Charging Problems - Mastiff / Baghira

[Gobsheen]

Hi,
I was out for a run today and the bike started stuttering a bit. I noticed the volt gauge (very glad the previous owner fitted one!) was almost at zero. I'd no idea why that was happening but I switched off the lights and immediately the engine was running fine. Rode home like that without a problem.
I've been reading about stators, regulators and dodgy connections etc but I've no idea where to start! Any guidance now would be really helpful before I start making a mess of anything on the bike!

[DAVID THOMPSON]

start at loose and dodgy connections and a battery going bad or low on water

[Chalks]

A quick stator test is:

Disconnect the plug from the stator, there are 3 terminals,

with a volt meter set to AC and the bike revving to about 3K check the output between each terminal with the pos & neg probe

a healthy stator should kick out about 60 volts and all 3 readings should be very similar.

I know a good source for cheap UK spares if you're stuck.

Good luck.

[Gobsheen]

Thanks guys

Before I saw your posts, I had a look under the seat to check wiring etc and found a pretty melted fuse. It's a 30 amp fuse, which there shouldn't be any of, I think! Anyway, I removed it and a fresh one in (I know there are clearly other problems!). Anyway, I fired her up and the volt gauge was showing good charging like before. Pulled the fuse out again and the charge level dropped right down. So, no idea why it's melted or why it has a 30 amp fuse in, or even what the fuse relates to! But I know the problem is linked to it. Open to thoughts!

Confession.....I don't know where or what the stator is! I'll find it!

[DAVID THOMPSON]

raw beginner are YOU

here
http://www.dansmc.com/

http://www.dansmc.com/mc_repaircourse.htm

very good site for motorcycle info in general

dave

book mark this it will serve you well

[Gobsheen]

Thanks for link Dave.....lots of good reading in there!

Charging Update:
I think the fuse was a red herring (is that phrase international?!). It's still ok but I haven't explored any underlying problems yet.
While tinkering, I discovered the previous owners electrical bodges so have been replacing twisted wire connections with crimped. Not soldered yet but better crimped than twisted and taped up. That didn't change the charging issues though, or anything else, so i guess the twists were holding up ok.
What I did discover was that the spark plug lead wasn't seated quite right (my fault). BTW, who thought that was a good place for the plug anyway?! When I put that back in properly, the charging seems to have been restored!
But, does that make sense? Could the engine have been receiving enough of a spark to keep going but not enough to maintain charging properly?

[DAVID THOMPSON]

charging and spark are part of the system and works like this
they sustain each other..

you crank the motor spark is needed for it to start and run
the power to do this is supplied by a charged battery

after start the stator supplies power to charge the battery
and run the spark system

if spark stops then charging stops very quickly because motor stops

if charge stops then spark stops when the battery runs down

they both stop when key is off if key is off and bike still runs YOU GOT A SHORT SOME WHERE
or relay 30 is stuck on
THE AGE OF THE BIKES IS STARTING TO BE A PROBLEM
the wires are getting old an tatty

and many bikes have been worked on by people who do not have a clue on how to fix stuff....
It would have been great if school had more shop classes and a lot less FOOTBALL on both sides of the POND
DAVE
the big problem IS most people have never been exposed to a good class on how electrical things work...

[Gobsheen]

Thanks Dave. Why do i feel like i said the wrong thing?!

Further update........bike completely crapped out on the way home from work. Fortunately, I took out breakdown cover on the bike for the first time this year because it ws a good deal with my insurance. RAC eventually arrived.....bloke on his own, on a motorbike and has pulled into a car park is way down the priority list......they would have been much faster if i was pregnant!......he tested several things out and diagnosed that my battery was well and truely knackered. He bodged up a second battery (put in my top box) and followed me home. Worked great and charging fine.

New battery in now and all seems to be good. I do want to check the charging is 100% because it would be daft to rule out that it didn't kill the battery in the first place but my guess is that it's a pretty old battery that's probably sat round doing nothing too long. I know the previous owner didn't ride it for about a year while he was doing it up.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

Why do i feel like i said the wrong thing?!

its not you its me i drove a school bus 18 years and the usual talk was sports

i do not remember any talk about math spelling or science

nothing !!the kids were not even learning any thing from each other...

some times i over kill the subject the reason

is things i work on as a hobby

on the lathe this week parts for a steam engine

and on the electric work bench a raspberry pi computer for control of a ham radio transceiver

dave

[Gobsheen]

It was very tempting to just let this thread die and not come clean but that's not very.....eh.....manly.........!

Here we go, I've continued to struggle to work out what's causing my electrical issues, asking several questions on here. Again, I was checking over the wiring and changing dodgy connections, and decided to have a look at the spark plug. I didn't think the plug was really the source but it was worth a check anyway. I had a visual check of the plug lead and it appeared fine so went to disconnect it, and it clearly wasn't connected to the plug correctly already. I re-seated it (had to manoeuvre the rubber seal a bit), went for a run.......no problems. Took the bike to work yesterday so it was properly warmed up and was in traffic, which is where I normally saw the problem......ran perfectly!

So (touch wood), it looks like that's all it was. Not sure if I've knocked it out (don't think so) or it's been not quite right since I bought the bike. Anyway, I'm much happier now and my confidence in the bike is restored. And today's lesson.......always check the basics........something very simple overlooked can cause lots of confusion!

[DAVID THOMPSON]

most of the problem i have had with bikes over the years is electrical ....
and its seems to have gotten worse with time..

do enjoy it while its working ....