Michael Posted May 28, 2011 Posted May 28, 2011 I have been having problems getting my bike to charge. After riding it for a while, the flasher suddenly didn't work and afterwards I had to drive without lights home. I checked the battery with a voltmeter and it said 12v. Starting the bike up the voltage didn't change at all, even at 3-4.000 rpm, no change in the voltage across the battery terminals. Things I've done: Checked the voltage regulator, which seems to come from a Honda. I checked the regulator with an ohmmeter and it gave following results: Between Earth and Lights (I) - 36.6 ohm. Between Earth and Field coil - 36.6 ohm. Field coil and lights - 0 ohm. NE0 said that his regulator had a value of 100 ohm between E-I and E-F but 0 at the F-I. I've also done a practical test of the regulator by putting some voltage in via a powersupply to see where the regulator "switches off". At 16.2v the regulator said a little click and it went to around 0.3 mV. So I guess that it works? I've had the alternator opened and visually checked it. Everything seemed fine inside - no loose wires and such. And according to the service manuel, I also checked the ohm between the white wires coming from the alternator. These values matched fine, 0.7 according to the manual and that is also the values that I got. The field coil also gave the right ohm values. The rectifier is another component I tested. I used one of those testers that "beep" when they get connection. And everything seemed fine. The tester only "beeped" when the current was going from the white and negative leads to the positive. It didn't say anything when going the other way. So I guess this is working. So what now? Is it possible to, for example, put 12v from an external battery to the field coil, use the kickstarter and measure a voltage going out of the rectifier? I feel kind of lost here The wires seem to have connection all the way around, no broken connections inside the wires as the tester from above beeped at all the connections I tested.
Moderator drewpy Posted May 29, 2011 Moderator Posted May 29, 2011 the regulator may not work for that type of charging system. It could be for a permenant magnet one! have a ganders at your earth connectins too
Michael Posted May 29, 2011 Author Posted May 29, 2011 Apparently the Honda CB 400/4 can use it, but maybe it also uses a permanent magnet type of alternator? I'll take a look at my connections and also see if it's possible to find another regulator for testing purposes.
Michael Posted May 29, 2011 Author Posted May 29, 2011 If I can't find one of those old regulators with 3 legs, is it possible to use one of the new ones with 4 legs? And then just like using 3 of the 4 legs? Like this one. Because these new ones are easy to find and cheap.
Moderator drewpy Posted May 30, 2011 Moderator Posted May 30, 2011 not sure where you are from but electrex world do a combined unit
Michael Posted May 30, 2011 Author Posted May 30, 2011 Wonder why it didn't show I'm from Denmark? Anyways, I figured it out! I think it was a failure from my side. I must have been confused with the colouring of my own wiring harness and the Honda's regulators different colours. So, after studying the thing a little harder, and switching around on the connections, it works! Now I can finally go out and cruise on my bike without fearing the loss of power! ^^ But.. The regulator switches off at 16,2v which means it is like 1,7v above the 14,5v which should have been the max value. Does it matter? Or should I try to see if the thing is adjustable?
Moderator drewpy Posted May 31, 2011 Moderator Posted May 31, 2011 glad you sorted it, I don't think the honda is electro mechanical so can't be adjusted. Wonder if you can stick some sort of capacitor in there to fool it into the 16v threshold? the issue you will have is that the battery will boil and the plates will breakdown!
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