Troubleshooting electrical problem - R100GS

chlowden

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Hello,
Could someone advise me on how to trouble shoot a chronic electrical problem that I have. The bike works fine except that the charging is compromised by a electrical leakage. The charging light flashes very fast depending on the speed of the motor. Some days the problem does not manifest itself at all, but more often than not , it does. The only constant I have is that the charger light flashes brightest and most constanly when the headlight is off. When the park light is on, the flashing diminishes and when the full beam is on, the charging lamp no longer flashes.
I presume that I have a grounding problem but I don't know how to troubleshoot it and whety tolls I need to do so. Any help would be most welcome.
Thank you
 
Cheapest thing you could do is clean all the relevant electrical contacts including the earths to see if it makes a difference.
 
I had something similar. It turned out to be a faulty relay. I cant remember exactly what it was, something like an overcharge dump relay. Its worth taking the tank off and running the engine and feel the relays above the engine mine was getting very hot.
 
Mine KO like that. It turned out to be an overheated Diode on the diode board. It had melted the solder and was just resting on contacts. It worked sometimes then as it got hotter or faster vibes it lifted and stopped producing enough power= red light flashes or came on. If yer get a tankbag on and connect yer multi meter so yer can see it - go for a run and watch the power produced. I replaced with a Thunderchild unit from San diego together with a better regulator and rubber mounts 4 days later and about 75 quid lighter. HTHY
 
EME has a compact modern regulator/rectifier complete with all wiring at a sensible price , might be easier than chasing faults in the existing gear.
Might not activate the stock charge indicator light but LED charge indicators like the Gamatronics work better anyway.
Hard to do much work without a multimeter - mine was less than ten quid , just basic volts, resistance and continuity are all you need for most work.
Most have two prods but they are much easier to use if you add a crocodile clip to the earth side.
A test light might be handy too - my local auto electricians shop has a better choice than most auto parts stores.
I think that testers are around which are able to sense current in a live wire through the insulation - mains voltage ones are definitely available but I dont know if they sense 12 volts.
 
cookie said:
Swap your diode board for a known good one.
Click to expand...
Thank you all so much for your thoughts
Following your thoughts, I observed that my issue is more prevalent when it is hot, therefore the diode board looks like a good candidate. I changed the original diode board about 6 years ago, so I suppose that it is ready for a new one.
I will buy one next week and keep you informed.
Thank you
 
Swapped out the diode board but the issue persists.
Looks like I am going to have to get the voltmeter out.
Last question: why do most of you think that the charging circuit is the culprit when the issue disappears when the headlight is on?
Thanks
 
Well the thread is about a charging light problem. !
For me it would be simple elimination - for around $100- to fit EMEs REG/REC and loom I replace a swag of 35 year old components and wiring with new modern known to be good components. No point in waiting till they eventually fail - I could easily be up for $ 500- in tow truck fees if they do.
Charging light is now redundant, so another $20- gets me a Gamatronics LED style monitor which can be set to indicate charge or battery volts, so it will now tell me if the alternator and the new bits are working properly.
If they are working properly I would now start troubleshooting earths, connectors, switches, relays and wiring but god knows where to start. Replacing them first up would cost around twenty times as much - I just did it on my G/S.
 
After a long struggle, I found the source of the issue. One of the alternator 3 carbon brushes was not freely moving, often sticking unconnected to the slip ring. I changed the whole carbon brush holding unit and the charger light no longer flashes. Thank you for your help.
 
Thanks for letting us know what the problem was .
Condition of the alternator brushes is probably the first thing to check when the charge light starts acting up, but somehow the thread drifted away to the other parts of the system.
My tendency to suggest just replacing the lot is probably based on the fact that few spares are available in Oz and it takes me around a couple of weeks to get anything, so it is easier to order sufficient parts to ensure I will fix the problem first up, and in that case it would have included a new brush holder, brushes and the modern compact RR and harness from EME.
Might also be based on my experience! that once one section of a 40 year old electrical system starts to fail the rest is probably not far behind.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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