HELP! wee problem with my xt ...about 350 miles in to my first european bike tour i come out of a service station and bike wont start off button,kick starts ok and i head off,then lights start to dim,ok prob with charging,getting dark and no lights so get lift from AA to london,next day take bike to local dealer as electrical knowledge is pretty poor,he suggests r/r,i drive to brigton buy one,fit it no joy,then he suggests generator do the same no joy,check connectors and wires around charging system seem ok,after four days of getting nowhere,give in,bus back home,get old slabby and start journey again,great adventure and gonna do it again next year but hopefully on xt this time round.
bike blowing fuses now every time i earth the r/r, but wasnt doing this initially before new generator and new r/r were fitted,has initial problem got worse?should i refit original generator,arrghhh any ideas very welcome

Is the battery duff? have you had it load tested? and please don`t say "its a new battery" have you had it properly tested or tried another battery.

Mezo.

bought new gel battery while away older battery has same results which is back in bike now

And the generator & rectifier are brand new also or used?

Mezo.

both are new,pattern.

Usually you trace this sort of thing to a short or dodgy connection somewhere.
I have seen some odd problems with a poor connection in one of the connector blocks. You will sometimes find a connector in these blocks which has corroded and therefore not connecting and somehow forcing a "re route" of power causing a fuse to blow.
If you can work through the connector blocks and check the individual connectors this may prove to be the cause!
Long winded I know but I have seen this many times.
Can you check/clean all your earth points too.

All the best bud, stick with it.
Dave.

Thanks guys for the reply i was kind of thinking the problem is lying somewhere in the maze of wires..

started to clean up block connector from ignition switch to loom,popped out first mini blade connector(red one) to clean properly and it fell apart(very brittle and slightly green in colour),hopefully this might be the prob with my luck its prob not,also the black wire up at the barrel was loose/disconected,the 6 wires from the switch have all been cut and joined to fit onto the original block connector its looks a bit messy,got a new igniton switch from wemoto today and
its far too short with the wrong connector the same one as on the bike, found the correct one on dave lambeth ebay shop just now,thankfully this happened in winter.

Mezo, your photo's had me nodding and smiling!
Seen all sorts on peoples bikes, twisted together and insulated with chewing gum, selotape, a plaster from a first aid box.
Big thumb up for silicone grease, £4 a tube from maplin, I use it liberally on my connectors.
Good luck with the fault finding Tenere.
Dave.

A quick tip for properly soldering wires together with flux solder:

1- Cut the wires a bit longer than you need them as you'll have to take the insulation off to be able to solder both ends of the cables.

2- Pass the heatshrink wrap over one of the cables and try to pull it a bit away from where you are soldering or it'll shrink where you left it if it is too close to the joint!

3- Open the BOTH ends of the cables to join (spread the thin pieces of copper like a tree)

4- Join the both ends of the cables until you can make the insulation from both ends almost touch each other.

5- Hold one side of the wires and tightly wrap the other half of the wires.
6- Hold the side you've just wrapped and wrap the other side of the cables IN THE SAME DIRECTION but backwards as you did before. This creates a very tight connection by itself!

7- Heat the joint with the solder iron for 1 to three seconds! (to avoid burning the insulation)

8- Apply the solder on top of the joint and put the soldering iron beneath the joint!

You should now have a pretty strong and good looking soldered joint!

9- Let it cool down for about half a minute and slide the shrinkwrap over the joint and for god sake don't use the soldering iron to apply heat to the shrinkwrap!

I'll try to post a few pictures tomorrow to show this..


Vando


P.S.: In step 6 I said: "Hold the side you've just wrapped and wrap the other side of the cables IN THE SAME DIRECTION but backwards as you did before. This creates a very tight connection by itself!"

Imagine you're wrapping the first half with your right hand in a clockwise direction (as if you were tightening a bolt) you have to wrap the other side WITH THE LEFT HAND also in a clockwise direction.....

Vando

Dropped the soldering iron on the floor.. broke the tip ground it with the angle grinder with a special grinding disc I use for my TIG welding...but it's not that good..

Anyway, here are the pictures I promissed Mezo..

ImageShack Album - 7 images


Sorry for the pic quality.. old camera :S

Vando

Oh.. I prefer to use 1mm thick 60%Sn 40%Pb with 2% flux silver solder!

Vando

Thanks Mezo

I agree.. they just want to make large quantities of wiring and aren't too worried how good they are..

I actually learned that by myself.. the first joints I ever tried to make were horrible and a slight pull would break the connection so I started experimenting

Still, that's how I did all the soldering in my wiring loom on the XT.
I know only a freakish thing could break those connections and most likely not at the actual joint but before or after it

One quick tip for everyone trying to solder and can't get the solder to stick to the joint.. Either get a better solder or get a higher wattage soldering iron..
I personally like the old 60w soldering that I have now and for motorcycle wiring work, it's perfect for my skills


Vando

thanks for pics and detailed info,one question when guy fitted new reg rec,there wasnt a block connector going into r/r just four seperate spade connectors,just wanting to eliminate if its possible the red wire is in the wrong position,looking at r/r from front on whilst bolted to battery box is correct position for red wire bottom right? cheers

ok so bikes still nae fixed,it does run though and i carry a spare charged battery in the top box,which dosnt last long even with lights off.
i removed the loom and checked for continuity all was fine,tonight i checked the output from the stator, voltage output was 2.9volts ac resistance check on stator was .9 ohms
dc voltage from r/r was 2.4 volts dc,does this suggest that the generator is knackered and the one i replaced is knackered too? dazed and confused,cheers

Ok, The proper way to test the stator on the XT is to get your hands on a multimeter that can make the continuity check. Personally I like the digital ones with buzzer as continuity check!

1-Disconnect the 3 plug stator connector that is located behind the LHS seat cover (plastic).

2- check continuity between each three pins ( pins 1&2, pins 1&3, pins 2&3) the order doesn't matter as long as you test all combinations! THEY should ALL have continuity between each other!

3- Check for continuity between each of the pins and a good FRAME GROUND! they CANNOT have continuity with ground (none of them)!

If the test prove the stator is good, you have a dead Reg/Rectifier!