24 VOLTS

Discussion specific to the 1995 - 2006 KDX200 (H Series) and 1995 - 2005 KDX220R (A Series) models sold in the USA
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TRUAX
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24 VOLTS

Post by TRUAX »

My 2004 KDX200 has decided to upgrade itself to a 24v system all of a sudden. Nothing has changed other than removing the stock rear fender and trying out Maier with no taillight. Thought I had just burnt out the cheap little LED bulb I threw in there, ran it for a year with no issue, but when I put the replacement in it must have illuminated just for my quick test and then failed when I brought it to the trails. I have three KDXs in the garage right now and I tried all three different voltage regulators with the same results; 24-26ish volts at the headlight. I thought maybe it had to do with the one thing I changed, removing taillight, but as soon as I plugged that in for testing it fried that bulb as well. I can't imagine all three voltage regulators are shot, what is my next culprit? Any advice is greatly appreciated, I have utilized the knowledge on this forum for sometime and it's a life saver!
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Slick_Nick
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Re: 24 VOLTS

Post by Slick_Nick »

If you've tried three different regulators I suspect a short in the harness that's allowing it to bypass the regulator entirely.
'00 KDX 220R
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bufftester
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Re: 24 VOLTS

Post by bufftester »

Did you mean you tried the regulator from different bikes on the problem bike and got the same? If so, did you make sure the original regulator worked on one of the other bikes?

Two grounds you should really check, the first is the one that the headlight and the kill switch are attached to (black wire) and the second is the one attached to the regulator/rear light/CDI (Black/Yellow) It does sound as if you've got a broken ground allowing the output of the stator to be unregulated (The idle voltage off the stator is about 25 VAC which will burn out most incandescent quickly, and probably all but the most rugged LEDs. Also, make sure that your headlight switch isn't shorted to ground and that the brown wire where it ties into the red is good. The picture is just the lighting circuit, pretty simple.
kdx_light.jpg
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TRUAX
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Re: 24 VOLTS

Post by TRUAX »

Yea that’s what I’ve been leaning towards after talking to more knowledgeable minds. I’ve got a length of wire with eyelets on each end, one attached to a good ground on the case, the other for testing ground connections. I am just starting to poke around at it again, but tried connecting to the mounting fastener of the voltage regulator, and both the grounds at the thread blocks at the coil. The readings have actually gotten higher (48 idle up to 96 with revs). Readings didn’t vary moving the new ground around. I will check out the kill switch, I’m not running a headlight switch. But perhaps I do have a short in the harness somewhere. I know there’s not a lot to the wire harness on something like this, but is there anyway to isolate that to some degree if that is the case? I guess worse case scenario I will loosen up all the routing and start with a wiggle wiggle while running off an auxiliary tank. I might also try testing the the new ground at the different locations while swapping out regulators. Thanks for the direction so far guys.
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bufftester
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Re: 24 VOLTS

Post by bufftester »

I'd probably look at the black/yellow wire and its ground first, it's the one directly tied to the regulator. Disconnect every connector and check your wiring in sections. Use case ground for your common point as that is the reference for the stator coil.
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