the DMM when I do a continuity test, which leads me to believe that I possibly have a bad rectifier. I hope this is the problem and all I have to do is replace it. Would you guys concur? Would you suggest I go the route of making my own rectifier via Radio Shack? (that is if it is a bad rectifier) Thanks for everyone patients and understanding highskyflyn hsf,
No need to apologize or feel stupid or embarassed. In fact, you should feel proud of yourself for taking on the challenge of learning about your machine and for having the patience and perseverance to keep at it! Good on the new DMM and starting with a fully charged battery. I'm going to take a minute to at your rectifier website. The radio shack rectfier is fine (I've used them on 2 machines) and cheap. There are posts on this forum showing installations. If you followed the rectifier tests from that web-page and the results are as you described, then it appears one leg of your rectifier is bad. Wilf
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