'77 XS360 Charging Woes....

[kelvis]

Hi All,

Just registered with the forum, I'm in Australia & currently in the process of building a cafe'd XS360 and am having some issues with the charging system (yes...another one!).

I have searched though some of the other threads already to see if I can find out what the cause of the issue is, but to no avail. Here's the background story:

- Engine has been rebuilt (runs great).
- All electrical items (horn, headlight, indicators, brake light, switches etc) work.
- Battery is fully charged.
- Stator coil resistance checks out fine (0.9 ohms to each consecutive pair of white wires, wires have been replaced).
- Feild coil resistance checks out fine (4.0 ohms green to black).
- Bike runs, but is only running off the battery (shows 12V, does not rise with engine revs), when the red lead from the starter solenoid is unclipped, all electrics switch off and bike stops, likewise, when battery runs low, bike begins to miss and dies out.
- Rectifier was faulty and had been replaced, but replacement has since failed.
- Regulator resistance tests at 112 ohms.

So with all of this, my uneducated guess is that the regulator is faulty, but could this be the cause of the failed rectifier? I am hoping that by purchasing a replacement rectifier and regulator the issue will be sorted!

I am nearing the end of my build and this is one of the last major issues I have to contend with, any thoughts/ideas would be great!

Cheers.

 

[drewpy]

check earths as corrosion causes failure.

try and see if the red lead from the rectifier is live with the engine running, its this that feeds the volts back to the battery.

welcome to the forum

 

[kelvis]

Thanks Drewpy.

I have replaced all of the connectors and pins and have dielectric grease on them. Earth points are all ok.

I checked the red wire from the rectifier with the engine running, was showing only a steady 12V, no change with engine revs. The rectifier didn't test as per the manual so I have ordered a replacement.

Anything else I should be checking?

 

[drewpy]

rectifiers, change ac to dc so if your getting a dc current its possible its not the rectifier. on the other hand one of the diodes could have gone and you only getting part voltage.

The part that gives you the voltage variables is the regulator. this feeds the field coil, the more it gives, the more you get back as volts.