96 ultra, once in a while the volt gauge drops to 10, and the blinkers won't work. Put in a new battery 3 weeks ago, now its dropping again. Any suggestions?

 

Charge up your battery and then do DR. Hesses sticky about checking your charging system.

 

I did follow the doctor's orders in the sticky (how to diagnose your charging system) but still puzzled. Am not real knowledgeable with electrical. Used a digital multimeter, and the numbers were ok. Traced the wire from the voltage regulator to a corroded 50 amp breaker. Bought a new one and cleaned up the terminals. Also took the regulator off and cleaned up the ground wire, and mounting bracket. The stator plug doesn't feel loose
eeither.

 

Hey THC, yea when following the sticky, she read
12.9 bike off
12.3 bike on
12.8 at idle
14.0 at 2,500 rpms
12.6 highbeam on, not running
14.0
highbeam on, 2,500 rpms

When I ride it, the gauge is at 13 or less. It varies often.

 

Based upon my experience ( oh yeah I'm a long term self mechanic, and retired electrical engineer) , the following will be 90% accurate!without using a volt meter:

Check the connections at the regulator:
Disconnect the DC out connector, and stator input connector at the regular, Examine them, and check the terminals for corrosion. Add some dielectric grease to the pins on the connectors. Make sure it says dielectric grease, ...HD sells it. Slide the connectors in and out about 10 times, then connect them permanently.

Check all your fuses:
Remove each one, and make sure they do not have corrosion. If so, replace the fuse, and check the terminals on the fuse panel. If they are corroded...its a PITA to clean them. Use an exacto blade to scrape off the gunk, and a small piece of cloth soaked in WD40 to clean the terminals. Dry the terminals well. Add a dab of dielectric grease to the fuse terminals and install.

Check to ensure the battery connections:
Make sure they are clean and tight. Don't put any grease on the battery terminal or connections, until all the terminals are connected and tightened securely.

Ps: the stator is rare to fail. And even more rare to fail intermittently.

Take the bike for a ride.

If the problem comes back...I'm betting with 90% confidence the regulator is bad. It is more common for solid state devices to fail intermittently than the battery or the stator.

 

Aslo, the plug from the regulator had a little oil in it, and it didn't smell burnt at all. I put the black lead to the negative on battery, and the red to a bolt on the case and got zero ohms. Which is good if I read it right. The part I'm not clear on is the female plug at the stator (in the case) he Dr. Hess said use a paperclip 'in the holes'? My test lead will fit in there, but unclear on that part. Anyway trying to narrow it down.

 

Thanks for that info TriGeezer, cleaned the pins on the plug with electric spray cleaner earlier today, (they didn't look corroded) and used dialectic grease. Will check the fuses, should have already done it but haven't.

 

Just went through the same problems you're having a month ago. I chased all the minor stuff first: Battery, corrosion, checked all wiring and connections. Did the diagnostic, came to the conclusion that the regulator was bad. If you're meter reads 14 volts at that rpm, I don't believe the stator is the culprit. The idea of using pins in the female plug just ensures a better reading. Good luck.

 

Are you certain you are getting a good connecting where the regulator plugs in to the stator? This is a known bad design by The MoCo. I you aren't getting a positive 'click' when you connect the two, then you need to do some Hack Fab'n.

 

I read on here in another thread where they were modifying the pins to get a better fit, but mine feels tight as far as I can tell. When I get the time I'll check/clean the fuses, probly buy a new regulator. Couldn't believe how old the battery was, a drag specialty dated Jan. 06!