hey guys,new to the forum, i just bought a used falcon atv and it runs fine but the battery doesnt charge so i was looking for a little help on how to track down the problem. mine has 4 yellow wires in one harness and 1 yellow and 1 red in another harness coming out of the case. The one red wire goes to the cdi box to make it run and will shut it down if you disconect it while running. My question is, how much and what type of voltage should the other yellow wires have when running?

 

The charging system consists of the stator, the voltage regulator, and the associated wiring. That's all. So the procedure for checcking the charging system is to measure the output voltage from the stator with the regulator disconnected. The best place to do this is at the regulator connector since that verifies both the stator and the wiring up to the regulator. Then based on those results you go back towards the stator, or look at the regulator itself and the output side wiring.

But first we need to find out whether your charging system is three phase or single phase. Look at the voltage regulator. How many pins? What are the colors of the wires that plug into it? What are the colors of the wires that the stator wire bundle plugs into?

Important: I need the colors of the wires in the *harness* - not the colors of the short pigtail wires coming out of the engine. Same thing on your regulator (if it has pigtail wires). Only the wire harness colors have meaning.

What size engine on the Falcon?

How many pins on your CDI? 4,5, or 6? I'm trying to determine if your CDI is AC powered (which comes from the stator) or DC powered. There is a trigger wire to the CDI from the stator too.

 

dont know engine size, but it has "kzm172mm" on the bottom of the case. voltage reg has 3 yellow wires all the way to the stator and another pigtail coming out that attaches to a harness with 1-red, 1-black and 1-green wire in it. the cdi is a 6 pin with 2 connectors(4 in one and 2 in the other for a total of six).

 

I don't quite understand this. I asked for harness colors at the stator end, *and* harness colors at the regulator end. I've got the part about three yellow wires from the stator to the regulator. But where is this additional pigtail that attaches to the red/black/green wires? Is this at the stator end, or at the regulator end of the harness ? And what about the other wires at the other end you left out? I need this info. I will use this to piece together the quad wiring.

The three yellow wires indicate a three phase charging system. I still need the info requested above, but let's also move to the next step. Unplug the regulator. Start up the engine. Measure the AC voltage between each of the three yellow wires while the engine is idling. Report those values. Then measure the AC voltage from each of those yellow wires to ground. Report those values as well. That's six voltage measurments total.

Do you have an automatic choke? On *some* quads with an automatic choke the auto choke loses its electric heater when the regulator is unplugged. If your quad is one of these then when the quad is started up cold then everything is fine until the engine warms up where it will stay in the "enrichened" mode. It will start to run rich and have a faster idle. If you start up a warm quad (after unplugging the regulator) the quad will run fine but drift back into the enrichened mode as the choke heater cools. So in other words: Do the voltage tests quickly while the regulator is unplugged.

 

Ok, this is the regulator that i have. And the wires that i have from the motor. As for the voltages...they are not exact because they were all going up and down a little while i was trying to get the readings. on the 3 yellows from the stator
A-B= 23.6
A-C=23.4
B-C=22.4

A-GRD=0
B-GRD=23.7
C-GRD=23.7

 

Your stator voltages look OK to me. On a 3 phase charging system the three windings are not grounded in the stator. They are instead grounded on the far side of the rectifier diodes inside the rectifier regulator.

The one leg of the three phases that reads zero volts to ground is almost certainly the same leg that drives the R/Y wire pair shown in your diagram. Obviously something is running off the raw AC power from the stator. It could be lights, autochoke, radiator fan (if your quad is liquid cooled), etc. That load will pull down that leg to ground.

So it looks like you need a new regulator, or you have a battery that will not accept a charge, or you have something that is drawing current all the time - sucking the battery down as the quad sits with the ignition switch off.

Have you tried to charge this battery up with a battery charger on the 2 amp (or lower) setting? Does the battery hold a charge overnight if you do this? If not, does the battery hold a charge overnight (after charging at no more than 2 amps), if you pull out the main fuse after charging?

When you start up the quad, turn off the headlights and run at medium fast speed. Use you meter on the 20 volt DC scale to measure the battery voltage right on the battery terminals. You should see 13.5 to 14.5 volts DC. If you do your charging system is working. What do you see?

 

the atv is liquid cooled and there is a couple of wires going to the carb, the battery is new, i charge it overnight on 2 amps and it will hold a charge all day while my daughter is riding it,but when i start it up and put the meter on the battery i can watch the voltage slowly drop. So i guess if all the voltages on the stator are good, then maybe i should look for a regulator? Is there any specific kind that i will need in order for it to work on this bike?

 

Yes, I would look at a new regulator. I would look at various internet parts suppliers and look at connector pictures to find one that matches yours. Be sure to check the male/female connector mating compatibility as well as the number of pins. The chances are good that they will be compatible as long as the connectors match.

[But I must add this caveat to others coming later to this thread via search engines - if your regulator has *four* pins all bets are off. Don't assume any four pin regulator will work. There are many different and very incompatible versions out there. Four pin regulators are a whole different story - and completely separate from this thread...].

 

Lynn, you have been a great help, i have ordered one from ebay. I will post results when it comes in.Thanks