Bike not charging at idle with headlight on.

[tkent02]

It's a year old sealed battery (got at the end of winter last year), if it is bad, would something have caused it to go bad? Just a bad apple?

How did this new battery spend the winter?
Was it getting overcharged last summer?

[andrewclaycomb]

Also the fuse panel can have high resistance connections various places.

I only have 2 fuses. The one I added for the relay (mini 10 amp blade) and the main fuse(long tube looking fuse, unsure of the amps). The main fuse enclosure looks suspect. It's definitely seen better days, it's old, cracked, and yellowed. I think I'm going to cut it off and replace as much wire as I can as well as put in a new inline fuse and holder. Hopefully that will do me.


...and a new battery

[bakalorz]

I have the battery on my kitchen counter charging and when I put my ear up to it, i can hear a fizzing sound. Should I unplug this and just plan on getting a temporary cheapo walmart battery tomorrow? At least until I can get a Yuasa sealed battery in the mail.

I could hear the fizzing sound from a foot or two away when the tender was on it, and it was in the bike.

UH OH ...

Just saw this after I sent the last post ...

The fizzing is electrolyte being seperated into hydrogen and oxygen.
Some gassing at the end of a charge is normal, but I don't think you can usually hear it.
Put a voltmeter on it while its on the tender and fizzing. If it reads higher than 15 volts your tender killed it.
(Which would be good news ... it means your charging system is likely ok)

If it reads between 13 and 15 than your tender is probably not at fault

[andrewclaycomb]

How did this new battery spend the winter?
Was it getting overcharged last summer?

I never left it outside this winter (anytime it dropped below freezing.) every few weeks I would put it on a tender until it was full and then put it away.

Now that I think about it. This battery was used with the old stock Reg/Rec... and that was faulty... Doh!!! This at least lessened the life of the battery.

[andrewclaycomb]

UH OH ...

Just saw this after I sent the last post ...

The fizzing is electrolyte being seperated into hydrogen and oxygen.
Some gassing at the end of a charge is normal, but I don't think you can usually hear it.
Put a voltmeter on it while its on the tender and fizzing. If it reads higher than 15 volts your tender killed it.
(Which would be good news ... it means your charging system is likely ok)

If it reads between 13 and 15 than your tender is probably not at fault

It's in the 12 area.

[earlfor]

It sounds like you have a bad battery. The voltage apparently comes up with being on the charger, but there isnt any capacity. Thats why as soon as you try to start the bike (put a load on the battery), the voltage drops to 10 v or so.

Earl

I have the battery on my kitchen counter charging and when I put my ear up to it, i can hear a fizzing sound. Should I unplug this and just plan on getting a temporary cheapo walmart battery tomorrow? At least until I can get a Yuasa sealed battery in the mail.

I could hear the fizzing sound from a foot or two away when the tender was on it, and it was in the bike.

[posplayr]

bakalorz

Hey take a sedative, maybe your pulse with stay within a normal operating range so you can completely reading what I said.

>>>> I'm assuming there are about 3-4 ohms Resistance in the >>>>relay/solenoid coil. Use an ohm meter to measure the coil resistance >>>>to be sure.

I just grabbed a relay ER803-C-12VDC relay and it had 81 ohms so that means it is only going to pull about 150 milli-amp (not 3-4 amps) so I guess automotive relay have a lot more gain that I was suspecting. As I suggested measure to be sure.

Well if you read andrewclaycomb post he did ask

>>>Any ideas?

>>>That was just BAD information.
>>>>I don't particularly want to pick on you posplayr, but if you don't >>>>have a clue about a particular question don't take a wild flying >>>>guess.

I think if there is anything inappropriate here, it is your childish and amateurish behavior with "all red" and "over sized font" outburst. You can't possibly know anything about me and yet you presume to. That is the height of arrogance and arrogance begets ignorance. Get a clue.

You can rest assured you are hardly my technical equal and so with that outburst of yours I have no desire to respond to you anymore.

I do however understand that with a typical engineering curriculum that there are very few humanistic social electives required. So tact is not apparently not high on your list and probably not even in your consciousness. Hopefully you will learn some.

Posplayr

[tkent02]

Hey take a sedative, maybe your pulse with stay within a normal operating range so you can completely reading what I said.

>>>> I'm assuming there are about 3-4 ohms Resistance in the >>>>relay/solenoid coil. Use an ohm meter to measure the coil resistance >>>>to be sure.

I just grabbed a relay ER803-C-12VDC relay and it had 81 ohms so that means it is only going to pull about 150 milli-amp (not 3-4 amps) so I guess automotive relay have a lot more gain that I was suspecting. As I suggested measure to be sure.

Well if you read andrewclaycomb post he did ask

>>>Any ideas?

>>>That was just BAD information.
>>>>I don't particularly want to pick on you posplayr, but if you don't >>>>have a clue about a particular question don't take a wild flying >>>>guess.

I think if there is anything inappropriate here, it is your childish and amateurish behavior with "all red" and "over sized font" outburst. You can't possibly know anything about me and yet you presume to. That is the height of arrogance and arrogance begets ignorance. Get a clue.

You can rest assured you are hardly my technical equal and so with that outburst of yours I have no desire to respond to you anymore.

