I don't mean to be "that guy" right now, but after reading a few threads with no definitive answer, I felt it was okay to post my own question/thread.
An XS400 with charging problems is almost cliche... lol
Anyways, here we go, story time.
I got this bike a few months ago now, and it would die unless it was hooked up to the battery charger. Okay, no problem. Bought a new battery and could ride the bike for awhile, but it would not charge (big surprise, there).
So I did the test listed in the manual, tested the stator wires, resistance between the three of them were consistent and were at 1.1 ohm. Tested the rectifier and regulator, diodes in rectifier tested to be not good, regulator was okay.
Decided to buy a new aftermarket component. But I was stupid and bought one for a XS650. ESR350
I emailed their customer support and the guy said that it should work with my bike even the regulator plug is missing a black wire and that they all run off of a common ground now that is the black wire in the rectifier plug now.
So I wired it all up, using the original connector from my rectifier.
Along with the info listed here on this site, I also used this flow chart (see attached) from the same company that sells the RR.
With the bike running and at around 3k-5k rpm, the voltage at the battery is still roughly 12.5v. So, not charging. I measured the AC volts of the three white wires coming out of the stator (with bike running) and got around 16 volts, I believe. I remember that it was well below the 50v or so required.
I also, measured the resistance from the engine case to each of the stator wires and got around 4.5MOhms, essentially infinite resistance.
Following the flowchart, I connected the black MM lead to the positive battery terminal and red MM lead to the red output wire on the RR. I got a value of .5V, which according to the flowchart says there's a bad connection in the positive lead from RR to battery. I did the next test which is the reverse of the previous, red MM lead to negative battery terminal and black MM lead to black output of RR. I got 0.1v which is supposed to be ideal (less than 0.2v).
I stopped there for the most part. Did some other tests on the flowchart and since the AC volts coming out of the stator were lower than 50v, it says the stator is at fault. Which makes me think maybe the wires are worn through like they usually are?
I still have to pull the stator cover and check the wires for breakage, but I thought the resistance check would be sufficient.
Jeez, sorry for the novel. Just would like to fix this thing and get some riding in before the snow starts flying... lol
Not really sure where to go from here... any help is appreciated.
An XS400 with charging problems is almost cliche... lol
Anyways, here we go, story time.
I got this bike a few months ago now, and it would die unless it was hooked up to the battery charger. Okay, no problem. Bought a new battery and could ride the bike for awhile, but it would not charge (big surprise, there).
So I did the test listed in the manual, tested the stator wires, resistance between the three of them were consistent and were at 1.1 ohm. Tested the rectifier and regulator, diodes in rectifier tested to be not good, regulator was okay.
Decided to buy a new aftermarket component. But I was stupid and bought one for a XS650. ESR350
I emailed their customer support and the guy said that it should work with my bike even the regulator plug is missing a black wire and that they all run off of a common ground now that is the black wire in the rectifier plug now.
So I wired it all up, using the original connector from my rectifier.
Along with the info listed here on this site, I also used this flow chart (see attached) from the same company that sells the RR.
With the bike running and at around 3k-5k rpm, the voltage at the battery is still roughly 12.5v. So, not charging. I measured the AC volts of the three white wires coming out of the stator (with bike running) and got around 16 volts, I believe. I remember that it was well below the 50v or so required.
I also, measured the resistance from the engine case to each of the stator wires and got around 4.5MOhms, essentially infinite resistance.
Following the flowchart, I connected the black MM lead to the positive battery terminal and red MM lead to the red output wire on the RR. I got a value of .5V, which according to the flowchart says there's a bad connection in the positive lead from RR to battery. I did the next test which is the reverse of the previous, red MM lead to negative battery terminal and black MM lead to black output of RR. I got 0.1v which is supposed to be ideal (less than 0.2v).
I stopped there for the most part. Did some other tests on the flowchart and since the AC volts coming out of the stator were lower than 50v, it says the stator is at fault. Which makes me think maybe the wires are worn through like they usually are?
I still have to pull the stator cover and check the wires for breakage, but I thought the resistance check would be sufficient.
Jeez, sorry for the novel. Just would like to fix this thing and get some riding in before the snow starts flying... lol
Not really sure where to go from here... any help is appreciated.