How does the charging system work...anyone?

[sublimobile]

I have a 93 Kawasaki Ninja 600c. My charging system is not working properly. My battery does not stay charged. I was wondering if anyone could explain to me how the charging system on motorcycles works. What does the regulator/rectifier do? I was told my bike doesnt have an alternator like a car, so how does it keep voltage up? Anyone that could submit a detailed explanation of the charging system, I think it would be very helpful to many people, and myself. Thanks.

[zedx11]

are you sure that the charging system is not working, depending on the age of the battery it could be the battery is bad.

if you take a voltmeter and put red to pos and black to neg on the battery post on voltage with it running, the voltage should go up. if not then you have a problem with the charging system.

[QKENUF4U]

http://www.best-motorcycle-gear.com/...ic-system.html

[Bad Company]

http://www.offwidth.co.uk/bike/gener...lt_finding.pdf

Here's a good primer.

[SGVRider]

I had a regulator go out on me on my CBR600 F1, it's easy to check if the charging system is bad (either the stator or the regulator), just attach your multimeter set on DC 20V to the battery terminals and turn the bike on, compare the voltage. It ought to be 2-3V higher with the bike on and the stator and regulator working properly. To check the stator, set the multimeter to AC 200V , disconnect the regulator wires from the stator wires (refer to your manual to identify the right plugs), and stick the prongs of the test leads into the female end of the stator plug, and turn the bike on. At idle on my Honda the stator output is about 60V, rev it up and it should go past about 70V. No increase while revving means the stator is probably bad, very little output or no output means the same thing, or that you fried your multimeter by leaving it on DC and putting AC current through it.

[bountyhunter]

Originally Posted by sublimobile

I have a 93 Kawasaki Ninja 600c. My charging system is not working properly. My battery does not stay charged. I was wondering if anyone could explain to me how the charging system on motorcycles works. What does the regulator/rectifier do? I was told my bike doesnt have an alternator like a car, so how does it keep voltage up? Anyone that could submit a detailed explanation of the charging system, I think it would be very helpful to many people, and myself. Thanks.

All 12V auto/mc systems have some things in common. There is either an alternator or generator which is supplying an AC voltage that is fed to the rectifiers and the regulator.

The regulator is a device that monitoprs the battery (and system) voltage and regulates it to about 13.8V when running.

In an alternator system, it regulates the voltage by adjusting the current flowing in the alternator's stator winding which directly controls the alternator's output.

In a generator system, usually silicon controlled rectifiers are used and the regulator controls their gate voltage and that determines how much of the cycle they conduct (which again modulates the current flowing into the elctrical system). My KZ750 uses this type of control.

If you are getting no charge, the procedure is:

1) Verify good output from the generator

2) Check rectifier output

3) Check voltage regulator

In many cases, the rectifier/regulator is a single module and can be replaced easily. That is usually what is blown.