/5 Gen Light Problem-STAYING ON

[dlearl476]

I've got a bit of time in the next few days that I want to jump back into my /5 issues and I wanted some opinions. Spent a little time perusing airhead tech articles, but can't seem to find anything on this.

To Recap, I pulled a bonehead manuver a while back and ground my front cover on my diode board. Perhaps related, maybe not, my alternator rotor shot craps. One result was funky starting/charging issues (Duh!) which as it turns out, were probably more related to the rotor than the grounding.

Anyway, I've replaced the rotor with a KNOWN good one. Put in a new voltage regulator. Brushes are good. Took a celabratory cruise on Christmas eve and all was well. Bike starting and charging perfectly. As the ride went on, I noticed the Gen light going OUT at higher and higher RPMs. By the time I returned home 50 miles later, the Gen light was always on. Lots of info about the Gen light NOT coming on, but I can't find anything about this issue.

Any Ideas?
TIA

[James.A]

I killed a diode board doing the exact same thing, nicking the front cover on a terminal with the battery still on the circuit. On my /5 with a bad diode board, the light gets brighter as the battery dis-charges over time. Your bike will function just fine on AC, but the battery needs DC to stay charged. Hope this helps. If you don't have a spare diode board, I could send you one. I always keep a few on hand.

[flash412]

Gen light ON means battery is not charging. That can be anything from a loose connection to a broken wire to a dead component.

Double check your Voltage Regulator and make sure that everything is plugged in there. I once had a similar problem to yours and finally discovered the Big Red Wire had slipped off the VR. D'OH!

Maybe one of the wires fell off a battery terminal?

[SCDorman]

I had this precise problem over the last couple weeks after re-installing my new starter. My issue was the battery connection to the diode board. Make sure you're good there.

Steve

[dlearl476]

Thanks guys, plenty of stuff to check tomorrow morning. I kind of did a "once over" when I got home, but it was late and I was a little disappointed after installing a new rotor and VR just to have a new problem crop up. I <i>SO</i> may have missed something simple. The thing that puzzles me is that the light stayed on at increasingly high revs. Then again, it might be a symptom of a connection slowly working itself loose.

woodnsteel: The board checks out fine, according to the tech stuff I read. I think I dodged a bullet on that one. I think I actually ground the hot lead to the engine case. According to one source, that probably save it as it didn't go through any components. As for the battery discharging, I've ruled that out as it stayed charged and started the bike just fine. (IIRC, it was at 12.7vdc when I checked it after my last ride) It's a brand new Westco and I fully charged it right before my ride.

[James.A]

Well Dave, I did a poll on charging system failure last year. The non-scientific result was that among our respondents, all components fail in roughly equal proportions. As a devotee of early airheads, 5's and 6's, my experience indicates that the diode board is the most likely component to fail. I've lost 2 boards, 1 rotor, and 1 VR. Both of my diode failures were related to specific "arcing" events. The other results from the poll indicated that poor connections are as likely as any other reason to create problems. FWIW, a fully charged 12v battery will read 13.4v +or-.2v across the poles. Ask many questions. Wer'e all in this together. I am still willing to loan out used/good components for testing. Keep us posted. JAS