A little knowledge..can be a wonderful thing - It's working!

[DanceLikeAMon...]

...can be an expensive thing!

Here's the story so far...

My bike (GS500e) wasn't charging the battery, so using the advice on here I bought myself a new reg/rec which turned up this morning.

Smirking that I had fixed the problem all by myself, I fitted it, plugged the connectors in, started the bike but it still isn't charging the battery!

Now my limited knowledge tells me that the problem is now probably down to the alternator. I looked at Haynes manual and he says that to check the alternator, look at the cables coming out of the reg/rec. Ignore the plug with two cables, it's the one with three you are interested in. I unplugged this box and used the multimeter on the end that wasn't coming out of the reg/rec thingy while revving the bike - and the voltage reading came back as zero checking on all three points (I assume that you can match any point with any point?).

Anything else I can check before I have to spend more cash? Looking at the Haynes manual, I have to take the crank case off and remove rotor bolts to replace the alternator and that sounds a little out of my league!

Please help me!

[stinkwheel]

Static alternator test by measuring resistance with your meter at the same connector (3 wires).

There should be continuity (low resistance) between any pair of wires in that group of three (check them all).

There should be an open circuit (infinate resistance) between any of those three wires and earth.

Anything else means the alternator is gubbed.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Eep, you lost me a bit there Stinkwheel.

The bike was running at 4000rpm, the multmeter was set to read up to 200v. I put the positive and negative end on points 1&2, 2&3 and 1&3, and they came back with readings that fluctuated minutely, but where pretty much zero. Is that what you mean? I have attached a diagram (if you could call it that!) to show the points I was testing.

So if the alternator is knackered, is it really as complicated as Haynes says to replace it? Do I just buy a new alternator or is it made up of components? *Sigh* I wish I knew how to do all this stuff.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/dance_like_a_monkey/alternator.jpg

[Bezzer]

What settings were you using on your Multimeter AC or DC volts??? an alternator puts out AC volts which is then converted to DC as it goes through the rectifier part of the reg/rec. If you're checking alternator side of the reg/rec you want AC volts.
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I used to be indecisive but now I'm not quite so sure.

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Ah, I had it set to 200 DCV. It's too dark outside now to try it again as ACV, but I'll give that a shot tomorrow. Cheers for that.

While I remember, the other thing is that the fuse that was in the bike looked like the pastic had melted on one side (although the element didn't seem to be broken) so I replaced it with the spare fuse on the bike. Would a blown fuse stop everything electrical working? ie can I discount it from the list of things to check since the lights and all that are working fine?

[stinkwheel]

Ok. To do a basic test of your alternator windings in laymans talk.

Set your multimeter to read resistance in kiloohms (kΩ or x 1,000Ω).

When there is an open circuit, the resistance is infinate. Look at your meter, it should be reading infinity now (indicated by either a 1 or the symbol for infinity which looks like the number 8 tipped on its side).

When there is a closed circuit, the resistance reading should be low. Touch the leads of your multimeter together, this is a low reading.

Ok to test the alternator with the engine OFF. (using your diagram):

Connect the meter to the following pairs of terminals:
1&2, 1&3, 2&3. In each case, you should find there is a closed circuit (low reading).

Now connect one of the meter leads to earth (either exposed metal on the bike frame or the battery negative) and connect the other end to leads 1, 2 & 3 in turn. In each case, there should be an OPEN circuit.

Anything other than these readings means your alternator is fucked. If the readings are as above, the alternator is essentially intact (at least in so far as the windings of copper wire are concerned).
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[DanceLikeAMon...]

That's great, cheers matey. I'll go and play with it tomorrow (at times like this I wish I had a garage to work in so I could get it out of the way now).

See, if I hadn't bought an old bike, I would never learn these things!

[bish777]

old suzukis and electrics hooooray
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GSXR1100J

[DanceLikeAMon...]

I take it that they are renowned for problems then? At least everything is easy to get to on it, on one bike that I was looking at on t'net you had to remove the fuel tank to get to the reg/rec and all that stuff.

[fuzz]

I know what you mean. I've got an electrical problem on the NSR at the moment. There's no spark whatsoever. It's either the CDI or the ignition coil, but the coil is buried down the side of the bike and not easy to get to without taking off the fairings/airbox, so I haven't been able to test it yet.
____________________
https://www.bikepics.com/members/fuzzbcf/
Bikes: '99 NSR125R, '00 SV650S, K1 GSX-R600, '97 CB500, K3 SV1000S, '16 VFR800

[stinkwheel]

The reg recs on old suzukis are notoriously bad. Most of the really old suzukis still on the road have had them replaced with superdream ones.

Your fuse. If it was the main fuse, then yes, nothing electrical would work. The case having melted could be indicating there has been a short circuit somewhere at one point.

Another thing to check is that the reg/rec is actually connected to the battery, it may be working but not sending charge to the battery (had this myself with a non-charging bike, took ages to find the broken wire). See the other connector with two wires? One of them is red right? (I am guessing here because I don't know your bike in particular). Check there is 12V at the red wire by measuring voltage between the 'bike end' of that connector and earth. There should be.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Cheers, that's another thing to check. I found the attached on t'net a few minutes ago. I'm going to post it in the Biker Forum as well so that more people can see it. Might be a handy thing to have lying around in the workshop.

[DanceLikeAMon...]

Well thanks for the help everyone - I now have a bike that charges it's battery like a good 'un!

Using Stinkwheel and Bezzer's advice I tested the alternator with and without the engine running, and there was a 71v current coming out of it when running and a closed circuit when it wasn't, so that was working fine (which was a weight off).

From then on it was just a case of checking the live cable from the reg to the battery, and it looks like there was just a bad connection between the battery and fuse box bitty.

Ah well, £60 on a reg/rec that I might not have needed but it was still cheaper than a mechanic to get it working (probably)

Thanks again for all the help everyone.

[Bezzer]

Nice one , followed it through and sorted it out proper, with the satisfaction you did it yourself.
____________________
I used to be indecisive but now I'm not quite so sure.

[iCraig]

You have a spare reg/rec now though.

Though in over 15,000 miles on GS500E's I've never had a Reg/rec on one of them fail on me!

[stinkwheel]

[DanceLikeAMon...]

I'm going to stick the old RR (as the box called it) on eBay next time they have a cheap listing day. Might get a couple of quid for it - but I'll be safe in the knowledge that the one on mine is all shiny and new.

[iCraig]

[DanceLikeAMon...]

The new one is already on the bike (it comes with a years guarantee so I'm not bothered about it failing).