Z1 charging issues

wrote:

Seems to me you are using aftermarket components for something they weren't designed for and that's where your problem lies. The brown wire is the sensing wire that "triggers" the regulator into charging the battery whereas the SH775 doesn't have one and just meters the current going to the battery as the load changes. The Dyna takes a lot of power coupled with lighting taxes an already weak charging system. Back in the day I was running a Marshal 55w quartz.low beam and a 100w pencil beam that worked great out here but it taxed the rectifier to the point it melted the solder joints on the diodes. I replaced it with a GS 650 unit that is much larger than the stock one but little did I know it was taking it's toll on the wiring, regulator and battery. As the wiring overheated the resistance multiplied leaving less power going to the battery. The tip off was melted insulators and connectors. I wound up getting a sealed beam halogen headlight 35/55w and added a aftermarket regulator for just the battery and one for the lights. It kinda worked until I parked the bike in 98 until 2013 when I got it running again. I had bought a used Z1 regulator but it didn't work any better than what I already had. I bought a later model R/R from the Old Kaw Man but I was back to a weak charging system and slowly draining battery. I went through three stators and a Caltric R/R (Made in CHINA) 

 that fried my last stator. That's when I took Ed's advice and tried a used SH775 R/R and bought a used OEM stator. After making sure there wasn't any shorts in the stator I hooked it all up and now I have a working charging system but it could be better. Next will be a Rick's rotor and I should be able to run all the lights I want while still having my starter and accessories I use all the time.
Steve

 

Wouldn't disagree with any of what you say Steve, however in this case until the "resistance fault" fault is resolved causing a volt drop on the white output wire, whatever parts you fit aren't going to work correctly. In my experience you need to "box off" the basics first. I know I keep saying it but corrosion related resistance is the curse of these old bikes.

I agree. I got a new loom and added relays for the high power users bypassing the OEM connectors and switches all together. The carnage I found behind the mounting plate was nasty.
In this case I'll bet it's the wires. 
Steve. 

Ok, keeping the red probe on the positive battery post.
Move the black probe to the white wire terminal that attaches to the positive battery post.
What is your voltage?

When you test this the terminal has to remain connected to the battery.

The probes will be very close together but this will tell us how good the connection to the battery is.


 

Since my last post I have been riding the bike and just throwing it on the battery tender at night, as I’ve got a pregnant wife at the moment and not a lot of time to tinker. I had resistance tested the fused wire between the regulator and battery, and it had enough resistance to fool the multimeter so I never thought twice about it. I rewired the whole bike yesterday, and decided to cut the fuse out and run the white wire straight to my solenoid as it was close enough to do so. I reused the fused wire between my lights and key switch as an experiment, and suddenly I’ve got 14.1v at 4k rpm but no headlights. 2 years, 3 batteries, 3 alternators and 3 reg/rectifiers later, the issue turned out to be a $5 inline fuse holder. I’ll consider this an expensive lesson. At least I have plenty of back up charging components, I appreciate the advice fellas!