so my foreman gets very little use and is stored in a heated garage with a batter tender on it.ive went through 2 batterys in 2 years and just purchased number 3.i checked the voltage at the battery with machine running and im getting 15 volts at idle to a fully charged battery.increasing the rpm slightly drops the voltage to just under 15 v . im thinking that i need a new voltage regulator,and am looking for some opinions. thanks

 

Yes regulator should regulate alot less shouldbe around 13.1 to 13,9 just guessing over charging could be why your batteries are short lived could cause lead plates inside battery case could heat up an make them warsped causing them to touch one another inside battery

 

The voltage reg is OK, max should be 14.5v but many go slightly over, I wouldn't be fitting a new one for half a volt. Far more likely that leaving the battery for long periods flattens it. Once flat for a few days, they don't seem to recover when you try to charge them again. One thing that may be wrong with the regulator is a high drain, i.e. it leaks current when the bike is stored. You can check for this by removing a battery lead and, ignition off, put an ammeter between lead and battery, there should be no amps or at the most 0.01 amp. If there is a higher drain, to be certain it is the regulator, disconnect it and see if the drain goes away at the battery.

 

Rev up engine half throttle to see votls keeps climbing I replace around 200 hundred of these atv voltage regulators and 350 ranchers and 459 foreman an year

 

At idle the machine puts out 15 v if i bump up the revs it drops just below 15v.i never checked it for any parasitic draw yet but i did order a new voltage regulator. I figured what the heck, uts about the only part ove replaced on it since buying new. Thanks

 

If you didn't go for a genuine regulator, keep the old one in the toolbox. We have had some truly awful aftermarket regulators, RM Stator were so bad the socket for the wiring plug was distorted and wouldn't fit, and if you succeeded in getting it on, the regulator failed electronically within weeks of fitting.

Not sure about 400s, but 450s could cut out with a faulty regulator, it would to kill the spark, this doesn't happen with other Hondas, though they sometimes blow the main fuse when they fail, and on early 420s could kill the ECU by feeding it too high a voltage.

 

i did buy an OEM regulator from my honda dealer and installed it this morning.voltage to battery pretty much the same as the old one,so i guess we will just call it preventive matinence. im thinking now that ive got a faulty battery maintainer that just keeps on charging after the battery is at full charge.gonna call it the battery reaper and chuck it into the trash can.thanks for everyones suggestions.