Mine has two wires so is single pahse I guess.

Ok Derek...with you on that until the last bit...How do I test for the Earthing out you mention?

it was a simple (I think) open circuit means its shagged and a resistance reading means its ok - or something like that - ask Nelly - he is the one who provides technical advice - but not here - which is strange!!!

Khushy

[Edited on 18-4-2006 by khushy]

Harv,
With the alternator wires disconnected, set your meter to read resistance (ohms) and connect one lead to a good earth point on the frame and the other to each of the yellow alternator leads in turn. Do NOT run the engine. None of them should show any ohms to earth.
If you got no volts out of the alternator at all when you tested it you could also connect the meter across the 2 yellow wires and measure the resistance. There should be a fairly low resistance of maybe 4 or 5 ohms. If there is zero ohms then the windings are short circuit, so no output. If you get infinite resistance the the stator is open circuit, also with no output.
Hope this helps.

Derek

and the above means . . . . . ????

Khushy

LOL

OK just tested across the two yellow wires and was getting approx 40V at 3000rpm and greater (upto 80+ when at 6000rpm) when revved...so I'm assuming this is OK now.

So I guess its a case of checking the connectors etc again.

As I do the majority of my maintenace myself, I may bypass the connectors this time and just solder all of the joins.

Other than that I guess the bat could be at fault, althoug it does take and hold a charge from my optimate type charger?

"Other than that I guess the bat could be at fault . . ."

if you have a bat - maybe it only works at night!

Khushy

:o

Harv, if you are getting all the power into the Reg/Rec,then it may be one of the wires leading out of it. Heading of to the various loom electrics. May be a cracked or pinched wire Especially if you have replaced the Reg/Rec. 4D

[Edited on 18-4-2006 by Fordie]

www.electrosport.com
Theres a step by step fault finding section that you can print off.

HarvI wonder if you have you got some load pulling the battery volts down when running, such as the fuel pump or ignition system or even a trapped wire giving a low resistance patch to earth, most of your checks seem to say things are OK all except the battery volts when running which you should be seeing around 13 volts, which it should be able to maintain even with the lights on when over a couple of thousand revs.

OK Harv, You've confirmed that alternator is OK and since you are sure of the wires we can be fairly certain that the AC volts are getting to the regulator. So lets start looking at the alternator output.
Once again set the meter to read ohms, this time connect one lead to the battery positive and connect the other to the red lead from the regulator. No need to run the engine. You should get a reading of 0 ohms on the meter (or as near as damn it) This indicates that there is a good connection between the battery and the regulator. If you don't get 0 ohms you should be looking for a break in the circuit somewhere. The only thing between the regulator and the battery is the 30A fuse. Is the fuse OK? Check it's blades and the fuseholder for corrosion. This can lead to high resistance and a poor connection. Similarly check the connections at the regulator and the battery. If these are all OK thne look for a break in the cable.
If the connection between the regulator checks out OK then that only leaves 2 possiblities. The new regulator is faulty or the battery is faulty. A faulty battery which doesn't show any increase in volts when the engine is revved would need to be short circuit internally and would get hot at any attempt to charge it. Given that it takes a charge on the optimate and starts the bike OK it can't be that bad. Swapping the battery for another would prove this either way.
I doubt if there is anything on the bike pulling the volts down. The alternator puts out 350 watts - thats nearly 30A at 12V. Anything pulling that amount of power would get red-hot pretty quick.