GS650 power problems

[Oliverstrother]

Hi there,

I'm rebuilding a GS650 which came with a few non standard parts. I've mounted a 7ah AGM battery inside the seat out of view. And the battery appears to be being drained pretty easily.

It does have a non standard twin headlight, which could be an issue. Also, its a 1982 model, and there is no way to turn off the lights during daylight hours.

I have a multi meter, but want to know what to check to be sure I've got more electrical energy going in, that i'm using.

Does anyone know what checks I can perform using the multimeter?

thanks,

Ollie.

 

[tom203]

You can check current draw of your twin headlights (assuming your meter can read 10 amps for a few seconds )- the stock headlight draws about 5 amps. the ignition circuit draws about 5 amps, plus there's more draw from other stuff.
A 10 amp draw for 1/2 hour would be about it for a 7 AH battery.

Have you thought about checking your charging system ??? please do, as it is a common failure. go here and read

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=1138531#post1138531

 

[posplayr]

You can check current draw of your twin headlights (assuming your meter can read 10 amps for a few seconds )- the stock headlight draws about 5 amps. the ignition circuit draws about 5 amps, plus there's more draw from other stuff.
A 10 amp draw for 1/2 hour would be about it for a 7 AH battery.

Have you thought about checking your charging system ??? please do, as it is a common failure. go here and read

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=1138531#post1138531

.......................Yep :-\\\

 

[duaneage]

The 650G came with a 14aH battery, the 650E a 12 aH model. I think your battery is not only too small but probably defective. Do you still have a battery box to mount a proper battery or has it been gutted of the box, airbox and associated filter?

++1 on the charging system being suspect. Take a look for the 3 wires from the stator and see what the connections look like and see if a running bike gives you 60 - 100 volts AC across any two wires.

If that checks out the RR is most likely toast.

 

[Oliverstrother]

Yes the 14ah battery is toast, and as is the battery box. It has a 7ah battery in the tail right now.

Is a smaller battery a big no no? I'm still concerned the the twin headlight is too much for the system to cope with.

Tonight I tested the resistance on the stator wires, they're all about 1.3ohms.

Next I'm going to check the AC voltage coming out of the stator with the bike running.

After that I'll check the the DC voltage coming out of the R/R.

Any other tips?

 

[posplayr]

Yes the 14ah battery is toast, and as is the battery box. It has a 7ah battery in the tail right now.

Is a smaller battery a big no no? I'm still concerned the the twin headlight is too much for the system to cope with.

Tonight I tested the resistance on the stator wires, they're all about 1.3ohms.

Next I'm going to check the AC voltage coming out of the stator with the bike running.

After that I'll check the the DC voltage coming out of the R/R.

Any other tips?[/QUOTE]
http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showpost.php?p=2020982&postcount=6

 

[koolaid_kid]

Sounds like you have several issues there.
The main purpose of the battery is to start the engine. After that, the power is supplied from the charging system. A tiny battery just won't crank very long before it runs out of juice.
Headlights are rated in watts, which can be converted to amps.
Standard headlight = 65 watts / 12 volts = ~5 amps.
What are your bulbs rated?

 

[tkent02]

If a well tuned engine starts immediately every time, a small capacity battery will be just fine. If it is not so well tuned, requiring cranking for some time, not so much. The little toy AGM battery from my wife's DR200 starts a big GS just fine. It wouldn't if it had starting problems, only cranks it a little while...

I'd use a little tiny battery If I was trying to hide it under the seat, but you can bet it would be an instant starting machine before I did that.

 

[duaneage]

If it had a kickstart the battery would be a non issue but 7aH is half what it calls for.
Can you put a second 7aH battery on it in parallel?

 

[Oliverstrother]

to be honest no, this is what the bike looks like right now. the engine starts in about a second of cranking. So its not really an issue, as long as i can keep it topped up. (so far as I can figure).

Err..yeah.. its upside down for some reason

 

[Oliverstrother]

ok, heres another try.