Electrical Quick Test Question

[alhntr]

1981 Suzuki GS1100.
New AGM battery installed, all fuse block connection cleaned, other gnds and postive lines cleaned and checked. Did single point gnd procedure from ciffs site.
Did charge system quick check. Results
Key off 10.0v Key on 12.4 v....good
At idle 14.4V 1500 rpm
At 2500 rpm..13.84
At 5000 rpm about the same maybe a tenth less than 2500....also battery light
on instument panel stays on. Will do stator check check later after I get some new connectors etc. Looking at stator papers also I can't tell for sure if I still have a charging issue or not. Data shows that it is working except that the voltage seems kinda high at idle . Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[posplayr]

1981 Suzuki GS1100.
New AGM battery installed, all fuse block connection cleaned, other gnds and postive lines cleaned and checked. Did single point gnd procedure from ciffs site.
Did charge system quick check. Results
Key off 10.0v Key on 12.4 v....good
At idle 14.4V 1500 rpm
At 2500 rpm..13.84
At 5000 rpm about the same maybe a tenth less than 2500....also battery light
on instument panel stays on. Will do stator check check later after I get some new connectors etc. Looking at stator papers also I can't tell for sure if I still have a charging issue or not. Data shows that it is working except that the voltage seems kinda high at idle . Any thoughts appreciated.

I don't believe the 10.0v with key off. You should do the measurements at the battery stabbing the center posts. The 12.4v with key on indicates a good battery.
Regardless it sounds like your parts are all working but you still have some connection problems. Proceed to the Revised Phase A tests to measure your voltage drops at 5k rpm. You probably have an issue in the fusebox or at the "T". The tests for positive side voltage drop will probably confirm.

Note: the high voltage at idle is because of the high idle. The drop in voltage is because of z dirty connection somewhere.

 

[alhntr]

That was a typo I did not check, 13 v new battery. Any clue what cause battery light indicator to stay on after engine is running. Schematic doe not much I can tell. Thanks.

 

[posplayr]

That was a typo I did not check, 13 v new battery. Any clue what cause battery light indicator to stay on after engine is running. Schematic doe not much I can tell. Thanks.

The 82-83 have a battery with sensor . I'm guesing the 80-81 is the szme but dont have the manual in front of me.The sensor is tied to the idiot bulb in the dash. You can either take out the bulb or tie the sensor wire to the plus side of the battery . I think I used the resistor that was inline with the sensor wire to reduce current .

 

[Guest]

That was a typo I did not check, 13 v new battery. Any clue what cause battery light indicator to stay on after engine is running. Schematic doe not much I can tell. Thanks.

Lets see........................
I tried finding it specifically in the service manual, but it was very vague indeed. Page 1-10 in the service manual.
It states "Battery Electrolyte Sensor" within the Motorcycles Check Panel Circuitry. You'll also find this made mention on page 11-22.
http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/80-83_GS1100T-LT-EX-1000SZ-EZ-SD-ED-ESD.pdf

If your 1100 is anything like mine, an '82 GS1100E, it has a plug in battery electrolyte sensor, and.............. if your battery doesn't have a plug for it like mine, or if your electrolyte is low, the light will stay on indefinitely.
So........ what to do?
You could attach your electrolyte sensor terminal to the positive battery post as I did, but I did in fact modify it with an in-line fuse so I wouldn't have any potential problems. The terminal then detects the voltage and turns out the idiot light.

 

[alhntr]

The 82-83 have a battery with sensor . I'm guesing the 80-81 is the szme but dont have the manual in front of me.The sensor is tied to the idiot bulb in the dash. You can either take out the bulb or tie the sensor wire to the plus side of the battery . I think I used the resistor that was inline with the sensor wire to reduce current .

Thanks, just remembered the old walmart battery I took out did have a gre sense wire on it, now I cant the other wire it hooked to will have to do some more looking, was on with other battery. Cylmer Gs1100 fours 1980-81 schematics dont match what my RR output wires are, but match up with Cilffs
Gs1100 one he has on his site. My bike a 81 1/2.....maybe

 

[Guest]

There be a wiring schematic on page 66-67 here.
http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS1100E_Owners_Manual.pdf

 

[alhntr]

There be a wiring schematic on page 66-67 here.
http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/GS1100E_Owners_Manual.pdf

OK found it, Green wire with blue....goes to battery solution level switch. I cant find that wire any where, can't remember is wire in original battery was hooked up or just hanging there no connect. No biggy, probably will just disconnect at panel if I dont find switch or wire. Thanks

 

[posplayr]

OK found it, Green wire with blue....goes to battery solution level switch. I cant find that wire any where, can't remember is wire in original battery was hooked up or just hanging there no connect. No biggy, probably will just disconnect at panel if I dont find switch or wire. Thanks

You will have to remove the bulb. There is an idiot light control box that controls the light.

