1982 GS1100 GK electrical issue

[Ron]

I have a question about voltage on my GS 1100. After reading a lot of the posts in here and following the test procedures on Bike Cliffs website I changed the stator in my bike. with the new stator in place and 60 volts across the leads I was still only getting 11.5 to 11.7 volts at the battery. What I found after extensive testing and cleaning of connections as well as rewirng was that if the wire from the fuse box to the hi/lo switch is disconnected I have 14.5 volts constant but as soon as I reconnect it the voltage drops off. Any Ideas?

[tom203]

Welcome. hi-lo switch?? you mean in the left hand switch for headlight? if yes, anything noticeably different about using this switch (besides voltage drop)- extra lighting, etc?? Do both high and low filaments come on maybe together?
Can you take a pic of your R/R and its wiring? I blame crap R/R's and their hookup for many problems.

[Ron]

Yes the left hand switch. checked the R\r and it is functioning properly. Also checked the operation of the switch and it is correct. The problem seems to be between the fuse box and the connector under the tank that goes to the switch. I am reading continuity to ground there but it's not blowing the fuse. I am going to run a wire to the connector under the tank to power and see if that works. all I can tink of is possibly something with the fuse box or wire itself.

[Ron]

After further fiddling and testing found that the voltage drop is excessive coming from the R\r. Also checked the voltage directly from the R\r. With no load 14.4 volts. As soon as it is connected to circuit drops to 12.1 to 12.3 volts at idle. Thinking that the R\r test I did initially was it's last gasp before it died. That is probing the red wire directly off the regulator.

[tom203]

You seem to have a standard suzuki feature/problem! But do some testing, BEFORE you assume anything.
head to this link for charging testing- take advantage of Posplayr efforts

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=1272192#post1272192

There are lots of related links. If you find you need a new R/R, do a little research here or ask- there are lots of crappy R/R's looking for victims.

[posplayr]

After further fiddling and testing found that the voltage drop is excessive coming from the R\r. Also checked the voltage directly from the R\r. With no load 14.4 volts. As soon as it is connected to circuit drops to 12.1 to 12.3 volts at idle. Thinking that the R\r test I did initially was it's last gasp before it died. That is probing the red wire directly off the regulator.

with bad connections and a slow idle 12.1 is possible at the battery with a functioning system.

Look at the Quick Test for some typical values for loaded voltage at different RPM/s


BTW you should not run the R/R without a load. It will think that the battery is fully charged and continue to short the stator.

There are established tests for checking the charging system.

[Nessism]

You might want to consider rewiring the charging system to feed the stator power directly into the R/R. Suzuki's power routing system was quite convoluted and problematic. Also, make sure the R/R is properly grounded to a solid frame point or the battery. Last thing, make sure you are not losing voltage on the way to the battery along the power line (red wire). Details on how to do this stuff can be found on Cliff's website. The charging system should put out about 14 volts or so at 5000 rpm, give or take.

Good luck

[Ron]

I already went through all the established test procedures on Bike Cliffs website with no clear answer. I have already wired the Stator directly to the regulator and grounded the regulator to the battery. Replaced the hot lead from the regulator to the ignition switch to the fuse box. thoroughly cleaned every connector I can find. And everything else I could think to do. The only thing I have found that makes any difference in the voltage is the headlight. the minute it is connected The voltage drops below 12 volts and keeps dropping. Even if the I only have the bulb jumpered on without any switches or anything just two wires going to the battery. I guess my question is if the regulator were good wouldn't the voltage initially drop and then come back up to at least 12 volts?

[posplayr]

I already went through all the established test procedures on Bike Cliffs website with no clear answer. I have already wired the Stator directly to the regulator and grounded the regulator to the battery. Replaced the hot lead from the regulator to the ignition switch to the fuse box. thoroughly cleaned every connector I can find. And everything else I could think to do. The only thing I have found that makes any difference in the voltage is the headlight. the minute it is connected The voltage drops below 12 volts and keeps dropping. Even if the I only have the bulb jumpered on without any switches or anything just two wires going to the battery. I guess my question is if the regulator were good wouldn't the voltage initially drop and then come back up to at least 12 volts?

Getting back to basic fundamentals.... A voltage from a source may maintain an appropriate voltage ( e.g. 14.0) giving the current supplied is within the energy capacity of the device. If an additional load is applied requiring more current for that voltage the source has to supply more current. What can happen is the current required exceeded the capacity of he source and the voltage drops. This basic and fundamental model fits your observations. Therefore it suggests two things a.) there is too much resistance in series with the lamp or B) the generator can not supply the required current.
In other words there is either a.) large voltage drop between the battery and the light when it is on or B.) the battery is failing

[tom203]

Yeah, this stuff can get frustrating. I suppose it's possible that your charging system can cope with the ignition power requirements (let's guess this at 60 watts needed), but powering the headlight requires another 60 watts and this overloads things so voltage falls off. The R/R can't make up for a stator problem- it can't regulate what ain't there.
But just maybe the R/R has its own troubles with the higher current passing thru it- this seems unlikely, but who knows. Me, I try another R/R- good used ones are cheap.

[posplayr]

Yeah, this stuff can get frustrating. I suppose it's possible that your charging system can cope with the ignition power requirements (let's guess this at 60 watts needed), but powering the headlight requires another 60 watts and this overloads things so voltage falls off. The R/R can't make up for a stator problem- it can't regulate what ain't there.
But just maybe the R/R has its own troubles with the higher current passing thru it- this seems unlikely, but who knows. Me, I try another R/R- good used ones are cheap.

At this point there would be no harm in changing the r /r but I would still perform a Quick test as it provides a pretty good set of data to steer the diagnosis further. For the voltage to drop below 12v means the battery is down. Maybe because it is not charging who knows

[Ron]

Ikind of reached the same conclusion. The battery was brand new but With all the testing and starting and stopping ran it down quite a bit. So yesterday I pulled it off the bike and charged it with the trickle charger for about 4 hours. Then ran a completely ne ground with 12 gauge wire. Put it all back together and now I'll try that aFTER WORK TONIGHT.

[spacepirates]

I seem to be having a similar issue on my 79 850G:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=1872433

[tom203]

I seem to be having a similar issue on my 79 850G:
http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum....php?p=1872433

Your problem might be different than Ron's - (maybe he'll check back in at some point).do the tests as mentioned in your other thread to narrow down the problem