charging issues

dweber85rc · Post by **dweber85rc** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 5:13 pm

Well after sitting on the trickle charger for nearly 24 hours I had 13.7 volts at the battery. Started it up and had 13.5 volts at idle. Throttled it up and it dropped down to 13.2. Turned the high beams on, went up to 13.6. High beams off 13.5. Brake light on 13.6. All + or - .1 or .2 volts.

So yes a fully charged battery makes a difference! It also seemed to turn over a little quicker. I pulled the battery out to take in for a load test tomorrow.

Still not sure what to make of it...

hillsy · Post by **hillsy** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:11 pm

If you've checked the wiring is good, charged the battery and replaced the RR then there's really only the stator left. Not sure how much you are revving it to check but if you're only getting 50V out of it it's not enough. 5K RPM is about where the engine makes max HP so imagine you are gunning it away from the lights and where you would change gear should be around 5K.

WintrSol · Post by **WintrSol** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 9:50 am

dweber85rc wrote:Well after sitting on the trickle charger for nearly 24 hours I had 13.7 volts at the battery. Started it up and had 13.5 volts at idle. Throttled it up and it dropped down to 13.2. Turned the high beams on, went up to 13.6. High beams off 13.5. Brake light on 13.6. All + or - .1 or .2 volts.

So yes a fully charged battery makes a difference! It also seemed to turn over a little quicker. I pulled the battery out to take in for a load test tomorrow.

Still not sure what to make of it...

Were those measurements taken directly across the battery, or somewhere else? Voltage going up with increased load (high beam, brake light) says bad main ground, to me, especially if you are measuring somewhere other than the battery terminals.

dweber85rc · Post by **dweber85rc** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 10:59 am

Initial voltage at the battery before starting yes, the rest no. I don't have a way to secure my leads to the battery while it's running, no anyone to help me so the ground lead was on a frame bolt. I am also stopping at a auto parts store to have my battery tested on my way home.

sgtcall · Post by **sgtcall** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 2:41 pm

+1 to all of the above tips.

I bought a Scorpion Battery 4 years ago and it is still going strong. They are less expensive than other batteries ($65) but still work great. before this I replaced other brands every two or 3 years. https://www.batterystuff.com/powersport ... -BS-1.html

Also put star washers on the leads, at the battery end, to keep them tight. The VS1400 tends to vibrate them loose pretty easily.

dweber85rc · Post by **dweber85rc** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 3:23 pm

Battery tested good at the parts store so I guess I'll start tracing wired

dweber85rc · Post by **dweber85rc** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 6:04 pm

Well, put the battery back in and pulled the main ground wire out and looked it over. Took a wire push to both ends of the terminals. Also moved the little ground wire that is teed in to the ground connection on the engine directly to the battery because it had a pretty good bend, might have been enough to start breaking internally. Also installed my battery tender. Had 13.5 volts at the battery terminals before starting. I also clamped my ground lead to the battery terminal with a view grip. At idle it started at 13.2 after a few higher rpm runs ended up at 13.9-14.1 at idle. At higher rpms it did drop to 13.1-13.5. At idle if I hit the brake light and/or high beam the voltage did go up about half a volt. At higher rpm it did go up by .1 or .2 volts.

Going to take it out tomorrow for a hour long drive and see what that does since it is now seeming like it charging, albeit on the low side or normal.

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 4:55 am

dweber85rc wrote:Well, put the battery back in and pulled the main ground wire out and looked it over. Took a wire push to both ends of the terminals. Also moved the little ground wire that is teed in to the ground connection on the engine directly to the battery because it had a pretty good bend, might have been enough to start breaking internally. Also installed my battery tender. Had 13.5 volts at the battery terminals before starting. I also clamped my ground lead to the battery terminal with a view grip. At idle it started at 13.2 after a few higher rpm runs ended up at 13.9-14.1 at idle. At higher rpms it did drop to 13.1-13.5. At idle if I hit the brake light and/or high beam the voltage did go up about half a volt. At higher rpm it did go up by .1 or .2 volts.

Going to take it out tomorrow for a hour long drive and see what that does since it is now seeming like it charging, albeit on the low side or normal.

Still seems like you may have a battery problem....(If I'm reading right)...Should be 12.6 with bike not running......Not 13.5....If I misunderstood disregard.

dweber85rc · Post by **dweber85rc** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 12:46 pm

13.6 was after it was put back in the bike after being in the charger again. I took it out for a good long ride over the weekend and after a long ride it was charging at high 13's for volts at idle. It might be yet that the stator is starting to go but for now it's working well enough that I am not going to worry about it for now. Will just check it occasionally. So between changing the regulator and cleaning up the ground connections seemed to be all I need for now

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