voltage regulator

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May 17, 2009 | 09:36 PM

popstheoldman

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Cruiser

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From: indiana

voltage regulator

i have a question about using either a mech.{bosh or delco}or an electronic voltage regulator? i own an 82 sportster xl.electric start only. all still stock ,except it has points,instead of electronics.i'm using an electronic voltage reg. now.the bike has a mitsubishi 65b gen.would it be a bad idea to switch to say a bosh reg.or would it effect the performance and overall reliability?

May 18, 2009 | 01:10 AM

sepixlh

Road Master

Joined: Aug 2006

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From: 500 miles south from Artic Circle

Are you sure that it's 82, because I haven't never seen generator made by mitsubishi. Year 83 sportster came with altenator and it always has electronic regulator.
Generator is located front of the engine and if it's alternator it's located inside of primary.
Overall electronic regulators don't have any "moving parts" to wear alike mechanical, reliability I'd say there isn't big difference. What I have seen most problems with charging are related to bad connections in wiring, regulator not grounded, loose connection in ignition lock.

May 18, 2009 | 04:44 AM

shepdog

Tourer

Joined: Sep 2007

Posts: 400

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From: se ohio

my last ride was a 83 and before that was a early 84 they both had generators, my current ride is a late 84 it has a alternator,

May 18, 2009 | 06:32 AM

IronMick

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Joined: Jun 2008

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From: London, ON Canada

Alternator came in late-84.

The early electronic ignitions were often replaced by points as they were unreliable.

The electronic reg is a good idea. However they are said to be like lightbulbs - may puff out at any time. I keep a spare in the shop.

They reg regulates voltage to the battery. If too much is being produned it dumps the overload to ground. If an electronic reg is not well grounded it will cook itself to death. Mount it to bare metal. I run also a wire from the back of the reg body to a frame ground.

May 18, 2009 | 02:22 PM

popstheoldman

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From: indiana

thank you IronMick that is what i thought of their reliability-like a light bulb,and that is a good idea about running a ground wire also never would have thought about that OH and bye the way sepixlh i was wrong about the make of gen. its an hitachi and yes its an 82 sporty last of the true ironheads. ironmick- say i dont have a good ground at the reg.could that be why my batt. is not charging right?on 2nd day of riding after 2or3 times of starter use it doesnt have enough juice to crank anymore, an i have to charge the batt.?

May 18, 2009 | 08:47 PM

AmericanNightmare73

Intermediate

Joined: Mar 2009

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From: Cincinnasti

Pops, I think you may have a bad regulator if Battery is not being charged. Sounds like the same problems I was having a few weeks ago. If you have a manual I would first check to see if generator is putting out enough amperage. Then move on to regulator if generator is good.

May 18, 2009 | 08:56 PM

IronMick

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From: London, ON Canada

Quote:

Originally Posted by popstheoldman

thank you IronMick that is what i thought of their reliability-like a light bulb,and that is a good idea about running a ground wire also never would have thought about that ...
82 sporty last of the true ironheads. ...
say i dont have a good ground at the reg.could that be why my batt. is not charging right?on 2nd day of riding after 2or3 times of starter use it doesnt have enough juice to crank anymore, an i have to charge the batt.?

On the back of my Accel reg there is an unthreaded hole. I do not know what it is for. I attached the ground wire there using a self tapping metal screw.

85 was the last of the IronHeads.

Could be batt needs to be replaced. My home made load test: fully charge the batt; disconnect sparkies so engine will not start [remove plugs, insert into plug caps, ground on cylinders - never crank the engine with spark plugs disconnected and not grounded]. Attach voltmeter to battery. Crank engine for exactly 10 seconds; while cranking watch the meter. If it goes below 10 volts batt is no good.

Could be reg needs to be replaced. There are 3 circuits in the reg; one prevents current from draining from the batt. If this circuit is bad then the batt will drain as the bike sits overnight. There is a test for this that you can do. It is in the FM and in the recent post of mine about Charging System Checkout.

Could be a short in the wire system "somewhere". The test is something like this - someone else can correct this ... Disconnect the neg batt cable. Connect an amp meter between the neg batt terminal and the neg batt cable. If it reads above [????] some magic number that i do not know then there is a constant drain "somewhere". To locate it you test each circuit at the circuit breakers; then you check each item on the bad circuit.