ALdad Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 This morning I noticed my battery light was on up to 1,500 rpm. instead of the usual 1,200. I went for a spin at lunch and after the bike sat for about 15 min. I checked the voltage on the battery it was 11.68v. I rode 4mi or so back to work . 5 hours later I checked it and it was 12.45v. I rode home, the first 1/2 mi the light was on up to 4000rmp, then went out. the rest of the 15mi. ride the light was on at stops, idle up to 1,500 not the normal 1,200. when I checked the battery when I got home it was 12.61v. The battery is at least 3yrs old I think it sat for a couple of years befor I bought the bike. I have ridden the bike daily for the past year. The battery is an oddessy hawker dry cell. Any ideas?
gstallons Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 Do you have a DVOM to put on the battery to check charging voltage? At 2k you should see at least 13.0v. up to 14.5v. You need to be charging more than discharging. A fully charged (and stabilized) battery will read 12.65v.
ALdad Posted May 1, 2008 Author Posted May 1, 2008 Do you have a DVOM to put on the battery to check charging voltage? At 2k you should see at least 13.0v. up to 14.5v. You need to be charging more than discharging. A fully charged (and stabilized) battery will read 12.65v. Please endure my ignorance I know very little of electronics. I have a digital multimeter (Is that a DVOM?)but I am not sure where to touch the leads to check charging voltage. I put the leads on the terminals. With the bike reved up to 3000 the meter read 12.77v Is this the correct way to do it? The 12.77 I guess is a bad sign.
dlaing Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 Do you have a DVOM to put on the battery to check charging voltage? At 2k you should see at least 13.0v. up to 14.5v. You need to be charging more than discharging. A fully charged (and stabilized) battery will read 12.65v. Yes, do check the charging system. And at higher revs 3K or 4K you should see over 14.0V, but less than 14.6V The Hawker is different than standard Lead Acid batteries will read 12.84V when fully charged, and stabilized, at 25°C (77°F), instead of 12.65V. A little lower than 12.84V is normal when battery is not new, at some point the votage must be considered tooo low. 12.45 and 12.61 are too low if fully charged.
dlaing Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 The 12.77 I guess is a bad sign. yep. Could be bad wiring, or bad regulator or bad alternator. I'd check 30A fuse first, followed by wiring.
ALdad Posted May 1, 2008 Author Posted May 1, 2008 Yes, do check the charging system.And at higher revs 3K or 4K you should see over 14.0V, but less than 14.6V The Hawker is different than standard Lead Acid batteries will read 12.84V when fully charged, and stabilized, at 25°C (77°F), instead of 12.65V. A little lower than 12.84V is normal when battery is not new, at some point the votage must be considered tooo low. 12.45 and 12.61 are too low if fully charged. So the battery is probably Ok? how do I check the charging system? Where is the regulator. the manual does'nt show location only a diagram of wires. I was just looking at another post looks like I may be in for a PIA.
ALdad Posted May 1, 2008 Author Posted May 1, 2008 So the battery is probably Ok? how do I check the charging system? Where is the regulator. the manual does'nt show location only a diagram of wires. I was just looking at another post looks like I may be in for a PIA. OK , looked at my CD manual the illistrations are pretty fuzzy. I guess I can figure out where things are but any help for dummys to speed things along would help. The fuze is fine I'll check all the wiring next. I need to sleep on it.
Garsdad Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 OK , looked at my CD manual the illistrations are pretty fuzzy. I guess I can figure out where things are but any help for dummys to speed things along would help. The fuze is fine I'll check all the wiring next. I need to sleep on it. Remove the battery cables and clean them. Shiny lead conducts, but once it gets a patina of oxidation on it it may not. Make sure when you are checking voltage you are checking on the wires, not the terminals. You won't get a good reading of what your alternator is putting out if the output can't get to your meter! It would also be good to put your battery on a charger and get it fully charged. Unless your daily commute involves a lot of highway, where you can keep the revs up for more than a couple of minutes, your system will have a hard time running the bike and charging a seriously discharged battery, too. Garsdad
Tom M Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 Check the connections between the voltage reg and the alternator, especially the yellow wires. Any corrosion there will cause charging problems. My bike stopped charging last year and I found all the trouble shooting information that I needed using the search feature here. No schematics needed. My problem ended up being a dead voltage regulator. I got the OEM replacement from EME for $130 and was back on the road within days. There's tons of good info on this site, you just need to take the time to find it.
dlaing Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 the wires coming out of the regulator are prone to corrosion where they connect to other wires. As Tom says, especially the Yellow ones, but also take a good look at the others, and look for signs of the wires getting baked and hard. Try cleaning and see if charging voltage goes up. Clean with contact cleaner, like one of Caig's DeOxit products (ask Ratchethack which one to get) http://store.caig.com/ And then apply Silver conductive grease like this stuff http://www.2spi.com/catalog/vac/silver-filled-grease.shtml I picked up the silver stuff at Fry's Electronics, you should be able to find contact cleaner there too. Radio Shack is also a good bet. Autoparts places are not a good bet for either product...WTF?!?
ALdad Posted May 1, 2008 Author Posted May 1, 2008 Thanx peoples, Sat. I will do all as prescribed and check back in .
gstallons Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 One more thing. This has been hard for me to grasp but you cannot properly charge a dead battery by jump starting and running the engine. You have to slow charge overnight to properly fully charge a battery. After charging start and operate the bike for about 30 min. and then check charging voltage. And yes a DVOM is a digital volt ohm meter
tripletom Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 Just piggybacking on your thread if you don't mind? I've been having battery issues also on my '02 Scura. The symptoms are being fine, but the 30A fuse plastic melting. Then it won't want to start on the button, as if there isn't enough juice in the battery. A quick bit of umph from a charger and it strikes up fine. The battery is an Odessey (sp) one. At static it reads 12.77V, at 1000rpm it reads 13.68V, at 3000rpm it reads 13.68rpm, rising to 13.70V at 4000rpm. My thinking is that the 30A fuse connectors are causing me the grief so I've followed the advice in another thread on here and prepared to fit an automotive in line fuse holder. Anyone got any other pointers?
Guest ratchethack Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 Anyone got any other pointers? Just a thought, Tom (since you asked) -- but storing your Guzzi as advertised in your avatar is about the best way I can think of to ensure corrosion-induced electrical problems -- barring, o' course, storing it in a fish tank?! BAA, TJM, & YMMV
tripletom Posted May 1, 2008 Posted May 1, 2008 He he that was a one off, since then I greased all the under tank connections, it spends it's downtime stored indoors in a warm dry shed. The problem did pop up a few times prior to that snowy trip too. I am trying to hunt down the yellow reg wire and check those connections...
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