Charging system problem

I have a 1979 KZ60 With Dyna ignition and the WG coil mod. My battery dies constantly and I suspect the charging system is faulty. I have taken a reading at the battery when the bike was running at 4k Rpms and The best reading I could get was 12.8. The manual says that the battery should be getting between 14 and 15 at 4,000 rpms.

Also the manual said to take a resistance reading from the alternator and it should read .4 ohms. I was getting .8 ohms.


Should I pull and replace the alternator or is there a set of things that I should check before I dismantle my bike.

Also, is there a place to get a new alternator for my bike or do I have to try to find an old one and hope that it works.

As you can probably tell I am not an electrician and I have little experience with circuits so any help you could give me would be appreciated.

Thanks

Might be the wiring or wire connectors to and from the regulator/rectifier, or a faulty battery ground, or maybe the battery has gone bad. If not already done, would check all these things before blaming the stator.

If needed, here's a reg/rec from Z1E:

reg/rec@Z1E

Good Luck!

Post edited by: Patton, at: 2007/10/05 14:04

Warthog,

Click on the KZ Information tab up top and go to the Filebase. Once there go to "Not model Specific" and search for the "Electrical Fault Finding Flowchart". It may even be listed at the page bottom under Frequent Links...

Follow the chart and it will tell you exactly what is wrong with your charging system.

The bane of these older bikes is mostly old, dirty electrical connections. You might get lucky there. If not there are parts out there. Try the chart first and clean connections next, then try the chart again.

I looked at the connector that connects the alternator to the rectifier and it was partially melted together and corroded. Do you think that could be the cause?

Yes that will do it. In the pic below I have enclosed the white connector that was melted on my bike. Before I replaced it I was popping bulbs, throwing sparks, melting wires, yadda, yadda. It was overcharging in my case.

Once I cut it out and used new spade terminals all was well in my world.




Post edited by: OKC_Kent, at: 2007/10/05 17:50