91 Heritage Charging Problems

[windwalker]

My 91 Heritage stranded me at work last week, after getting her home, I put her on the Tender overnight. Next day all was good, multimeter showed 12.7 vdc in the battery. The previous owner had installed an aftermarket long dash, and the light divider was hitting the wires for the ignition switch, thinking that was the problem, got that settled, fast forward a few days a acquaintance came over to see the bike. I flipped the switch, pulled the choke, tapped the starter button and nothing. Put her back on the Tender, next day the Tender showed green light, put the multimeter on the battery 12.7 vdc good to go. Fired her up, metered the battery again, 12.5 vdc uh-oh, brought the rpms up with no change. Battery was installed in Oct this year, the stator/rotor was replaced by a dealer shortly before the bike was parked, no mention in the paperwork of replacing the regulator.

I searched the site and found the “Testing the Charging System” sheet, here are the results:

1-Battery test-charged and load tested by a local auto parts store shows good
2-Charging system voltage test-12.5 off and same idling and at higher rpms
3-Connections-all inspected, cleaned and greased.
4-Stator/rotor tests AC output 22-23 at idle, increasing with rpms
Resistance .8/.9 ohms
Ground test shows no continuity to ground
5-Regulator test Diode test + lead to AC and - to charge wire shows .45 vdc
swapping the leads shows infinite
Ground test shows good ground to frame


I was thinking regulator, but now I am not sure after the test. I was searching and found mention of the Cycle Electrics regulators, I found a couple of places that have them for about the same price as I can get the OEM from the dealer. Any one have experience with them? I could not find much on the web in the way of reviews.

I also read that some are installing a dedicated CB or fuse in the wire from the regulator to the main CB. Good idea or not, if so what amp for the CB?

Thanks for reading and any help appreciated!

 

[Bodeen]

Cant help with your particular issue but Hoople will be along shortly and will be able to help. Welcome to the forum. Be patient and these guy's will get through this, without a doubt.

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

Sounds like you have a bad regulator or it is not grounded properly, make sure the connector and metal contact surfaces are clean and bright. Did you drain the primary fluid and see if it smelled burnt and look for any stray bits of insulating varnish or metal pieces that were not black but perhaps copper colored floating in there (could be bits of stator copper windings)?

 

[Hoople]

AC output 22-23 at idle, increasing with rpms

"Increases with RPM" but by how much. At 2000 you should see 32-40 (16-20 volts per 1000 RPM) Voltage should easily pop above 50 volts @ 2500. This is not a conclusive test. There still is a small chance it could be bad. I don't have a 1991 schematic but I do have a 1997 schematic. It shows a CB between the positive lead of the rectifier going to the battery. I would change that out for a Maxi Fuse or at least a new CB. The max charging current of the system is probably 32 amps so a 40 would be fine. That could be your problem.

Don't have any 1st hand experience with Cycle Electric so really can't say if they are a notch above factory OEM. But I have not heard anything bad about them either.

 

[windwalker]

NEWD74FAN-I have not drained the primary case yet. I tested from the regulator case to ground and have continuity. I did see a video recommending adding a ground wire from the regulator to ground, the guy was saying not to trust the frame grounding to be able to carry the dumped power to ground.

Hoople- I do not have a tach so I am not sure on the rpm, but when revving, I did see 40-42 vac. The 91 wiring schematic does not show a cb or fuse between the regulator and the main cb. In running the wire from the regulator back to the main cb, there is none at least now.

 

[R_W_B]

If you remove and wire brush clean the OEM grounds they should be ok. Doesn't sound to me like you are getting enough volts to the battery on rpms. Sounds like a regulator to me, but you'd better wait on Hoople's next post.

 

[Hoople]

I came across a 1990 Heritage schematic and I see what you mean. Wow, there is no CB between the voltage regulator and the battery. What on earth protects the bike in case the voltage regulator dead shorts to frame ground? I guess insurance.

Your 1991 is probably the same. The voltage output test of the stator is not conclusive (because there is no current load applied) but more than likely, it's the regulator that is bad.

To really test a stator you need to apply a load. Entry point 2 of this thread, will test proof positive but it is a pain to put together for just 1 test.

Home Made Tools - Harley Davidson Community

 

[windwalker]

I looked in my service manual for the 91-92 Softails, and the 92 schematics do not show a cb between the voltage regulator and the main cb either.

Thanks for the help, Hoople. What is your thought on adding the grounding wire to the voltage regulator?

 

[Hoople]

thought on adding the grounding wire to the voltage regulator?

It's a good thing to have one.
The schematic (attachment) is not clear if you have a ground pigtail lead or not. If there was one, it should be grouped with the other wires coming out of the regulator & it is not. I have seen late model single phase regulators (2004-2005) that already have a pigtail ground lead.

 

[windwalker]

No grounding pigtail on the regulator, only the stator plug and the battery charge wire. There is a spot on the back that looks like you could put a self-tapper into and run a ground. The turbo entabulator cracks me up!