| Author | Message | ||
     Mtjm2 |
I know I have read posts on this before but to short on time to research. Only getting 12.2 on the bike running. | ||
| Buellbum |
it might be worth the investment to swap-in another known, good voltage regulator. | ||
| Ratbuell |
...unless the stator is overcharging, and smokes that regulator too. Grab a manual and do the stator output test first. | ||
| Buelliedan |
I don't understand why everybody automatically says voltage regulator. I have only seen 1 bad voltage regulator ever in my 12 years working on Buells. 99.9% of the time it is the stator that has went bad. Get a Accell stator and you should never have another problem. And make sure you use primary oil designed for these bikes, not gear lube! | ||
| Buellbum |
---"I don't understand why everybody automatically says voltage regulator."--- because it's the easiest thing to rule out. | ||
| Mtjm2 |
I was told by a bike shop it could be the stater rectifier . Don't see that part in My manual . | ||
| Ratbuell |
"Stator". Pull your primary cover. The primary chain connects the rotor (front) to the clutches (rear). Pull the clutches, chain, and rotor, and the stator is the piece that doesn't turn (hence, "stator", or "static" as opposed to "rotor" or "rotating"), under the rotor. It's a bunch of little wire coils; the rotor is a series of magnets. The coils can burn out. because it's the easiest thing to rule out. It's also the easiest thing to BURN out, if you plug it into a stator that's putting out too much AC voltage. Step one, just like the manual says, is to start the bike, unplug the regulator from the harness, and test for AC volts at each phase of the stator output leads. Not enough, or too high, and you have a bad stator (there is also a resitance check / ohm check for each phase). If the stator puts out correct voltage per the manual, the only other choice is the regulator. NEVER plug a known-good regulator into an unknown stator unless you'd like to take the chance at instantly smoking your spare regulator. | ||
| Jolly |
I’ve had one bad regulator and one bad stator on Buell’s and one bad regulator on a one of my Guzzis, a bad regulator won’t necessarily harm your stator but a bad stator could or will smoke your regulator. Do the checks for both regulator and stator, be prepared at this point you could need both. | ||
| Harleyelf |
Check the output wire from your regulator. It's underneath it and can come loose, causing low voltage. Also, check for shorts across the stator leads. You should have minimal conductivity, just an ohm or so, between the wires. Then, start the bike and check for 28 - 54 volts AC across the two. After all that, try a new regulator. If you still have an issue, there's an issue with your wiring shorting to ground intermittently. | ||
| Buellbum |
---if you plug it into a stator that's putting out too much AC voltage--- his is putting out too little voltage. if it were putting out too much voltage it would have burned the regulator out long ago. voltage regulators are not very expensive. how long would you have to run the bike to burn out the VR? it's just a quick test. } | ||
| Ratbuell |
Sos doing it the right way. He could have an overcharging stator that cooked the regulator, effectively "plugging the hose" of electricity. When you have three wires to check with a multimeter, why risk smoking a regulator (cheap or not)? | ||
| Livers |
I have never seen a stator spontaneously put out too much voltage. Unless it can increase the number of windings, or the rotor somehow gains magnetism, it is impossible. | ||
| Mtjm2 |
You guys are a shot of inspiration with a dose repression. Thanks for the feedback. Mark | ||
| Buellbum |
here's a good link: https://www.denniskirk.com/learn/how-to-diagnose-m otorcycle | ||
| Buelliedan |
"I have never seen a stator spontaneously put out too much voltage. Unless it can increase the number of windings, or the rotor somehow gains magnetism, it is impossible." Exactly!!! | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
The thing that blew my mind when I found out (from this board!) was that the alternator is putting out full power all the time and the regulator just eats the electricity that's not needed. I knew that permanent magnets were you know, permamnent but I didn't understand that the regulator is in parallel with the bike not series as I thought. This is why you're never supposed to get a jump start from a RUNNING car. If the connections are good enough, your buddy with the car could roast the regulator. That being said, I jumped my bikes without a second thought many times before I knew this and nothing bad happened. Because I was lucky not smart! | ||
| Ratbuell |
You can have a failure/short/debris in a coil winding that can cause an over-volt condition from a generator. Coils put out a set amount based on length, gauge, and depth of windings. Short the windings; burn the insulation via overheating; cause too much draw for the system via either a bad battery, too many accessories, or both, and you can easily produce too much current, causing an overheat and physical damage. Once a stator/generator starts overproducing, it doesn't stop - which is why I never plug a known-good component into an untested system. IF it's overproducing and IF that's what killed the regulator, it will kill the new regulator - if not instantly, it will kill it as soon as you rev the motorcycle up and feed enough current into the regulator to overload it. Then you're back at square one. The Dennis Kirk link above has it right in the third paragraph (actually it IS the third paragraph): You will need a multimeter and the shop manual for your specific motorcycle to troubleshoot the electrical system. Use both, as instructed by the manual, and you won't "let the smoke out" of any new parts. | ||
| Hootowl |
The stator is a series of inductors. An inductor is a device which opposes a change in current flow. When an inductor charges, the current produces a magnetic field. When voltage is removed from the inductor, the field collapses, and a voltage is produced that is sufficient to push that same amount of current through whatever resistance/impedance it meets. The is how a coil can produce very high voltages to, say, throw a spark across the relatively high resistance posed by a gap in a spark plug. So, under the right circumstanced, a stator, which is essentially a series of coils, or inductors, can indeed produce more voltage that it would under normal operating conditions. | ||
| Buelliedan |
The times I have seen voltage regulators on Buells go bad is when everyone started installing the Y mount exhaust hanger kits. The paint was so think where the ground strap attached. If you did not scrape if off first it caused a poor ground which fried a few regulators before folks got the word out to everyone. | ||
| Williamscottrobertson |
The kit instructions say to remove paint from the new regulator bracket where the ground wire attaches. | ||
| Buelliedan |
I know it does but a lot of folks, especially men, do not read directions.  | ||
| Hootowl |
Directions are for people who didn't have erector sets as kids, or who never took their toys apart and put them back together. And for people who like to replace blown regulators.  | ||
| Hootowl |
I read the directions... | ||
| Gmaple |
Trying to figure out why a y exhaust mount is considered a critical ground path for a Buell ignition. Do some Buells have a ground strap at the y attach point to the engine? | ||
| Williamscottrobertson |
You have to replace the regulator bracket which turns the VR on end to accommodate the y bracket. The VR grounds thru the bracket to the case. | ||
| Buelliedan |
yep!  | ||
| Dave |
@hootowl - lol, that explains a lot. I had a love/hate relationship with me Erector set. DAve |
