I have had trouble with my 71 XLCH not charging so I decided to start by swapping the mechanical regulator for a solid state model. I got a generator end cap style from Jireh Cycles. The installation seemed pretty straightforward but somehow I got something goofed up and possibly fried the regulator.

I ran the green wire off of the regulator to the "F" terminal on the generator, the red wire to the "A" terminal on the generator, and the post terminal on the surface of the new regulator was ran to the ignition switch, to the circuit breaker then to the positive battery post. I also have the generator dash light wired to the "A" terminal as per the installation instructions. I connected the battery after the wiring was complete and when I did something in the regulator and/or generator started sizzling and smoking (good sign right?). Of course I immediately disconnected the battery.

I did a little testing and found that the generator "F" and "A" terminals were both showing continuity to each other as well as to ground. Is this normal?

I disassembled the generator to clean things up a bit and see if anything it is was smoked. Everything seems to look ok with the exception of one of the field coils that has a section of the protective covering worn off. Would that cause a problem by grounding out to the generator housing?

If anyone has any ideas on where I should go from here I would really appreciate any advice.

Thanks,

Chris

 

Chris.......
I assume that you have a factory manual? If not, then:
Did you test the generator before 'swapping out parts' to determine if the generator is wokring?
You need to make certain that the generator signal light is not grounded before you do the test.
1) Remove the wire from the regulator terminal marked 'D+' (or marked 'GEN' if it's an XLH) and make sure it is not touching any part of the machine.
2) Turn the ignition switch to on. The generator signal light should not be on. If it is, then the light is shorted somewhere and this may be the reason your generator is not charging. You will have to locate the short and fix it.
3) If the gen light is off, then do the test. To do that:
4) Reconnect the wire to terminal 'D+' ('GEN') at the regulator.
5)Remove the wire from the generator terminal 'F'. Connect a jumper wire to the terminal 'F.' Connect the other end of the wire to a good ground.
6) Remove the wire from the generator 'A' terminal. Connect another jumper to this 'A' terminal. Connect the other end to the 'Positive' terminal of a 0 to 30 amp ampmeter. You can buy this meter at an auto parts store. It is a 2 inch diameter simple ampmeter that folks install in the dash or on a bracket like an oil pressure gauge.
7)Start the engine and run it at 2000 rpms approx. Take yet a third lead and connect it to the 'Negative' terminal of the ampmeter. Now with the engine at 2000rpms, momentarily touch the other end to the battery's positive post.

If the reading you get on the ampmeter is 10 amps or more, the generator is good and the fault lies with the regulator or wiring.
If the reading is not 10 amps or more, then the problem is with the generator. Pull the genny and have a look inside.
There should not be sizzle sounds and smoke coming from the regulator. Check the generator first, then go on to the regulator..........pg

 

Thanks for replying Piniongear.

I do have a factory manual as well as the factory parts catalog.

The only test I tried was to test voltage at the battery with the bike at rest and compared that voltage to what it read when the bike was running.

I'm not just swapping parts in hopes of getting lucky. I had planned on changing out the mechanic regulator for an electronic one for a while now after reading many threads and articles about the electronic ones being much more reliable and better overall.

When I get some spare time and head out to the shop again I will check for grounding of the gen signal light and take it from there. I have the trouble shooting section in the manual marked. I planned on going through the trouble shooting process, but if I can't get the electronic regulator installed without sizzles and pops I won't be able to do so. I'll have to trace all my wiring and see what the problem is. Worse case scenario is hooking up the old regulator and trouble shooting that way before I move forward with the electronic reg.

Should the generator show continuity between both the "A" and "F" terminals as well as to the body of the generator (ground)?

Thanks again,

Chris

 

Should the generator show continuity between both the "A" and "F" terminals as well as to the body of the generator (ground)?

The terminal 'F' goes to a coil inside the casing. Terminal 'A' also goes to another coil inside the casing. These two coils are connected together by a wire, so yes, there should be continuity between the two terminals. The coils are also wrapped in insulation that looks like some kind of paper.
Notice the insulating barrels around both the 'F' and 'A' terminals? These are insulators to keep both terminals from grounding to the casing. So, the answer to continiuity between the terminals and ground(?) is no.
Follow the troubling shooting section and do it step by step, starting at the first step. That is how you are going to locate your problem. After you are certain the generator is working, then proceed to the voltage regulator.
Just follow the natural order of things in the proper steps..........pg

 

That sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Thanks for the help Piniongear.

Chris

 

After some more testing I have found that the generator signal light is not grounded. I have however found continuity between my light terminal on my ignition switch and the ignition terminal of my ignition switch when the key is in the light position or the ignition position. I *think* I have traced that to the lead that runs from the ignition side of the switch to the coil. I also have that side of the coil running to the stop light switch so I guess that is where I will test next.
If anyone has any thoughts on my situation I would love to hear them.

Thanks,

Pyro

 

Results of more testing:

Grounding of the coil terminals has been traced to the lead coming from the ignition circuit breaker. Should that show continuity to ground?

Thanks to everyone for allowing me to "think out loud" here in the hopes that someone will catch something that I am not.

Chris