Brush and wiring questions..

killtrip · Posted: September 3, 2008, 3:36 pm Post subject: Brush and wiring questions..

After searching, I've found that 7mm is the min that you want the brushes to be for effective charging.. one thing I've failed to find in my searches.. is what am I measuring? the full length of the brush, or only the part that sticks out? I assume the full length of the brush, due to find a line at a mark that measures out exactly to 7mm.. this correct?

Second.. while looking around, there are two wire bundles coming from the stator.. they run close to the chain. Turns out one of them was too close to the chain, and has been worn through. Advice on fixing this? I seem unable to find a replacement to this part of the wiring harness, unless I want to buy a whole new stator.. which I dont want to do.

Any ideas? Or is is as simple as cutting out the bad wires, connecting new wires inline, and wrapping it good?

weekendrider

The "line" in the brush is the minimum wear line yes.

The stator wires could be patched and wrapped but that would be another connection for corrosion plus the extra thickness. You might consider soldering in new wires at the stator and new shrink tubing for the entire length.

killtrip

hmm.. well, I was thinking about rewiring the whole thing..

what problems could that cause though. cause the bike runs.. lights work, blinkers dont work, but havent cleaned all those connections to pinpoint where the problem is with them.

Fergie

I'll trade you my headlight problems for your alternator problems.

weekendrider

If your satisfied that the wires aren't causing a problem tapem an run it.

killtrip

Fergie, I'll pass, lol...

Weekendrider: So far, the only problem I have is that the blinkers dont blink. When I get the bike up to 35-40-ish, they will blink, if not stay on..

Which leads me to believe I'm having a charging issue. I measured the ring-ring resistance on the rotor and am getting 8.9 ohms.. that tells me its good, right? I read that it should be 5-7.. with 4 being bad.. but what about 9? Is that bad? My lights work (dim/brights/brake/tail). Bike starts first kick every time.

So, after I get everything put back together, I'm going to do a once-over with the blinker connections.. clean them up, etc.. if that solves the problem, yes, I'm gonna tape em up and live with it. If that still doesnt solve the problem... I dunno.. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Retiredgentleman

8.9 ohms, thats high for sure. When you hold your meter leads together, what reading do you get? If the slip rings have turned dark brown, time to clean them. You can use an eraser or some fine emery paper to get the rings bright and shiny.

Jake68 · 650Rider Supporter Joined: Mar 23, 2007 Posts: 841

May have been said before, but it so easy to just rip out the rectifier and regulator from the XS leaving most of wiring intact. Replace with inexpensive solid state stuff (details available on application Smile

) and never have to worry again.

The standard setup works the alternator and brushes far far too hard.

killtrip

Retiredgentleman:
When the leads are held together, it starts at 2.0.. then reduces down to 1.2.. is that normal? This is the first time I've ever used a multimeter.. I could be doing something wrong. The dial is turned to the min ohm reading of 200.

Jake68:
I found a few of the threads about that today when I was searching around for my issues.. definitely something I plan on doing in the near future.

weekendrider

It should read 0 or no resistance.

whyaskwhy

With the leads held together, it should read 0 ohms. Remember to have the meter set to the resistance or "ohms" setting.

If it doesn't read zero, then use the adjusting wheel, it's usually on the side, to get it to zero.

If it doesn't adjust to zero, change the batteries.

Retiredgentleman

The ohms scale of 200 is correct and 1.2 ohms with the leads shorted is OK but my digital meter usually reads around 0.8. The 8.9 ohms across the rotor rings is corrected to 8.9 -1.2= 7.7 ohms. The 7.7 ohms draws slightly less current than a rotor with 5 to 7 ohms, but should still work fine. The proof of a properly working charging system; start the bike, allow a few minutes to pass, then measure battery voltage with the engine rev'd up to 2500 RPM. If you read 14 to 15 volts then all is well.

killtrip

all good information. the bike is currently partly disassembled, awaiting gaskets to put it all back together. Once I get it back together, I'll check the battery voltage.

SRDESIGNER · Full Member Joined: Jun 05, 2008 Posts: 31

Killtrip,

I have parts and wiring harness' laying around. If you need something give me a call...

I'm currently awaiting parts from MikeXS for my fuel delivery problem. They are due Tuesday 9th, maybe I'll finally get to ride it somewhere...

SrDesigner

killtrip

SrDesigner:

Will keep that in mind, thanks.. btw.. I'll give you a call this weekend.. I'm gonna have a BBQ next weekend. I'll send you the time and address if you can make it.

kenb

killtrip wrote:

all good information. the bike is currently partly disassembled, awaiting gaskets to put it all back together. Once I get it back together, I'll check the battery voltage.

Killtrip,
I went through this same routine when I was coaxing my XS650 to charge properly back in June, and I see that you are receiving solid advice from the same coach I had when I was working on mine! (Thanks again RG!)

I did everything I was told (including installing the solid state reg) but at the end my voltage across the battery at 2500 rpm was still too low (12.5-13 volts), until I gave my battery another charge overnight, which changed everything and sent the voltage soaring up to 14.5 volts when I tested it again the next day. The turn signals suddenly started working again at the same time, so lots of volts is a good thing with these bikes it seems.

I had figured that I was OK on that front since the battery was brand new and fully charged only a week or two earlier, but I guess a few days of electric starting the bike in the garage with no riding time drained it down a lot more than I anticipated. Duh. Just speaking up to suggest that you give the battery a good charging overnight before taking that voltage reading.

Ken

killtrip

will surely keep that in mind when I get it all put back together, thanks for the tip.

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