Please help! Charging problem

My 77 KZ1000 ran the battery down while I was riding last weekend. I checked voltage across the battery terminals and it would not go above 12 volts. The battery was old, so I replaced it with a new Scorpion AGM. The battery tested 12.3 volts out of the box. It still won't charge. I unplugged the voltage regulator and at 4k rpm with lights off it will slowly go up to 13.5 volts. I checked the resistance of the stator coils and all 3 are 0.9 ohms. My manual says they should be no higher than 0.7 ohms. I removed the stator cover and it smells burnt, but I don't see anything that looks burnt. Should I just replace the stator? I thought it was odd that all 3 stator coils test the same resistance. I would think that one would be drastically different than the others if there was a problem. What do you think?

Have you checked the rectifier? Ed

I forgot to mention I have a combo rectifier/regulator. I plugged the original rectifier and regulator in and nothing changed. The originals worked when I took them off.

Did you measure the AC output? IIRC should be in the 50VAC range.

Alan

If not already done, would also check to assure that the black-yellow wire from the regulator/rectifier is furnishing a good ground.

Good Fortune!

Ok, a little update. I tested the stator this morning. It's putting out 50 volts AC across all three coils at around 4k rpm. I disconnected all the plugs under the left side cover and cleaned them. I also discovered two more wire connectors behind the metal bracket that houses all the plugs. I cleaned them too. Put everything back together. The battery voltage is 12.3 volts with the engine off. Engine at 4k rpms and lights on I get 12.8 volts. It jumps to 13.8 if i shut off the lights. I unplugged the voltage regulator and it goes to 15 volts. Hopefully it was just a bad connection somewhere. I'm charging the battery right now. It's a brand new battery and I never got a chance to charge it before i put it in.

How do these numbers sound? Normal?

Corrosion lowers current and voltage due to resistance, so fully charge the battery, and try again. www.electrosport.com has a troubleshooting page, that's helpful.

Per FSM, the "standard" measured voltage between battery posts at 5000 rpm with high beam ON is 14.0~15.0 V.

This presupposes a good fully charged battery.

Good Fortune!

MFolks wrote: Corrosion lowers current and voltage due to resistance, so fully charge the battery, and try again. www.electrosport.com has a troubleshooting page, that's helpful.

They do have some great info on their page. I noticed that they said the number one problem with charging systems is bad connections! I downloaded their fault finding chart. Hopefully I won't need it!

This stuff works great for cleaning contacts. Various places, including Radio Shack, sell it. Ed

There should be something like 75V AC with no load on the stator. 50V DC indicates a failing stator. Even with decent no load voltage, the stator may be failing and not provide good output when under load.

Needless to say, make sure your connections are good. If your R/R has a sense wire, make sure it is seeing voltage properly. Test by placing the wire directly on the positive battery post.

Good luck

650ed wrote: This stuff works great for cleaning contacts. Various places, including Radio Shack, sell it. Ed

Attachment DEOXIT_2014-06-08.jpg not found

I will check that out. I've been using CRC brand contact cleaner.