 

[gs11ezrydr]

Need to apply 12volts to the wire otherwise the battery light will come on. Unless no bulb to come on lolol.Anyway just as easy to hook it to the battery pos + side.

 

[fivestring]

If you do attach the wire to the positive terminal, will it then be a low voltage idiot light, illuminating when voltage drops below a certain level?

 

[Steve]

If you do attach the wire to the positive terminal, will it then be a low voltage idiot light, illuminating when voltage drops below a certain level?

Yes, it will probably do that, but you will know your system is failing LONG before it would come on. :-k

The sensor plugs into the battery somewhere near the middle, so it actually only takes about 6 volts to turn it off.

By the time your bike gets down to 6 volts you will already be walking, so don't rely on the light.

Somebody that has a bike with a battery light, a voltmeter and a varilable voltage source (cough, cough, posplayr, cough, cough) will have to play around a little bit to come up with some numbers on that.

.

 

[Guest]

Yes, it will probably do that, but you will know your system is failing LONG before it would come on. :-k

The sensor plugs into the battery somewhere near the middle, so it actually only takes about 6 volts to turn it off.

By the time your bike gets down to 6 volts you will already be walking, so don't rely on the light.

Somebody that has a bike with a battery light, a voltmeter and a varilable voltage source (cough, cough, posplayr, cough, cough) will have to play around a little bit to come up with some numbers on that.

.

Actually, I don't think it will do that.
I think it's going to be an absolute, either On or Off. The circuit works through a couple of transistors, page 1-10. If that were not the case the brightness of the bulb would indicate the health of the battery.
http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/80-83_GS1100T-LT-EX-1000SZ-EZ-SD-ED-ESD.pdf

 

[Steve]

Actually, I don't think it will do that.
I think it's going to be an absolute, either On or Off. The circuit works through a couple of transistors, page 1-10. If that were not the case the brightness of the bulb would indicate the health of the battery.
http://www.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/80-83_GS1100T-LT-EX-1000SZ-EZ-SD-ED-ESD.pdf

I have never played with one other than connecting the sensor to a hot wire to turn the light off, but my knowledge of electronics tells me that there is a trigger level somewhere that determines whether the light is ON or OFF. I also know that the sensor depends on contact with the electrolyte in one of the middle cells in the battery, so it's "looking" to see 4, 6 or 8 volts (depending on which cell) to turn the light off.

As I mentioned:

Somebody that has a bike with a battery light, a voltmeter and a varilable voltage source (cough, cough, posplayr, cough, cough) will have to play around a little bit to come up with some numbers on that.

That is, unless you want to volunteer? :-\\\

It might be looking for something as low as 2 volts and the circuitry simply ignores anything over that, I don't know. Either way, you might have to come up with a voltage divider circuit such that the light comes on when the system voltage is less than, say 11 or 12 volts. That would be a better "idiot" light than letting you know that your electrolyte level is down in that one cell.

.

 

[Guest]

I have never played with one other than connecting the sensor to a hot wire to turn the light off, but my knowledge of electronics tells me that there is a trigger level somewhere that determines whether the light is ON or OFF. I also know that the sensor depends on contact with the electrolyte in one of the middle cells in the battery, so it's "looking" to see 4, 6 or 8 volts (depending on which cell) to turn the light off.

As I mentioned:

That is, unless you want to volunteer? :-\\\

It might be looking for something as low as 2 volts and the circuitry simply ignores anything over that, I don't know. Either way, you might have to come up with a voltage divider circuit such that the light comes on when the system voltage is less than, say 11 or 12 volts. That would be a better "idiot" light than letting you know that your electrolyte level is down in that one cell.

.

I like you have never played with it either. I was content just to run a wire to the positive terminal to get that annoying light to turn off. It matters not (at least to me) at what voltage it turns on and off at.
If I had a device that could vary the voltage then I would graciously volunteer do that next time I had the air cleaner box out, but I don't so I won't. I also believe that voltage would vary to some degree from bike to bike.
The prior owner on my bike could not figure out why that battery light would not go out. He had a non sensor battery and the sensor wasn't connected.
That check panel of mine had several problems when I got the bike, an intermittent oil pressure switch and intermittent light relay control boxes.
(I went through 3).
That check panel is one device I could've easily lived without.

 

[Steve]

That check panel is one device I could've easily lived without.

Great idea, just poorly executed.

Some of the touches on all the GSes, like the red instrument illumination, gear position indicator and side stand warning light (on newer models) were quite welcome and set the GSes apart from the crowd. However, adding the complexity of the check panel took them quite a bit in the other direction.

.