Should I change the voltage regulator?

[motranqui]

Hi
As the battery was going little by little loosing charge, I checked the voltage between battery positive and negative poles with the engine running.
At idle I’ve got 13,00V while at 3500 rpm I've got 12,80V
I've got these measurements, both with the battery showing 12,47V and after 8 hours charging process in the garage, with the battery showing 12,68V (“full”)

According to the manual, “With the ignition on and the battery charged (12.5-13 V), start the engine: if battery voltage fails to rise (14.5 V) within the next two minutes, change the regulator”

I wonder if there may be another reason not reach 14.5V than a problem with the voltage regulator

In my TE310, I've got 14,60V at idle and 14,40V at 4.000rpm and I've got not charging issues.


Should I change the voltage regulator straight away –as workshop manual says- or may be the problem comes from another place?

Thank you

 

[Timberline]

Maybe, but read this thread first: http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/keeping-the-voltage-regulator-alive.83594/

 

[rickcj7]

Mine was acting similar to yours, it ended up being my stator. You need to check the charging system to be sure.

 

[motranqui]

Mine was acting similar to yours, it ended up being my stator. You need to check the charging system to be sure.

Is it necessary to disassemble the generator as shown in the picture so that it can be checked or can measure it directly from the plug regulator?

Thank you

 

[DYNOBOB]

No it is not necessary to remove the stator, just check at the VR wires.

What makes you think you have a charging system problem? Does the battery go dead with the bike running? I've noticed on my bike if I do a lot of short segments of trail riding where I shut off/start the bike frequently that the bike voltage only shows 13v with the bike running. I'm taking out more than I'm putting back by frequent starts. If I run the bike at road speed for an hour or so then it recovers to 14v.

 

[motranqui]

Thank you, Dynobob

What makes me think that I have a charging system problem is the fact that if the battery is, let’s say, at 12,47V when I start the bike and I make a 50km ride, when I check the voltage next day is quite at the same voltage, let’s say, 12,47V.... and so the battery has not increased voltage at all. If I add this to the fact that the workshop manual says that voltage should reach 14,50V, this makes me think that maybe I have a charging problem.


Anyway I'm going to wait to make a long trail (may be next week finally I can make a two days 400 km trail) and then I will check what you say, that is, check that the battery charges at 14,00V or more.

 

[EricV]

Some time back I had extensive fraying/melting near the VR and had to splice all wires. I still don't hit 14V and didn't expect to w/ all of the patching. Anyway mine seems to hold up fine...for several seasons. Now I do put it on the Battery Tender every night, but still the thing has never failed to start and it's been the same battery for 3 seasons now (if I'm recalling correctly.)

 

[motranqui]

Thank you, Eric V
It's true that I have found the wires near the VR looking like so.... but there is no fraying that reach the metallic part of the wire (may be I have to look closer...)



My bike, fortunately, like yours, has not failed to start... so far. Although , I think that -if I've understood correctly- if you need to connect your battery to a battery charger every night, something is not right with your charging system...
Anyway, with your information and also with the one from Dinobob, Rick Cj7 and timberline I think I'm going to get a conclusion very soon

 

[EricV]

Here's a link to the thread of what happened with mine:

http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/stranded-again-please-advise.28288/

In short (no pun intended), and in my case, the rubbing at the battery tray caused shorting, then melting where the wires enter the VR connector. That meant several inches of each wire being cut out, and replacements spliced in. This resulted in 10 splices, which has to result in some loss of power back to battery. By the way another shout out to KXcam22- a huge resource to this community who educated me on and talked me through the issue (and thanks to others, as well.)

Anyway I'm not sure I "need" the battery tender...it's just a habit I got into with this bike (hooking it up when it's parked.) I suspect the battery is charging enough given the enthusiastic riding it gets about 2x a week. Also the system worked fine before my incident and I've no reason to think anything (other than my VR wires/splicing) has changed, which is why I attribute my slight loss of power back to the battery to the altered wiring.

 

[motranqui]

Thank you, Eric
Definitely I'm going to take a closer look to the VR wires and maybe I'll re-routing them.
Also I'll check VR temperature "by hand" (if I can stand the temperature it's OK). May be I'll put another ground wire somewhere, according to KXcam22's advice.
But I think the goal is to get at least 13,5V charging (better more than 14,0V). If not I'll check figures from stator and I will decide whether to change the VR or not.
We'll see...

