Battery issue?Power issue?

[Shook 1]

Whats up guys.

having some issues with the battery wondering if you cool dudes can point me to the right derection on possible reasons im not getting power to the bike so I can research solutions in the archives.

Ride is a gs1100 g 1982.

Ive gone through 2 batteries in a month but maybe first 1 was my fault.

Bought a new ProStart from pepboys.New to riding and bikes in general so i was unfirmiliar with filling acid in and using trickle chargers and all that.So i ended up giving the batt an initial charge of 3 hours on a 2amp charger and did not evenly fill the cells(saw when i later took it off).

After the 3 hour charge i installed,bike started right up and went on to ride it for 3 hours.While talking to a friend for 10 mins with the bike on but engine off,the battery seemed to die.Went home,charged it on the tender for 2 hours and went back for the bike and started right up.10 mins into it while i had trouble changing gears I stalled it and that seemed to kill tha battery and had to push it home.

Got another new battery and this time paid close attention to what i was doing and charged the recommended 12hrs on a new battery.
Bike rode for a good 5 days then again while having trouble changing gears I stalled the bike switching from 1st to 2nd and it died on me again!!

Trickle charger for 3 hours and again,it fixed that and rode the bike home fine.went on 2 more rides just fine.

But today I wanted to go for a quick ride and hitting the start button doesnt fire it up and again...drained battery.

Got a voltmeter.

Charged the battery and got a 12.40 reading while charging so hooked it up to the bike and read the same while off.

When i hit the start button it dropped down to 5 then 3.while cranking.
Tightened the screws on the cables and redid the test.
Same thing happened.

Turned off the bike and slowly the voltage climbed up twards 11-12.

Put the key in and turned to ON without hitting the start button.That quickly dropped the voltage from 12 to 8 then slowly decreased to around 6.
Just turning the ignition to ON drained the voltage.
Lights come on during this but no juice to start it up.


Where do you guys suggest I start?

Battery is on the trickle charger right now again and reading 12.34 and climbing.
ill let it recharge then test again tomorrow

 

[Steve]

OK several things going on, so I won't break it up into individual quote, I'll just comment where necessary.

Whats up guys. having some issues with the battery wondering if you cool dudes can point me to the right derection on possible reasons im not getting power to the bike so I can research solutions in the archives.

Ride is a gs1100 g 1982.
Thanks for mentioning the "G", because that is not mentioned in your signature.

Ive gone through 2 batteries in a month but maybe first 1 was my fault.

Bought a new ProStart from pepboys.New to riding and bikes in general so i was unfirmiliar with filling acid in and using trickle chargers and all that.So i ended up giving the batt an initial charge of 3 hours on a 2amp charger and did not evenly fill the cells(saw when i later took it off).
As you have found, procedure is critical. Actually, you should fill the battery, bang it gently on the bench a few times to dislodge any air bubbles, then let it sit for a few hours. Bang it around again, re-check the fluid level, THEN put the charger to it.

After the 3 hour charge i installed,bike started right up and went on to ride it for 3 hours.
While talking to a friend for 10 mins with the bike on but engine off,the battery seemed to die.
You killed the engine, but left the key ON? That is about a 10-amp draw on a battery that should have a 14-amp capacity, but it wasn't necessarily up to full charge, so it's no wonder that it died.

Went home,charged it on the tender for 2 hours and went back for the bike and started right up.10 mins into it while i had trouble changing gears I stalled it and that seemed to kill tha battery and had to push it home.
2 hours at 2 amps is OK for topping off a battery, but not nearly enough to bring back a dead one.

Got another new battery and this time paid close attention to what i was doing and charged the recommended 12hrs on a new battery.
Bike rode for a good 5 days then again while having trouble changing gears I stalled the bike switching from 1st to 2nd and it died on me again!!

Trickle charger for 3 hours and again,it fixed that and rode the bike home fine.went on 2 more rides just fine.
How long were these rides? Were they stop and start in town or were you out on the road for a while?

