Subject: Whooda Thunk
Author: Tom Bowes
Date: Jul 30, 2001, 7:02 PM
Post ID: 1707698671
I had to know that things were going just a bit too smooth. I took Cedar
over to a friend's place yesterday for a bit of socializing. Drove the
30 miles there and then back without a hitch, EXCEPT that when I got
into my drivway the generator light was shining like a lighthouse
beacon. Darn! Did the Mark trick and took the cover off the regulator
and started pushing things. I did manage to get the light to go out when
I pushed in the current cutout relay, which pretty much ruled out the
generator as the source of the problem. A trip to the local imported
auto parts store rendered a new, genuine Bosch regulator, which was
quickly installed after work today. Only problem was that I had the same
problem, another defective regulator.
Figured I'd get to the bottom of it and put a BIG load resistor across
the armature of the gennie, and bypass the regulator. Sure enough, 30
amps at 15 volts......SMOKIN!!!! (But not literally!) So, I guess it's
back to the parts store tomorrow for another try with the regulator.
I would have never thought that I could have one regulator fail within
two weeks of initial use and then have another be bad right out of the
box. Just makes me glad I had the stuff around to test the generator ON
the bike. I'd have been a might perturbed if I had pulled the generator
to have it tested and found out it was the regulator after all.
Here's hoping that things don't end up like an old mini-bike that I had
where 45 minuted of fixin' yielded about 30 minutes of riding.
Tom
'70 (July '69) Ambassador
99.8% Complete, 10% Left To Go
'82 V50-III
Shelby Township, Michigan