I do however understand that with a typical engineering curriculum that there are very few humanistic social electives required. So tact is not apparently not high on your list and probably not even in your consciousness. Hopefully you will learn some.

Posplayr

Come on guys, save it for the religious threads.
We are technical here, we can all get along.

[psyguy]

just want to point out, as pointed out in the stator papers :-D, no use in troubleshooting the charging system if the battery is shot
test the battery first, if faulty - buy a new one
fully charge it with your trickle charger (assuming it itself is ok) and then run the troubleshooting as per the stator papers flowchart

saves a lot of guessing :-D and possibly some unecessary work too

[bakalorz]

Hey take a sedative, maybe your pulse with stay within a normal operating range so you can completely reading what I said.

>>>> I'm assuming there are about 3-4 ohms Resistance in the >>>>relay/solenoid coil. Use an ohm meter to measure the coil resistance >>>>to be sure.

I just grabbed a relay ER803-C-12VDC relay and it had 81 ohms so that means it is only going to pull about 150 milli-amp (not 3-4 amps) so I guess automotive relay have a lot more gain that I was suspecting. As I suggested measure to be sure.

Posplayr

Next time maybe YOU measure first rather than give a BULL**** answer that will lead someone to troubleshoot something that is absolutely not the problem.

And relays don't have "gain" ... "technical equal" my @ss

Well if you read andrewclaycomb post he did ask

>>>Any ideas?

>>>That was just BAD information.
>>>>I don't particularly want to pick on you posplayr, but if you don't >>>>have a clue about a particular question don't take a wild flying >>>>guess.

I think if there is anything inappropriate here, it is your childish and amateurish behavior with "all red" and "over sized font" outburst.
Posplayr

You gave horribly wrong advice. If Andrew paid any attention to it, it would have made him do totally the wrong things to fix it. It deserved to be shouted down in the strongest possible terms.

You can't possibly know anything about me and yet you presume to.
Posplayr

I know that you don't have the tiniest bit of a clue about what a reasonable amount of current in an automotive relay is.

I know more than once you posted incorrect information that will confuse other readers and hinder (not help) their troubleshooting efforts.

I know that in more than one thread you have given bull**** answers that you have just guessed at. And they were wrong.

That is the height of arrogance and arrogance begets ignorance. Get a clue.

You can rest assured you are hardly my technical equal and so with that outburst of yours I have no desire to respond to you anymore.

Posplayr

Absolutely fine.

But don't pretend that its because you're technically superior.
On every point that I recall calling bull**** on your posts it's because you were wrong.

And despite what you may think, I don't just point out the wrong advice to get my jollies.
I point it out because that wrong advice is confusing someone else or making them do something that will not help them solve their problem.

And if I read more bull**** I absolutely will respond to it.
So if you don't want me to respond to you, maybe you should check the accuracy of the stuff you post before you post it.

I'll be happy to never respond to another of your posts ... but that will only happen if you don't post bull that will mislead others.

I said it in the other post and I'll repeat it here:
if you don't have a clue about a particular question don't take a wild flying guess


By the way I bolded it, so that maybe you would notice it this time.

I do however understand that with a typical engineering curriculum that there are very few humanistic social electives required. So tact is not apparently not high on your list and probably not even in your consciousness. Hopefully you will learn some.
Posplayr

I don't know what your education was, but accuracy is not apparently not high on your list and probably not even in your consciousness. Hopefully you will learn some.

You spew a lot of wrong information.
I don't have a high tolerance for bull****, and if telling you you are wrong is a lack of tact, I guess there is one thing you are right about.

Tell you what, you improve your accuracy and I'll improve my tact.

Bye the way oh great technical superior ... do you want to take me up on the bet in my original post ...

didn't think so ... pffft

[psyguy]

:arrow: 8-[ :shock:

[andrewclaycomb]

just want to point out, as pointed out in the stator papers :-D, no use in troubleshooting the charging system if the battery is shot
test the battery first, if faulty - buy a new one
fully charge it with your trickle charger (assuming it itself is ok) and then run the troubleshooting as per the stator papers flowchart

saves a lot of guessing :-D and possibly some unecessary work too

Is a battery tender a trickle charger?

[seuadr]

ya, i would think so. they usually charge at 1 or 2 amps, which is what i've always understood to be a trickle charge. essentially, you just want to avoid cranking a ton of amprage when you are charging. Although it will supply a high voltage reading, in reality, there power just isn't there. also a good way to fry a battery.

[chuckycheese]

Is a battery tender a trickle charger?

Yes, BatteryTender is a brand name. I would suggest you splurge and get the BatteryTender Plus. It's a wonderful little gadget and, over the years, it will save you a number of batteries!\\/ It will keep you battery fully charged but it won't 'fry' it or boil out the electrolyte solution.

[Matchless]

A quick test is to read the voltage across the battery and then see what it drops to when you crank it. On a car we used to put the headlights on and they would dim immediately when the starter started turning if the battery was suspect. If it immediately drops a couple of volts it tells you the battery is faulty or if the voltage drops more slowly after a good couple of starter turns then battery is not fully charged, not holding a charge or the starter is drawing excess current. Another battery or jumping it to a car battery should quickly help you. Do not run the car when jumping.