I have a SLA 109 that runs good but it will not run long because battery dies after like 45 mins. I charge the battery and it starts up again. Why will this atv not keep the battery charged. Is this the stator issue or what? Can you please advise me on a little help here?

the lights stay on all the time or the brake and small like parking light in headlight but this shouldnt kill the battery like that.

My kids will love this if you can help me out.

 

Why do the lights stay on all the time? This doesn't sound right. Sounds like you have multiple problems...

Two tests:

1) Charge up your quad battery. Turn on a kill swtch so the quad will crank the starter but not start. On a cold engine, crank the starter for 30 seconds. Does the battery hold up for 30 seconds or does it go dead before 30 seconds are up?

2) Remove the main fuse. Set up a meter to measure current (in amps) on the ten amp scale. Usually this means you have to move the red probe to a special 10 amp current jack on the meter. Turn on the ignition switch (but don't start the quad). Turn on the headlights. Insert the meter probes across the two fuse terminals. What current level do you read? It should not be zero amps. Turn off the healights, and turn off/unplug any other lights that are on. After all lights are off now what current level do you read? (It should be zero amps.)

 

Lynn
thanks alot. I have just got off work so im going to go work on it here shortly with the other one as well. Yes i was told when i bought the atv the dealership replaced all the wires but when i actually replaced the battery the one green (-) wire was cracked and exposing wire so i cut it our and replaced it.
I will try these test and get back to you. What exactly keeps the battery charged when riding. this was another thing he told me when i bought it. That it would not keep battery charged. So i wonder if the stator is going bad or if this even has one. Im a mechanic in the US Coast Guard but atvs are sure different in there own ways.

The light in the head light assy stay on its a small little like parking light real dim but the head lights have a switch that you can turn on and off. He had all the lights unplugged which i assume because it wont charge.

again thanks for your help with my 2 post.

 

The stator generates AC voltage on the battery charge winding when the engine is turning. This AC voltage goes over to the voltage regulator where it is rectified into DC and regulated to between 13.5 and 14.5 volts DC and applied to the battery. Lead/Acid batteries (like in quads and cars) are really simple to charge. The regulator simply raises the voltage between the two values above and the battery charges up. When the battery is discharged it pulls in more charge current at the charging voltage, and when it is charged it stops drawing charge current.

Your battery is going dead too quickly for this to be a simple "not charging" problem. Something is actively draining the battery down when you are riding. Or the battery is no good and isn't able to store much energy.

The first test I proposed test to see if the battery can store enough energy to be of any use at all. If you cannot crank for 30 seconds then the battery is just plain no good. There may be other problems as well, but this is one that must be addressed.

The second test is to see how much current is being pulled out of the battery. If it is excessive then we need to isolate what is causing that, and then fix it.

 

OK i did the test you told me to do. The engine will crank for 30 secs and seems like it had plenty of juice left as well.

Second test light only come on when the atv is running so that is the ac side. My kids did say they cranked it a few times because it shut off on them because the carb is messing up.
When i did the test with the lights switched on but of course the only light on was the brake light it had about .024 amps
then with them off and unplugged it had .002 amps. I think im understanding you correctly.

How do i test the stator and the voltage regulator? Can I just test the output into the battery while it is running? Will this tell me if I am getting a charge back into my battery. if i remove the cables from battery when the atv is running will it shut off if its not charging or will it still run. Is this a way to test it as well?

Again thanks for all your help for sure your helping me and it look like alot of people on here.

 

Yes, you can check the charging rate on the battery while it is running, you should see 13.5-14.5 volts while the quad is running, you may need to rev it off idle to get that, but it should hold pretty steady. If you see AC volts, or low or very high DC, your regulator/rectifier is bad,or even possibly your stator.

 

The procedure for checking the charging system posted by 95wolv is correct.

The current measurements you listed don't sound right at all, but perhaps your meter isn't working on the current ranges. The brake light should be drawing much more than 24 milliamps (0.024 amps). What I was looking for is why the battery (which cranks fine for 30 seconds, and therefore isn't completely on it's last legs), is dead in 45 minutes on a quad that is riding around with nothing significant turned on. But if I understand your post correctly the quad may have been cranked for a while during that 45 minutes due to carb problems. Maybe that is why the battery was dead? Then we are back to checking the charging system, so do the test as outlined by 95wolv. You're looking for 13.5 to 14.5 volts DC measured right on the battery terminals.

If your quad ignition system is AC powered (5 pin CDI) then disconencting the battery will not shut down the engine no matter how messed up the charging system is.

If your quad ignition system is DC powered (4 pin CDI) the quad may or may not shut down when the battery is disconnected depending on how bad the charging system is.