Flat battery - why?

[49er]

Corrections above. Now come on...this kind of sniping is why some folks are afraid to offer suggestions or ask advice. It's not helpful to the OP or the board in general.

So how about you continue with your best advice to the OP and everyone else will do the same.

- JC

Sound suggestion. You guy's will have my little Kiwi friend ducking for cover if you keep this up. It smacks of arrogance, much like the English after they receive their titles/knighthoods, if you get my drift

[posplayr]

Sound suggestion. You guy's will have my little Kiwi friend ducking for cover if you keep this up. It smacks of arrogance, much like the English after they receive their titles/knighthoods, if you get my drift

I did not realize my arrogance had such a royal air ? I know JC's smacks of a different kind . So I guess I have done enough damage here and so will bow out and allow the "sparks and magic" class continue without me.

[psyguy]

ok, fellow gsr's, what i get from this is that a bad neg wire in the headlight circuit is most likely not the problem causing low charging voltage.

but what works for me is being practical (rather than only measuring with a voltmeter) so i'll try the temporary direct wiring for the headlight and if the charging is still low than we can all be happy that it's most likely the bad rr, ok?

i don't mind doing surplus tests as i then can improve things along the way, like cleaning or replacing conectors and wires, etc. which is always good. while i had the headlight off today, i replaced all the connectors in the headlight bucket

it's great to have your suggestions coming not only as an advice but as a moral support as well

[49er]

Yep, I agree. Believe me, if you were closer, many of us would drive by just to help you find the solution once and for all!

- JC[/QUOTE]

I'm travelling up to Auckland to meet Psyguy with a group of friends at the end of the month. If this problem still persists, i'll wrench that old switch out and have it replaced.

[Colin Green]

Yep, I agree. Believe me, if you were closer, many of us would drive by just to help you find the solution once and for all!

- JC

I'm travelling up to Auckland to meet Psyguy with a group of friends at the end of the month. If this problem still persists, i'll wrench that old switch out and have it replaced.[/QUOTE]

I have a bunch of spare parts we can put to use (RR, headlight switch unit etc) Have to see how you go for time when you get up on Saturday.

[KiwiGS]

Yep, I agree. Believe me, if you were closer, many of us would drive by just to help you find the solution once and for all!

- JC

I'm travelling up to Auckland to meet Psyguy with a group of friends at the end of the month. If this problem still persists, i'll wrench that old switch out and have it replaced.[/QUOTE]
What make you think the problem is in the light circuit?

[Colin Green]

Well! Just because I have no clue at all, but have a switch and Psyguy did show me that his self cancel switch wasn't.... because it physically didn't partially return once thumbed across... (big breath) I'ma gonna bet it's the flogged out old switch.

Best Mr Psyguy contact me & call by to pick up my spare, if he is over this way in his travels tomorrow

[49er]

I'm travelling up to Auckland to meet Psyguy with a group of friends at the end of the month. If this problem still persists, i'll wrench that old switch out and have it replaced.

What make you think the problem is in the light circuit?[/QUOTE]

I'm no sparks guru, just an educated guess, from years of trouble shooting! If it were mine and it was dodgy, I would have replaced it by now.

[psyguy]

Recap and update

existing findings:

• all new leads and connections from the alternator the the RR to the battery (no significant voltage drop at the RR leads)
• stator puts out 80V+ on all three phases
• charging with the headlight OFF = 14.8V
• charging with the headlight ON = under 13V and falling - slowly draining the battery
• voltage drop at the headlight bulb socket = 1.5V

new data:

• voltage drop at the headlight circuit ground wire = 0.0V
• with the headlight temporarily connected directly to the battery the charging is under 13V and dropping

so, a faulty RR, right?


.

[Matchless]

This still seems like you have lost one phase and as your tests show the stator putting out a good AC voltage on all 3 phases then the R/R would be my next suspect, one phase is most likely faulty in the R/R. (see post #31)

[psyguy]

thanks guys!
matchless, some good diagnosis from you quite early in this thread!


i still have a couple of questions:

You should also continue to fix up the headlight circuit due to the voltage drop.

the headlight circuit goes through 8 connections before it gets to the bulb. all those connections have been cleaned (and some replaced) including those in the left- and right- handlebar swithches, so i guess the only other thing i could do is to get both NEW switches.

You can either get with Duaneage or look for a FET based r/r.

what's a FET based RR?

and before i can get a replacement RR, is it ok to ride (with the headlight off) with a faulty RR, is it posibly going to damage the stator or anything else??

[duaneage]

I wouldn't run a bike with any known problem, especially electrical, since more damage can result. Plus if something goes wrong in traffic in front of a large truck you could end up as a hood ornament.

make sure your ride is 100 percent before venturing out. People are crazy and the roads are dangerous enough.

[psyguy]

i've just bought the RR from duaneage (thanks!) and will let you know how i go when i get it and install it.

i'll move the voltage drop at the headlight topic into another thread.

thanks for the help guys!

[psyguy]

Update

i've just bought the RR from duaneage (thanks!) and will let you know how i go when i get it and install it.

ok, update...


i connected the new (used) RR i got from duaneage but the problem remains the same:

• charging OK with no load (14.5V)
• charging NOT OK when the headlight is ON (or when i connect a 55W light bulb directly to the battery) - the voltage starts slowly dropping

• all relevant connections are NEW spade connectors
• RR connected directly to the battery
• stator puts out 85+V at 5000rpm
• all 3 stator phases go directly to the RR
• i would assume that the RR is good but wouldn't mind testing it while hooked off if there is a way to do that?
• the system has been tested with the engine just warmed up from cold as well as during a few hours of riding and the results are the same

could this be a problem with the battery?? the battery is new-ish but it was on a cheap side chinese product...

any thoughts?

[chef1366]

Any way of checking stator for shorts?