 

[EricV]

Sounds like a reasonable course/goal. Now your wires look good (in that they need no splicing) but- my advice for anyone who ever has to do any splicing in that tentacle of the wiring harness- is to add a couple of inches of wire in (that is, if the situation lends itself to it) for more generous/comfy routing. I added some, but wish I'd have gone with a little more.

You've got me curious...so I'll take a few readings on mine when I get it out for a good ride this weekend.

 

[motranqui]

Hi
You guys are awesome. Please, look at these pics:



So it's obvious that the wires are frayed and this could explain why charging system is not charging at let's say, more than 14,0 V.

As soon as I fix it, I will check charging figures and I let you know. I'm quite happy today. Thank you all

 

[motranqui]

An update.

Today I have had no time to start the bike. I hope tomorrow. Nevertheless I’ve fixed all the parts.

The wires was not broken, only the plastic.


Anyway I’m afraid that both, the yellow one and the red one was taking contact with the chassis just here, where it was quite sharp.


I have sanded it a bit and besides I have added a plastic protection.

 

[motranqui]

I’ve added heat compound because I checked that a piece of paper was hold by the VR, so maybe I’m luckier than Kxcam22.



Let's see tomorrow how it works…

 

[motranqui]

These are the figures:

Just after starting the bike, I got 13,40V at idle and 13,10V at 4.000rpm. An improvement has been reached.

Just after a 30km ride, I got 14,40V at idle and 13,90V at 4.000rpm.
These figures are good for me and are in the line of what Dinobob predicted. So (although I’m not sure) may be what says the TE630 workshop manual is not 100% accurate and may be comes from a “copy-paste” from the TE310/450/510 workshop manual…


On the other hand, the VR gets hot. I touched it just after the ride and I couldn’t hold the hand for more than 3 seconds (may be I’m kind of a Nancy… ).
What for me makes no sense is the fact that the VR is placed over a painted plate. Paint is kind of insulating so I don’t know why Husqvarna has not avoided to paint that area

 

[EricV]

I did check mine today. After a ride I was getting 14.3-14.4 at idle and right around 13.3 at 4K rpms. I'm pleased with that, considering the amount of splicing that I've done...a few seasons ago now.

Glad to hear you're charging well. No doubt you've been through it thoroughly- enjoy it now.

 

[motranqui]

Now I have in mind to sand the surface where the VR is set. Just the small area where the VR is located. As long as the heat compound is evenly distributed… otherwise would have no sense, of course.
Although my TE310 comes with heat compound under the VR, the TE630 comes not. At least mine... I don’t know if yours comes with it.
I don’t know the reason why some models Husqvarna don’t add heat compounds. Weird

 

[motranqui]

When I removed the VR to check how it fit to the chassis I thought I was found out why it doesn’t fit perfectly. I thought it was because what I mark in this pic.



But after sanded it and also the whole thing (a little bit) I realized that it was not because of this little weld part but because –as KXcam22 says- the plate is not flat.
So I have wasted my time. Now I know why Husqvarna has not added heat compound to this area.




I wanted to share this info so that you don’t follow me steps…

 

[Sooter]

Hello everyone. I had a similar initial issue where the red wire was frayed almost completely through due to rubbing against the air box/subframe. That has been replaced, bought a new VR to test the fix that didn't work. Just got a professional to fix the yellow wires that were burnt at the connector...also had another new VR to go along with it. All wires have been checked/cleaned, stator is making good ac voltage and has passed all ohms tests.

Should I get another brand new VR (potentially a 1 month wait) and try again to obtain charging voltage? At this point it's just out of control that will be 4 VR'S now. Is it possible for my previous voltage regulators to burn out so easily!? I had only 3 minutes on the newest one for testing purposes.

 

[KXcam22]

There are lots of non-husky sources of VRs. My SMS630 VR is the same as my old 1999 CBR900RR Fireblade VR which is that same as almost every CBR600 made. Check some cross references but almost every honda dealer will have one in stock. If you want to upgrade the VR to a better one you can get the FJ1300 one. It is one of the best MOSFET ones but has 2 connectors so will require a bit of wiring. Lots of options. It turns out that in the MC world a VR is a VR and virtually every one can be made to fit and work. Cam.