Parts Advice Panhead charging system

[DogHouse]

HELP !

Can anybody help me before i slash my wrists.

The charging system on my Pan (1960) dont seem to wanna play ball.

I have fitted a new Genny ( and yes i did flash it out) and also a new electronic regulator ( the one with two LEDs on it ) but when i connect the red lead from the reg to the battery the voltage drops from over 12.5 to about 4.5. When i start the bike i have to rev the nuts out of her to get the green LED to come on. There was not any instructions with the reg but i assume that the red LED tells you that there is a fault somewhere and the green one tells you that everything is ok. The battery is nearly new and i have also put a seperate earth from the engine to the frame as well as from the Batt to the frame. I have tryed following the workshop manual wiring diagram but this aint my strong point.

Please can anyone help.

[Roger]

If the voltage drops so much when you connect the reg/rec then it's almost certainly faulty or possibly connected incorrectly (if you can connect it incorrectly)

[kevscrivener]

Robert

I know nothing specific about Pan charging systems but would suggest a PM to Panheadpete would be your best bet. He's owned his 64 for many years and should be able to sort you out.

I would tend to agree with Roger's comments though, either the reg is faulty or you've wired it wrong. Electrickery ain't my strong point either!

HTH

Kev

[kiwidave]

I trust you have checked the battery on its own? You sure it can hold a load?

How does the bike start ..... with retrofit button or kick only?

[panheadpete]

Well, isn't life full of little coincidences; I just got home 10 minutes ago and the Pan had been doing some unusual popping and banging.
Rode it into the garage and, lo, the charge warning light was on. After 6 years of running without a hiccup. (Sun was too bright to see idiot lights - that doesn't happen too often)
So I guess I'm about to learn more about the charging system than I ever wanted to know.
Doghouse, I'm sorry I know nothing about regs with LEDs; only the old-skool mechanical types, but if I can have me tea first I'm sure we can run through the basics of checking dyno output first etc
Cheers,
Pete

[panheadpete]

Right, that's mine fixed.
Seems a 60 mile thrash had vibrated the Field connectin off the regulator.
Tech-tip; buy a Road King, or Commando, or something that's rubber mounted...
Off for me tea now; boiled ham, roasties, gravy, bye...
Cheers,
Pete

[panheadpete]

Aaargh...fixed the Pan, had me tea, then the nice shiny new Bosch dishwasher decided to flood half the ground floor.
Sorry Robert, where were we?
As Roger and Kev say, the reg could be faulty or wired wrong, if you have no instructions are the connections clearly marked on the reg and can you be sure it's for a 12v Harley?
Re the LED's, I would have thought the red meant no charge, not necessarily a fault but would show when the engine's not running or ticking over very slowly but it should show green at anything above a tickover.
As Kiwidave says, that sort of voltage drop could be a duff battery; a short of that magnitude would surely make something hot and smoking, or perhaps the reg is feeding the current back into the generator and trying to 'motor' it.
So, you need to know that the generator is putting out power and that the battery is good before continuing; have you established that they are?
Personally, I'd be suspicious of an unknown electronic reg; you can get an Accel one, purposely designed, from about £20 - mine has run happily on a Volkswagen reg, £25, for 7 years now and with a conventional reg there's no question marks over the wiring (ironic that, considering what mine just did).
Cheers,
Pete

[DogHouse]

Thanks all of you and sorry i aint got back sooner, Had to have my wrist's sown up (ha ha) but seriously, The reg is from motorcycle storehouse so it should be a good one but i surpose you never can tell.
There are only three wire's coming out of the reg, one for the armature pole, one for the field pole and the red for the feed to the battery.
Even without turning on the ignition but connecting the red lead to the battery I'm getting a feed to the genny which is trying to spin it like an electric motor, ( you can hear it squiling like a stuffed pig).
As you can tell, i aint no genious but to me, in laymen's turm's, it seem's like the switch, (and i use that in the loose's turm) inside the reg is not closing and therefore it's lettin the power from the battery back into the genny causing it to act like an electric motor, but i could be wrong.

[Panhead Boris]

Assuming you have wired it correctly it sounds like a duff regulator.

It should not allow the current to flow thru and energise the generator.

Have you got the old one to test if the same happens?

I rate the basic Accel solid state regs for Pans myself - fitted mine 15 years ago....... tho most people I know swear by the mechanical Bosch / VW ones.

[bazereid]

You definately have a duff regulator. The old electro-mechanical regulators have cut out points wich dont close and connect the battery to the generator until the generator is spinning fast enough to at least match the battery voltage. The solid state version has no moving parts just diodes and resistors, so if it is passing current to the generator with the motor stopped it is only good for the bin. At least you could clean and adjust the old style regulators. Take the hint and fit a genuine AC Delco regulator they have always worked fine on my Generator Shovel.