Does a voltage regulator work like a fuse, in that when it either works or it doesn't? I've had an electrical problem with my '02 Sportsman that I've posted before, but never really got a satisfactory response. Occasionally my speedo, odometer, lights, and my 4x4 will just cut out, but then it'll come back. Some have said to check the voltage regulator, I'm just curious if this sounds like the problem or not. Cause if the voltage regulator works like a fuse, then it would have went out once, and never come back. Thanks for any feedback.

 

I'm not sure about atv regulators, but in electronics they can not work, overheat and shut down, or get out of tolerance (not regulate or regulate too much). You can take voltage mesurments before the regulator and after to trouble shoot it.

 

ttt

 

Sounds like more of a grounding problem than anything else. All should still work even if the regulator or stator goes out, it would just run off the battery until it went dead.

 

Did you ever resolve your voltage issues?
I have the same problems with my 02 700. When travelling at night, with the hand warmers on, and all 3 lights on, once in a while everything will go out. If I turn the light switch off and the handwarmer off, about 5 minutes later, everything will come back on. It only seems too happen when I am looking for the most juice out of my battery/regulator. It may be just a weak battery, I don't know.

 

Folger, I finally figured out the problem with the 02 700 lights cutting out. I have had this problem occuring for a couple of years now, but have never really been able to nail the problem down. My speedo, odomoter, lights and AWD could occassionally cut out, they woud blink like they were sending morse code. In the end I found a badly corroded 20-amp circuit breaker was causing the problem. My quad only have two 20-amp circuit breakers, one for the fan, and the other runs the lights, speedo, awd, etc.. You can find this 20-amp breaker under the front panel of the quad, right below the headlight pod. It is encased in a black bag. Cut the bag open to access the breaker. Polaris wants $45 CDN to replace the breaker,,,, I didn't shop around very much, but I found one for $9 CDN. I installed it and wrapped it in plastic and taped it up good. I let the quad idle in the garage for 20 minutes last night and the lights did not cut once, whereas the last couple of nights everything would cut out after the quad idled for 2 to 3 minutes. The breaker I found was brand name Standard, BR-20. It had a mounting tab on it, I just pulled it off with my hands.

After I installed the new breaker, I came into the house and showed my wife my happy dance,,,,, apparently she wasn't as excited as I was.

Let me know if this was your problem as well.