LynnEdwards will be online in a little while to help you on your charging issues. he's the electrical expert. hang loose

 

This makes no sense to me.... Let's back up a bit and make sure we are measuring correctly .

When you measure the battery voltage make sure your meter is set to measure DC volts on the 20 volt scale. Also make sure you are measuring the voltage right on the battery terminals. In other words, red probe on the positive battery post, black probe on the negative battery post (not the frame or engine ground). The battery is a very low impedance device. What that means is that you cannot jack the battery voltage around with a measly little quad charging system. A good charged battery can put out 50 times more current then the quad charging system. I suspect there is some measurement technique problems to work out .

All quads have charging systems that will keep the battery charged during normal conditions if everything is working. Thus you have a broken charging system.

Some questions:

1) When you measured the screwy "jumping all over the place" voltages, where were they being measured? On the battery terminals?

2) What was the battery condition during the time these measurements were being taken? Was the battery capable of turning the starter motor on it's own? Or was it discharged?

3) What are the histories of these two quads? Did you just buy them used? Did they ever work to your knowledge? Has the wiring been hacked at all?

 

The bikes are brand new, I am measuring directly on the battery terminal + to +, neg to neg. It read like this with the original batteries and again with the gio replacement batteries.
Not only on my meter but also on my friends meter who is a licensed automotive and small engine mechanic...when we put the meter on the 125 rebel it reads normally. He (the mechanic) thinks it is the stator on both bikes, but before I order any or argue with Gio to supply them under warranty I wanted to make sure that this would actually fix the problem

 

Oh, and yes the batteries were capable of starting the bikes at the time of testing

 

What a bizarre problem .

When you put your meter on the battery terminal with the engine running you get readings that jump all over the place. Watch these readings for 30 seconds or so to see what info we can get out of this. What is the lowest reading you see (measuring DC volts on the 20 volts scale)? What is the highest reading you see?

Your noted that your batteries are going dead. But how so? Do they go dead gradually over many, many start ups and many days- like the batteries are slowly getting consumed with each startup, yet never get charged back up?

Or does the battery go dead while you are riding the quad. In other words, you start off with a charged battery, start up the quad and take off riding. After an hour or so, if you were to shut off the quad, would the battery still be able to start the quad? One start up shouldn't even begin to drain the battery, so it should still easily start back up. But is the battery is being drained while you're riding (and the quad doesn't start after an hour of riding) then that is a clue.

Unplug the regulator and run the engine. Do the readings still jump around while measuring the battery voltage?

When the regulator is plugged in and the engine is running, does the regulator get warm at all after 10 minutes of running?

You tried the 125 rebel quad regulator in the mini-mummers. But what if you put the mini-hummer regulator in the 125 rebel? When you do this, check the 125 rebel charging system to see if it works: Measure the battery voltage with the engine running at medium high speed with the headlights off. What do you measure? It should be 13. volts to 14.5 volts DC. Do the exact same test with the 125 rebel regulator reinstalled in the rebel. What do you measure? Does the original charging system work any better? What this test does is test the compatibility of the rebel/hummer regulators, and (if they are compatible) whether the mini hummer regulators work at all.

I don't have any pet theories yet. I'm just digging for all the clues I can get so I can think about them...

 

Thank you for taking an interest into my problem, the bikes can sit for days and still ahve a charge, so it isnt being drained while it is off, it is my understanding that the batteries would be dead after a day of riding...I just assumed from restarting all of the time ans slowly draining the battery with each start up...but I will try your suggestions and get back to you

thank you

 

i have a kfx 400 and need to know how to put it in timing?if any one can help me out ty....

 

A new fully charged 5 amp-hour battery will go though a lot of start up cycles before going dead. Let's say each start up averages 5 seconds, and the starter draws 30 amps. Then each start up will consume 150 amp-seconds, or 2.5 amp minutes, or about 0.041 amp hours. Running the battery down to just half charge from starting cycles alone would take 60 start cycles.

But then there is the brake light which draws an amp, and is on perhaps 10% of the time, so the average draw over a full 10 hour day would be about another 1 amp-hour.

Everything else running on 12 volts is negligible as far as power draw, but I am assuming you do have the headlights off while riding.

That leaves 30% of the battery still left at the end of the day. Again this is assuming no headlights. Headlights draw about 3 amps continuously when they are on, and that *will* kill a battery in about 1.5 hours.

So if you start in the morning with a fully charged new battery, and ride around with the headlights off, you should easily go all day with the charging system disconnected. If your battery goes dead quicker then that then that is yet another clue to ponder for your very strange problem.

 

Good day, I just purchased a new Mini Hummer ATV last week. I put it together and had problems starting it. I jumpered the battery that came with the ATV with a car battery and the ATV started. It would not idle at first, so I adjusted the carb and it ran great. The atv battery did not charge when the girls were riding the atv, so I used to jumper with the car battery each time to start it. I got a battery charger, charged the ATV battery and everything was working great. When my daughter took the atv for a ride yesterday it took about 4 attempts to get it started and away she went. She gave the atv a bit too much throttle at first and stalled the engine. When I tried to start the bike again it would not go, so I tried jumpering with the car battery and it still did not go. When the brake is depressed the rear lights come on. When the starter button is engaged I can hear the relay clicking. I was wondering if anyone could provide a next step that I can do to help rectify this problem. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, I have two very dissapointed little girls. Thanks in advance.
Regards,
Ed

 

Use a meter to measure the DC voltage (20 volt DC scale) from the starter motor input post (red lead on the meter) to the starter motor metal case (black lead on the meter). Measure this voltage while trying to start the quad (i.e. the relay is "clicked"). What do you measure? It should be at least 11 volts or higher.

If it reads zero volts, find the starter solenoid screw posts and jump them:

1) Follow the fat red wire from the positive battery post to the solenoid input screw post. Follow the other screw post down to the starter motor.
2) Set the brake. Make sure you are in neutral. You are about to bypass the starter safety interlocks. [If the quad starts you don't want it taking off unexpectedly...]
3) Turn on the ignition switch. Set all kill switches to the run position.
4) Take a screwdriver shank and short the two solenoid input posts together. Don't mind a few sparks. This process connects the battery directly to the starter motor.

Does the starter motor turn now?

You will also need a meter to test your charging system to see if it is working properly, or if you just have a bad battery. But first let's get the quad starter turning, and (hopefully) starting up...