Help me think straight my meds are wearing off!

[pcombe]

Help me think straight?

I just put a new replacement battery on my trike and a new voltage regulator and I seem to have a direct short. Its almost as if I were hooking the cables up backward although im not.
I soldered my connections.

I can hear a breaker tripping so I assume it's trying not to burn things up. I should be able to hook up the positive battery cable and not get much in the line of sparks when I try to hook up the negative wire. instead it strikes an arc.

I get no lights or neutral indicator.

When all this started I was in Laramie with a new battery and after sitting for a few hours it had to be push started. The gage showed it was charging on the way home but wouldn't start when I got into the garage. I still had lights,neutral lights etc...

Question? could the new regulator be bad causing this short?

Could it be the stator although it seemed to be charging on the way home?

I cant start the bike to do electrical tests.

Im going to haul out the motor manual but perhaps you could save me some time?

I'm having one of my bad medical days and question my thinking.

[tom w]

could be a bad regulator. I have gotten bad electrical parts before and pulled chunks of hair out trying to find the problem. that would be the first place to check after the wiring you hooked up.

[pcombe]

could be a bad regulator. I have gotten bad electrical parts before and pulled chunks of hair out trying to find the problem. that would be the first place to check after the wiring you hooked up.

Has a bad regulator ever caused you a direct short?

Also what is the procedure for checking the regulator if I cant start the bike? Im trying to look it up now but im no electrical genius.

When I hook an ohm meter between the leads on the regulator wires I get 4.64 resistance and 0.00 on the stator leads out of the engine.

[2006gold]

Darn sure sounds like a direct short somewhere - and that can be a bear to find.

[trikermutha]

Have you checked the breaker itself?? I have had issues in the past with that type of breaker .

Do you have a amp meter? Kinda wondering what you are drawing for amps?

I believe you may have a 40 or 50 amp breaker on your bike..

[Sinical]

The 0.00 reading when testing the stator leads sounds right as you're completing the loop and continuity will read as 0.00. If the stator was shorted, the tester would stop at a random reading and not go lower, indicating a dead open/short.

Have you checked the terminal connections on the starter relay to insure that they're clean and tight ? (Would be good to disconnect the battery while doing this to prevent any arcing)

The ignition switch might also be suspect. A lot of juice flows thru the ignition switch and if it's faulty, this might also account for the degrading of the lights, neutral indicator, etc.

[tom w]

the problem you are speaking of should be able to be found with an ohm meter. if the regulator is the problem it would be grounding to the mounting bolts or some thing touching the bike. should read 0.

several years ago at -5* had a customer call about a car that would not start. (GM product with H.E.I. )after checking it out I determined the distributer modual was bad. I bought a new one and changed it in his drive way. still no spark. back at the shop ,I ended up putting the new modual in an old distributor and chucking it up in a vise. put power to it and spun the shaft - no spark. Bought another modual tried the same trick. It looked like a lightening storm on top of the cap. Too cold for B.S. like that!
learned just because its new does not mean it works.

[Sloufoot]

I can't remember what your fuse block is like, but pull all the fuses & hook up the battery...... If no spark then the main fuse, if no spark then add another fuse until you can see which circuit is bad.
The starter could have a welded solenoid when you tried to start the engine when you got home & had low voltage.
If you have separate wiring off the battery direct, eliminate all those also then one at a time.
And yes you can buy brand new regulators that are bad. But you might also have a bad stator from charging a bad battery also.
Just a few ideas.

[pcombe]

Thanks guys, My heart meds are working better today I will go out and see what I can do this afternoon.
Hopefully I will get some good results?

In the meantime I will buy more stock in Band-Aid company so I can gain a little from putting my big hands in small areas?

[Phu Cat]

Dang, I know I made a bunch of posts to this thread, but they're gone. What happened to 'em?

PC

[pcombe]

Dang, I know I made a bunch of posts to this thread, but they're gone. What happened to 'em?

PC

I don't know what happened to them but they were very helpful and I thank you for them!

[pcombe]

HI FOLKS I BELEIVE I HAVE FOUND AND FIXED THE PROBLEM LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND AM TO TIRED TO GO INTO IT BUT BY DARN IT WAS THE REGULATOR, BUT NOT WHAT I EXPECTED.

YOUR SUGGESTIONS GOT ME THINKING STRAIGHT AND THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT AT SOME POINT HARLEY CHANGED THE DESIGHN ON HOW THE REGULATOR WORKS AND IT NO LONGER CONNECTS TO THE GOLD POST ON THE MAIN BREAKER, THEY NOW HAVE TO BE ATTACHED TO THE SILVER (AUXILLIARY POST).

I WAS CAUSING A DIRECT SHORT BY HOOKING IT UP THE TRADITIONAL WAY I HAVE BEEN USING ON THIS BIKE FOR THE PAST 25 YRS.

THE THING THAT REALLY DISCUSTS ME IS THAT THEY DIDN'T ASK MY PERMISSION?



BUT THEN THEY DIDNT ASK ME IF I WANTED TO SEE A NEW ELECTRICAL NIGHTMARE ON TWO WHEELS WITH THE H.D. LOGO EITHER!

DONT THEY UNDERSTAND IT'S ALL ABOUT ME, AND I DETEST ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS?

[pcombe]

HI FOLKS I BELEIVE I HAVE FOUND AND FIXED THE PROBLEM LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND AM TO TIRED TO GO INTO IT BUT BY DARN IT WAS THE REGULATOR, BUT NOT WHAT I EXPECTED.

YOUR SUGGESTIONS GOT ME THINKING STRAIGHT AND THE DIFFERENCE IS THAT AT SOME POINT HARLEY CHANGED THE DESIGHN ON HOW THE REGULATOR WORKS AND IT NO LONGER CONNECTS TO THE GOLD POST ON THE MAIN BREAKER, THEY NOW HAVE TO BE ATTACHED TO THE SILVER (AUXILLIARY POST).

I WAS CAUSING A DIRECT SHORT BY HOOKING IT UP THE TRADITIONAL WAY I HAVE BEEN USING ON THIS BIKE FOR THE PAST 25 YRS.

THE THING THAT REALLY DISCUSTS ME IS THAT THEY DIDN'T ASK MY PERMISSION?



BUT THEN THEY DIDNT ASK ME IF I WANTED TO SEE A NEW ELECTRICAL NIGHTMARE ON TWO WHEELS WITH THE H.D. LOGO EITHER!

DONT THEY UNDERSTAND IT'S ALL ABOUT ME, AND I DETEST ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS?

In fact if I were stuck with one of the electric models I think when it broke I would get out a can of kerosene and sacrifice it to the Harley Gods!
Or sell it to and Englishman to use in his refrigerator?

The reason Englishmen drink warm beer is because Lucas builds refrigerators too.

I wouldn't be surprised to remove an electric part and read Ma-Bell on the label?

[msocko3]

I wouldn't be surprised to remove an electric part and read Ma-Bell on the label?

These days its made in china or mexico, HD sources their parts from the cheapest supplier. Some times it works out, other times it doesn't work very well for them or the consumer.

[pcombe]

These days its made in china or mexico, HD sources their parts from the cheapest supplier. Some times it works out, other times it doesn't work very well for them or the consumer.

At least Ma-Bell would be something we recognized huh?

[msocko3]

At least Ma-Bell would be something we recognized huh?

Yep.