But today I wanted to go for a quick ride and hitting the start button doesnt fire it up and again...drained battery.
Just a hunch here, but what position is the key in when you park the bike?

Got a voltmeter.
Always a good thing. For quicker troubleshooting of some items (not necessarily this one), get a test light, too. There are times when you only need to know if there is power, it doesn't matter if it's 12.4 or 11.9 volts. Makes it much quicker.

Charged the battery and got a 12.40 reading while charging so hooked it up to the bike and read the same while off.
Sounds like your battery or your charger is garbage. While charging, you should see well over 13 volts, probably even close to 14. That will drop a bit after the charger is removed and should settle at 12.6 volts for a wet-cell battery (like yours) or 12.8 volts for a sealed AGM battery.

When i hit the start button it dropped down to 5 then 3.while cranking.
Most likely a bad battery, but could also be loose cables.

Tightened the screws on the cables and redid the test.
Same thing happened.
Bad battery.

Turned off the bike and slowly the voltage climbed up twards 11-12.
Should have gone to about 12.5, as previously mentioned.

Put the key in and turned to ON without hitting the start button.That quickly dropped the voltage from 12 to 8 then slowly decreased to around 6.
Further proof that you have a bad battery.

Just turning the ignition to ON drained the voltage.
Lights come on during this but no juice to start it up.

Do you have a spare 12-volt battery you can borrow for a bit? Could be the one in your car or lawn mower. If your only other battery is in your car, you don't have to remove it from the car, just use jumper cables but DO NOT HAVE THE CAR RUNNING WHILE CONNECTED TO YOUR BIKE. EVER.

Repeat your voltage tests while connected to the other battery. Go ahead and start the bike, too. Use your voltmeter, check the voltage at the battery to make sure your charging system is working properly.

Where do you guys suggest I start?
By reading the bold red print.

Battery is on the trickle charger right now again and reading 12.34 and climbing.
Remember, you will be looking for well over 14 volts to consider it "charged".

ill let it recharge then test again tomorrow

.

 

[Shook 1]

OK several things going on, so I won't break it up into individual quote, I'll just comment where necessary.

Whats up guys. having some issues with the battery wondering if you cool dudes can point me to the right derection on possible reasons im not getting power to the bike so I can research solutions in the archives.

Ride is a gs1100 g 1982.
Thanks for mentioning the "G", because that is not mentioned in your signature.

Ive gone through 2 batteries in a month but maybe first 1 was my fault.

Bought a new ProStart from pepboys.New to riding and bikes in general so i was unfirmiliar with filling acid in and using trickle chargers and all that.So i ended up giving the batt an initial charge of 3 hours on a 2amp charger and did not evenly fill the cells(saw when i later took it off).
As you have found, procedure is critical. Actually, you should fill the battery, bang it gently on the bench a few times to dislodge any air bubbles, then let it sit for a few hours. Bang it around again, re-check the fluid level, THEN put the charger to it.

After the 3 hour charge i installed,bike started right up and went on to ride it for 3 hours.
While talking to a friend for 10 mins with the bike on but engine off,the battery seemed to die.
You killed the engine, but left the key ON? That is about a 10-amp draw on a battery that should have a 14-amp capacity, but it wasn't necessarily up to full charge, so it's no wonder that it died.

Went home,charged it on the tender for 2 hours and went back for the bike and started right up.10 mins into it while i had trouble changing gears I stalled it and that seemed to kill tha battery and had to push it home.
2 hours at 2 amps is OK for topping off a battery, but not nearly enough to bring back a dead one.

Got another new battery and this time paid close attention to what i was doing and charged the recommended 12hrs on a new battery.
Bike rode for a good 5 days then again while having trouble changing gears I stalled the bike switching from 1st to 2nd and it died on me again!!

Trickle charger for 3 hours and again,it fixed that and rode the bike home fine.went on 2 more rides just fine.
How long were these rides? Were they stop and start in town or were you out on the road for a while?

