i have found out my 330 trailboss doesnt run very well when battery is low, my question is, what could make the battery keep running down after an hour ride? i charge it one night to ride for an hour or so the next. is there something on the bike that is supposed to charge the battery or lets the lights and stuff run off motor instead of battery? im new to mechanicing on a polaris so im not sure where to start. please help.

 

Clean the cables very well. Sounds like a bad/dirty terminal connection.

 

You should also check the charging output @ the battery terminals w/engine running. Use a volt meter, you should have about 14 volts if your charging system is working. If the battery is going south it will not hold a charge.

 

You should have about 13-14 volts once your rpms are up high enough, around 3000 to 4000 rpm's I believe. At idle, it may only be around 12.5 or so.

 

I have to strongly disagree, just checked both of mine @ idle, Trail Boss 13.7 and Sport 13.5. Just off idle 14.7. 12.5 volts @ idle is too low. If your not charging til you reach 3000-4000 rpm you have a charging problem.

 

I was basing that off of the documentation from the service manual. I recently replaced my stator and the new stator I put in performs exactly as the service manual says. At lower rpm's, it only outputs about 12.5v, however, you cannot correctly test the voltage output at idle as the charging system was designed to charge at speeds above idle. At higher rpm's, it outputs between 13-14.6v. Here is the relevant info from the service manual.



You may want to check your voltages at higher rpm's to make sure they are not exceeding 14.6 volts. It could damage your systems.

 

Take another look at your manual under, Charging System " Break Even Test". It states that with lights and other electrical loads off charging should occur at approx 1500 rpm or lower.

 

I believe this is the section you are referring to. It says that charging should begin at 1500 rpms with the headlight off. I am not sure exactly what mine idles at, but I am pretty sure it is lower than 1500. Since the battery is a 12v battery, any voltage above 12v would charge the battery, including 12.5v.




Here is some good reading about the Break Even test. If you scroll about 2/3 of the way down the page, there is a chart that shows when charging occurs. It shows that at idle, the charging system puts out about 50 watts and does not start putting out full wattage until over 2000 rpm's. That is the reason for testing at 3000 rpm's or higher.

This page should also answer the original posters question about the charging system.

https://atvconnection.com/Department...ems-Page-2.cfm

 

thanks a bunch guys im gonna check this issue out tonight hopefully and be able to give my summation tomorrow. im really hoping its something simple like bad battery because ive never changed the stator or the stator coils. not sure if im up to it or i need to put it in the shop.
btw great reference pages helped me find the pages in my own manual so thanks for posting them bcdudley.

 

The Stator is not to bad to change out. I just got through doing mine. The hardest part was removing the flywheel. I had to use a slide hammer to get it off. The rest was easy. If you are comfortable doing tasks such as changing your oil and other fluids, this should not be that much more difficult. The stator itself just slides over the crankshaft. It has a long wire harness, but all the wires generally go to the same area and they are all color coded. Just be sure to plug them all back in.

Be sure to check the resistance between the 2 yellow wires going to the voltage regulator and make sure there is not an open. This will be a sure way to determine if your stator is bad.