07 STT head lights keep burning out.... voltage regulator?

[jeshua]

Bikes is an 07 XB12Stt with 13,000 miles. My low beam burned out 3 weeks ago and I replaced both low and high with SilverStar Ultra Headlight. Last week the low beam burned out again then the high beam 2 days later, ended up with an 8 mile drive home at night with no lights. A couple other oddities I've noticed in the last couple weeks, one day while pulling into work the bike shut off then started back up like the battery cable was loose, checked the cables and they were tight. Trip odo and time rest by it self like the battery was disconnected a week and half ago.

I did a little search and guessed it was my voltage regulator connector so i placed an order for the repair kit and went to replace it last night I unplugged connector 77 and the pins looked perfectly fine so I didn't replace it. Was going to test the electrical system but I didn't have a load tester, do you really need the load tester to test the regulator?

Here is the procedure out of the manual page 7-28...
Current and Voltage Output Test
1. Connect load tester.
a. Connect negative and positive leads to battery terminals.
b. See Figure 7-28. Place load tester induction pickup
over positive regulator cable.
2. Run the engine at 3000 RPM. Increase the load as
required to obtain a constant 13.0 VDC.
3. The current output should be 34-38 amps. Make note of
measurement for use in TOTAL CURRENT DRAW TEST.
NOTE
Rider’s habits may require output test at lower RPM.

Voltage Output Test
1. See Figure 7-28. After removing the load, read the load
tester voltage meter.
a. If voltage to the battery is not more than 15 VDC,
voltage output is within specifications. Investigate
other possible problems. See TROUBLESHOOTING
in this section.
b. If voltage is higher, regulator is not functioning properly.

Has any one else experienced this, if so what did you find? Anything else i should look at besides the voltage regulator?

Thanks for any help.

 

[stellio78]

This should help

http://buellersdownunder.com/showthread.php?t=7713

 

[jeshua]

Thanks Stellio78, had to register to read it and I think i understood all the Aussie talk... Basically what I was thinking a bad regulator. And saw the Shift-I, now i want one especially with charging system diagnostic built in, very sweet. Do you have one? What do you think?

I tried to test it last night and got a little confused while doing the test. With the bike off i had 12.7v, at idle 13.6 after a minute it started to creep up 13.75v when I shut it down. Holding the rpms at 3k the volts would fluctuate from the high 10's to the low 12's, holding the revs at 2k it was the low 13's, could never get a steady reading at ether rpm. I did replace the connector 77 with the new one though.

A new voltage regulator is around $100.00 not sure if I should just pony up and get a new one and hope that fixes it or keep trying to test it...

 

[stellio78]

I don't have the Shift-I but was thinking of getting one of these to keep an eye on the charging system.

http://www.customdynamics.com/LED_b...ttery_Gauge_with_Remote_Flush_Panel_Mount_LED

And a thread on the install.

http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/142838/335986.html?1202653245

And you might as well get the testing done right to confirm it is the VR and not waste $100 if it ends up being something else.

 

[airBuell]

Does that monitor the charging system, or battery health, or both? From the description it seems like it monitors the charging system but in the product name it says "battery gauge". I think I def need one of these.

 

[jeshua]

That's a nice little gadget stellio and cheaper then the shift -I I'm going to have pick one up.


Thanks fot you help.

 

[buelladdicted]

I had the same problem and it turned out to be voltage regulator. voltage while running was just over 15 volts.the reg. was over 80.00 but was back ordered for amonth.The prob. was posted somewhere here.

 

[anrkizm95]

bad ground or regulator