But today I wanted to go for a quick ride and hitting the start button doesnt fire it up and again...drained battery.
Just a hunch here, but what position is the key in when you park the bike?

Got a voltmeter.
Always a good thing. For quicker troubleshooting of some items (not necessarily this one), get a test light, too. There are times when you only need to know if there is power, it doesn't matter if it's 12.4 or 11.9 volts. Makes it much quicker.

Charged the battery and got a 12.40 reading while charging so hooked it up to the bike and read the same while off.
Sounds like your battery or your charger is garbage. While charging, you should see well over 13 volts, probably even close to 14. That will drop a bit after the charger is removed and should settle at 12.6 volts for a wet-cell battery (like yours) or 12.8 volts for a sealed AGM battery.

When i hit the start button it dropped down to 5 then 3.while cranking.
Most likely a bad battery, but could also be loose cables.

Tightened the screws on the cables and redid the test.
Same thing happened.
Bad battery.

Turned off the bike and slowly the voltage climbed up twards 11-12.
Should have gone to about 12.5, as previously mentioned.

Put the key in and turned to ON without hitting the start button.That quickly dropped the voltage from 12 to 8 then slowly decreased to around 6.
Further proof that you have a bad battery.

Just turning the ignition to ON drained the voltage.
Lights come on during this but no juice to start it up.

Do you have a spare 12-volt battery you can borrow for a bit? Could be the one in your car or lawn mower. If your only other battery is in your car, you don't have to remove it from the car, just use jumper cables but DO NOT HAVE THE CAR RUNNING WHILE CONNECTED TO YOUR BIKE. EVER.

Repeat your voltage tests while connected to the other battery. Go ahead and start the bike, too. Use your voltmeter, check the voltage at the battery to make sure your charging system is working properly.

Where do you guys suggest I start?
By reading the bold red print.

Battery is on the trickle charger right now again and reading 12.34 and climbing.
Remember, you will be looking for well over 14 volts to consider it "charged".

ill let it recharge then test again tomorrow

.

I went ahead and replaced acid filled battery with a maint free dry cell battery wich cost twice as much.


Bike died again on me,charged battery for 3 hoyrs and got me home fine (short distance)

Heres a few other details.


The Regulator Rectifier is very hot.
Its not mounted to the frame as of now since I knocked it off its mount.

I also saw smoke coming from somewhere here(see pic)
Could not see if was due to RR burning a wire?
Could not find any melted wires.

But more than likely from the circled area.
White smelly smoke that started as soon as the engine fired up.turned off bike and refired a few mins later after moving some of the cables around,didnt smoke up the 2nd time.

Bad RR?Bad ground?
is this whats draining my batteries?no clue here guys help me out.

 

[tom203]

A rat's nest of pretty colored wires! You need to find the three stator wires that eventually connect to r/r. These wires should come up thru starter motor cavity - locate them and disconnect them. Also disconect the r/r 's red ? wire. Recharge your battery ,reinstall it,and turn ignition on- look for smoke.
Figure that some PO has erred in wiring somehow. A hot r/r probably means it's damaged

 

[londonboards]

Yes your charging system (stator and regulator/rectifier) are broke.

Go to the Stator Pages of this forum and perform these quick tests:

http://www.thegsresources.com/_foru...rging-System-QUICK-TEST&p=1272192#post1272192

You are also going to need to do a complete wiring and connector check. You have bad ground connections as well.

Total overhaul I'm afraid of the electrical system.

 

[geol]

A fully charged battery will show about 12.5VDC without the key on. Start the bike, rev to 4K rpm. You should be seeing about ~14.5VDC. If not, the bike's battery won't charge when you are operating the bike; it will eat the battery voltage until the bike dies. If this is happening, one of our fine member's has a step-by-step testing protocol which will help you figure out if the battery is bad, the reg/rec is bad or the stator. If you find the stator fried (would be my guess given the heat), there is a lot of advice on reg/rec replacement as only specific types have been shown to keep the charging system healthy.