Dead battery again!

[IanFrancisco]

Well: I have been having the usual charging system woes with my recently acquired 1980 GS450S. So, I printed out the Stator Papers testing diagram, got out my digital multimeter and went to work. Previously, after a ride at night the headlight blew both hi and lo beams and went I got home the battery was flat, not completely dead but discharged enough to not be able to crank the starter. So after topping the battery off with some distilled water and recharging it, I determined using the Stator Papers tests that my stator was good and that my RR was trash. Did the recommended cleaning and reseating of every connector and ground wire on the bike including the ones in the headlight bucket. Spent the money for the Electrex RR10 and installed it a couple of nights ago. Tested the charging circuit again and saw the correct 13.5 to 14.8V at between 2500 and 5k rpm. Replaced the headlight, which BTW is a standard H4 60/55 watt unit that the previous owner had installed. I was a happy guy again! That is until I went out for a ride tonight, about 90 minutes of around town riding with plenty of stops at signals and some stretches of 55-60mph riding. Well guess what, the battery started getting low again as evidenced by the headlight dimming when the blinkers and brake lights were on, and at 5-6k rpm the blinkers were speeding up like they did with the junk OEM RR. And when I got home sure enough the battery won't crank the starter over again. What is going on? The battery looks good, clean plates, etc. At least the headlight didn't blow again, evidence that the Electrex RR is doing its job. I guess it's time to spend more money on a new battery. Too bad I can't find a modern glass-mat sealed battery for this bike. I looked on the web for about 3 hrs. The closest one is for a H-D Sportster and is way overkill at 16aH and about triple the cold cranking amps of the standard battery. Would it burn up the starter or blow fuses, or worse? Another question for anyone who cares to answer; Is this H4 headlight drawing too much power for the electrical system? Should I go back to a standard sealed beam? I sure like being able to see where I'm going at night but I think CA requires daytime headlights for bikes and even if not it seems safer to run the lights all the time. Can't have the battery going dead like this. Suggestions and opinions would be most welcome.

Suffering from Murphy's Law here,

Ian

[SqDancerLynn1]

The H4 bulb is fine. I think you need to go back and recheck your connections & the stator pages again. It is possible to get a bad reg, you need to make a complete check of the system

[IanFrancisco]

More info

Here's another tidbit: After about 45 minutes on the charger (12v at 2 amps), the battery took enough of a charge to crank the starter, so the battery may not be shot completely. Or is it? It IS probably twenty years old as the previous owner stated he had stored the bike since the mid 80's, but the bike was extremely clean and he had started it periodically, changed the oil and Armorall'ed the tires to keep them from dry rotting too bad. (Didn't work - had to replace the tires already.) One guess is that the H4 headlight bulb draws lots of power so that the battery's not getting a decent charge during stop and go riding. But why then would the blinkers speed up at 6k rpm? Or maybe the battery's bad enough that it won't take a charge from the stator/RR on the bike but does charge when I stick 2 amps into it. It's a 10aH battery that puts out 1.1 amps and according to the battery sites should be charged with a 1 amp trickle charger for 12hrs. or more to get a real charge and not just what they call a "surface charge". When I charged it the first day with 12v/2 amps it went up to 12V right away (after an hour of charging) but when I tried to crank the motor it wouldn't go. I was worried about cooking it too much and didn't leave it on the charger overnight. The next morning I tried it and it did crank the motor, which started right up. It was like the surface charge "soaked in" to the plates. I guess I'm just gonna have to whip that battery out and take it somewhere to be tested for specific gravity and cranking amps. My bargain bike is rapidly becoming not such a bargain any more. It sure does run well and ride nice. I'll be glad when I can just take it out for a ride and not wonder if any more problems are going to crop up...

[SqDancerLynn1]

If that battery is 20 years old through it in the trash & get a new one

[Sandy]

Get a new battery. Also a freshly charged bad battery will usually start the bike and appear to be alright just after a charge It just won't hold a charge.

[IanFrancisco]

Thought so

Thanks everyone: Wow, someone was up late, reading this stuff. I started searching for batteries after posting here. My battery is a YB10L-A2 and most places incl. eBay wanted $35 to $50 for one. Used Froogle and found one on sale for under $15! (my wallet does a backflip here) Under $22 with shipping from a place called AZ Motorsports in Phoenix, so no sales tax. And it's a real Yuasa brand, not a clone. BTW, this bad battery I have looks as clean and perfect as the day it was first installed, but it is a knock-off brand I never heard of, so it's outta here!

Thanks again! If this doesn't do the trick you'll be hearing more from me on this subject.

BTW, my GS450S is a beauty with only 8500 miles on it and I'd like to put its picture up by my name like I see other folks doing. How do I do that?

Ian

[IanFrancisco]

avatar

Figured out how to get my bike pic by name. Ain't she pretty?