jump start

[earlfor]

I suspect they may have isolated phases much like what you would have if you took a standard 3 phase stator and R/R and instead installed 3 single phase stators and 3 single phase R/R's. Just guessing though. Either way, there has to be some provision to keep the voltage regulators in equilibrium with each other.

Earl

Earl,

Interesting side note here...my '84 Kawasaki Voyager 1300 has two stators, two R/Rs and one battery. I am guessing that since they are similar charging systems, they don't overpower each other.

The reason for two systems: When the bike was introduced in 1979 as the KZ1300, it had a minimal (237 watt) charging system. Apparently the designers did not figure in what the Americans were going to do to this bike by adding fairing, luggage, lights, etc. In 1980, output was upped to 258. For 1981 and 1982, it went to about 300. The bike was redesigned for 1983 and came out fully-dressed as the Voyager. Since electronic fuel injection was added, there was more drain on the charging system. The solution was to replace the harmonic balancer on the other end of the crankshaft with another rotor and stator with about 200 watt capacity.

[sailor20034]

Testing for a key-off current draw

If your battery and charging system check out okay, you may have an "draw" somewhere in the electrics which is taking current from the battery even though the key is off. An aftermarket addition (such as an electric clock or stereo with programmable radio stations) will have to have current going to them to be functional.

To check for a current draw, you need a good voltmeter (the little "multimeters" usually don't have the correct settings). Unbolt the ground cable from the battery and hook up the voltmeter's positive lead to the battery and negative lead to the ground cable. If there's a draw in the system, you'll get a voltage reading. If that's the case, remove one fuse at a time. If the reading drops to zero when you pull a fuse, that will give you a clue where to look for a possible draw. If it DOESN'T go to zero when you pull fuses, there's a draw between the battery and the fuse box.

Good luck....sometimes chasing these little "ghosts" can be like trying to nail jello to a tree!