Armchair diagnosis anyone? Possibly overcharging

[Guest]

Went for a ride this evening, and noticed some strange lighting behavior. On sustained runs I noticed that the defective bulb indicators for head and tail would illuminate faintly, then go out again when the revs were lower for a while. Another thing I noticed was the headlight getting brighter as revs decreased, such as between shifts. Medium Rpms made the headlight go bright/dim/bright/ dim. Haven't put the meter to it yet but I wanted to get some ideas about what might be going on. R/R is a shindengen from a Honda, and stator is good at last check but I'll certainly check it again.

[Riding Again]

On the right path to check the stator. Also check the battery, pull, charge and test it off the bike. Sounds funny at first glance that the headlight improves at mid/lower rpms.

However, the fact that the head/tail indicators would be dim then "dimmer" at low RPMs does strongly point to the battery being out of "juice".

[tom203]

I'd suspect a stator having trouble delivering stable output to R/R as revs go up- R/R attempts to compensate.

[cableguy]

I'd suspect a stator having trouble delivering stable output to R/R as revs go up- R/R attempts to compensate.

That's what I would have thought, but my voltage was all good when last tested. I guess that sounds a bit like "ran great when parked 3 years ago" doesn't it? I do need to run through it though.

BTW, It's a brand new battery, properly charged.

[Nessism]

Did you clean up the charging system wiring per GSR recommended practice?

[rustybronco]

Bad grounds and bad connections.

[Steve]

"Armchair diagnosis" is not going to work.

You are going to have to get up out of it and put a meter on the bike.

.

[cableguy]

Did you clean up the charging system wiring per GSR recommended practice?

YES

"Armchair diagnosis" is not going to work.

You are going to have to get up out of it and put a meter on the bike.


True dat, I was looking more for a direction to head than a definite diagnosis. Maybe if I brought an armchair out to the bike I could have it both ways.....

[Nessism]

Simple charging system diagnoses...

1) Check voltage at battery w/engine @ 5000 rpm. < 14.0 V = BAD

Assuming BAD...

2) Disconnect stator from R/R and check AC volts on each stator leg w/engine @ 5000 rpm. < 70 V AC = BAD.

If BAD, replace stator

If Good, replace R/R

This simple flow info ASSUMES: good battery, proper wiring in system

System wiring: the stator must be wired directly into the R/R, not into the factory harness.

The R/R must be properly grounded

The R/R power output must flow to battery with low resistance path

Too many charging system threads here. This ain't rocket science.

[cableguy]

Fixed it. The fuse holder between r/r output and battery + was bad. Like melted and charred bad. No idea how it got that way, but it was recycled out of my junk drawer when I improved the wiring. Got a heavy duty rubber weatherproof one at autozone and all is good with 13.1@idle and 14.2@5000 rpm

[rustybronco]

Fixed it. The fuse holder between r/r output and battery + was bad. Like melted and charred bad. No idea how it got that way,

Melted and charred equals a bad connection.