charging at ground point but not battery

[twicecustom]

I picked up a 82 gs1100gl the other day, Had charging issues. I tested the stator per instructions on here and it checked out ok. If you hold the meter on the battery it doesnt change volts. It had bad wires that hooked to the stator, so I fixed them, while I was testing again, I put my meter ground on the frame ground mount next to the fuses and it was showing 12.8-14.2 (roughly) as I raised the RPMS. I attached a jumper ground to the battery from that spot on the ground to test, and it still wont change on the battery, What should I look into next? Kind of odd that it is charging at one spot but not at the battery. Any ideas??

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. twicecustom,

I can't quite visualize your procedure from your description. You should check charging voltage right at the battery. Is the ground strap to the negative terminal of your batter properly connected to the bottom of the engine? Connect the ground wire from the r/r unit directly to the negative terminal of the battery. (The factory often connected the r/r ground wire to the battery box, not a good ground.) See the electrical section of my website for more troubleshooting tips.

Let me dump a TON of information on you and share some GS lovin'.

I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", "Top 15 Tips For GS Happiness", the Carb Cleanup Series, and the Stator Papers. All of these tasks must be addressed in order to have a safe, reliable machine. This is what NOT to do: Top 10 Newbie Mistakes. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...



Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[koolaid_kid]

I would also run the 12V output straight to the battery using an in-line fuse of 15 or 20A.

[twicecustom]

I know it sounds confusing.. It has to be a bad connection somewhere. Im taking it to work tomorrow and going to tear into it more. Someone had replaced the stator at some point, all 3 wires are solid White, the connections had gotten warm and they had a 24g wire as an extension for one of the stator leads to the factory harness.

I think when I was testing voltage, I was on a red wire in the harness and the ground bolt, thats where I got the voltages I wanted to see. Ill know more tomorrow after I got through and fix the bad connections and solder and heat shrink them.. Thanks

[Killer2600]

I attached a jumper ground to the battery from that spot on the ground to test, and it still wont change on the battery, What should I look into next?

If disconnect the jumper from the battery and hook it to the meter does the meter show good readings?

When the jumper is connected to the battery and the meter to the good frame ground, does the meter show a change in reading from using no jumper to using a jumper to the battery?

What gauge wire is the jumper?

I suspect a possible inadequate jumper, low or bad battery, and/or inadequate charging current output.

After seeing your latest above post, you could have bad connections from the R/R to the battery on both the positive and negative side.

[tom203]

I know it sounds confusing.. Someone had replaced the stator at some point, all 3 wires are solid White, the connections had gotten warm and they had a 24g wire as an extension for one of the stator leads

Reread the stator testing again- this undersized wire is on life support, all three stator wires should head right to R/R with no detours.

[koolaid_kid]

Reread the stator testing again- this undersized wire is on life support, all three stator wires should head right to R/R with no detours.

Agreed. The stator wires should be a minimum of 18 gauge and should have soldered connections.

[twicecustom]

Yes, That wire was the first thing to go, even before I tested anything else. I brought the bike to work today so after I get off I can work on it. so hopefully around 6-7 CDT I should have some answers.

[twicecustom]

Ok first report...has me stumped.... (All tests are while rpms 4000-5000) Went through and cleaned all contacts and soldered wires. Hooked the Stator directly to the RR, hooked RR red directly to Batt +. Tested it, shows 12.6v no change at the battery. Ran another ground from RR to the battery, Still shows 12.6v, unhooked ground that I added in, tested from factory ground on RR to + on Battery, 14.1v, hooked up supplemental ground, tested 12.6v.. But no matter what, I test at battery and it is still 12.6v no change with Rpms. What doesnt make sense, it is already grounded from that point, it has 0.2ohm resistance from that screw to the neg terminal on the battery. When I check the voltage like the stator papers show, I get .7V which is a fail, but When I hook the supplemental wire it drops to .08 or so.

Is the RR bad/Weak? or could it be the stator??

[koolaid_kid]

Sounds like you are going to have to run the stator papers, which also tests your R/R.

[twicecustom]

Test phase C is bad, so looks like Ill be ordering a new RR.. Thanks for the help even though I was so stubborn!! :-)

[koolaid_kid]

Be sure and get a Shindengen (sp) they are available on fleabay for cheap.
And you weren't stubborn, you were determined. It is always the enemy that is stubborn.

[twicecustom]

Better yet, I walked over to the neighbors house and bought a 81 gs750 supercheap too, mounted the rr off that to my 1100 and now I can ride until my new one shows up (I had a ride planned for this weekend with my little brother and his goldwing) , then I can transfer it back to the 750 and have 2 bikes..