Battery not charging

[DTro]

’03 Polaris 500 Touring

System appears to not be charging the battery. I need to manually charge it every couple of weeks depending on how much I use the starter and accessories. I don’t need it to run so it hasn’t been a major deal, but might as well fix it if I can.

Could someone walk me through troubleshooting this?

From the little research I’ve done, I should be getting 13.5-14V@4000rpms. Is this correct? I will be taking a look at it tonight. If I find I’m not getting that voltage (which I suspect) what is the next step? Is there a rectifier like on outboards?

Where are these located on the engine?

Thanks

[Meat-Run]

I'm not an expert but doesn't the stator effect charging your battery too? I'd look into that as well as the rectifier.

MR

[BoxMN]

How old is the battery? If it is 4 or more, I might start with that. Same thing happened to my Yamaha two years ago. New battery, and works like a charm again. Good luck.

[leech~~]

Out of all the toys I have ever owned snowmobile batteries seem to die long before others. I think the cold weather they have to work in and that they may not be used 8 months out of the year may kill them sooner. I pull all the other toy batteries and keep them in the basement and hit them with a charger so they get more attended to for the 4 short months they are not used. It could just be the battery?

[Surface Tension]

Put a meter on it when its running. Anything over 13 volts means its charging.

More then likely its the battery especially when you say it needs to be charged every couple weeks. Wouldn't hurt to check the level and add water if need be then charge and check to see if the charge held before you replace it.

[DTro]

As suspected, no voltage jump at 4000rpms.

constant 12.5 volts.

So, with that said, now what?

[Whoaru99]

Now you'd typically try measuring the voltage on the stator side of the regulator/rectifier. Generally this will be a much higher voltage but unfortunately I can't help with the specifics on that sled.

[fishingstar]

The best way to test the lighting coil is to measure the resistance. It should a very low reading if it is high there is a open wire in the coil. The yellow wire going to the voltage regulator should be the power. You can ground to the engine.

Dan

[Macgyver55]

Assuming you have already looked for the obvious broken wires and such, I'd personally start with a "wiggle" test. Leave the meter hooked up, set up the RPM a bit and then wiggle the wiring harness to see if the voltage jumps. Next I would check all the connectors by pulling them apart and checking for burned or corroded connectors. I've run into several that were bad where they come out of the engine near the recoil. If it is the stator, they are not cheap but can be found used.

[Whoaru99]

Here's a page from the service manual for one of my motorcycles. This one has a three phase dual stator but generally I think it should be otherwise about the same. As someone mentioned, typically I think the colors are yellow and or black.