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normal battery or problem begining?

  • Thread starter Thread starter tconroy
  • Start date Start date
T

tconroy

Guest
About every 200 miles i have to put some distilled water in my battery,not much though just a little in each cell.Is the common or am I heading for a regulator rectifer problem?is it overcharging or am I just paranoid?
 
Clip a voltmeter to the battery terminals and check the voltage at about 5k rpm.
If the battery is charged, in good condition and all is well, you should show around 14.5 volts or less. (I normally show 13.2-13.4 volts on the road at 60 mph and about 4k rpm) Up to about 14.8 is ok, above that you will boil the battery and over 15 is a plroblem.

Earl


tconroy said:
About every 200 miles i have to put some distilled water in my battery,not much though just a little in each cell.Is the common or am I heading for a regulator rectifer problem?is it overcharging or am I just paranoid?
Click to expand...
 
Flooded lead-acid batteries start to gas at about 14.2 V, and the higher the voltage the worse the gassing and water loss. Normally, some water loss might be expected, especially in hot weather. In your case the loss is definitely excessive. It sounds like an overcharging problem, and this is usually caused by a bad R/R. Do the testing and reading suggested and you will find the answer.
 
Check the R/R, sounds as if yours is heading south.

With the r/r removed from the bike, fins pointing up and terminals facing you, the terminals from left to right will be A, B, C, D, and E.
Negative probe on A and positive on B you should get 6-7.5 ohms.
Negative probe on A and positive on C you should get 6-7.5 ohms.
Negative probe on A and positive on D you should get 6-7.5 ohms.
Negative probe on A and positive on E you should get 50-70 ohms.

Then switch the negative probe to terminal B and place the positive probe on A, C, then D, you should get no reading. Positive on E should read 6-7.5 ohms.

Switch negative probe to C and positive to A, B, then D, you should get no reading. Positive on E should read 6-7.5 ohms.

Switch negative probe to D and positive to A, B, then C, you should get no reading. Positive on E should read 6-7.5 ohms.

Switch negative probe to E, positive to A, B, C, and D should give no reading.

The numbers have to be within range. It doesn't take much of an out of range reading to lead to the wrong output.
 
earlfor said:
Clip a voltmeter to the battery terminals and check the voltage at about 5k rpm.
If the battery is charged, in good condition and all is well, you should show around 14.5 volts or less. (I normally show 13.2-13.4 volts on the road at 60 mph and about 4k rpm) Up to about 14.8 is ok, above that you will boil the battery and over 15 is a plroblem.

Earl
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info,I'll test it out like you said as soon as the weather lets me do so.We are expecting 4 to 8 inches of snow here so its gonna be a couple of days anyway.When I hookup my charger it shows a full charge instantly.
 
Probably the best test is to alligator clip your multimeter to your battery terminals. Tape the meter to the gas tank so you can read it and take a ride for a half hour or so at various speeds and note what your charge rate is as you normally ride with everything on. Abrupt changes in rpm will momentarily spike the voltage, but it should return to the same level in about a second regardless of speed. As I said, under those conditions I show between 13.2 and 13.4 volts. I recently did some checking on the charging system thanks to Philip. :-)

Earl

tconroy said:
Thanks for the info,I'll test it out like you said as soon as the weather lets me do so.We are expecting 4 to 8 inches of snow here so its gonna be a couple of days anyway.When I hookup my charger it shows a full charge instantly.
Click to expand...
 
earlfor said:
Probably the best test is to alligator clip your multimeter to your battery terminals. Tape the meter to the gas tank so you can read it and take a ride for a half hour or so at various speeds and note what your charge rate is as you normally ride with everything on. Abrupt changes in rpm will momentarily spike the voltage, but it should return to the same level in about a second regardless of speed. As I said, under those conditions I show between 13.2 and 13.4 volts. I recently did some checking on the charging system thanks to Philip. :-)

Earl
Click to expand...
Would the stator cause an overcharging and the rectifer be ok or would all fingers point to the reg.rec.in this case?.A reg.rec is 90 bucks which is well worth it if there is no other problem.
 
The regulator is what controls the voltage. If you have a stator problem you usually start blowing the main fuse. The test procedure I outlined is directly from the Suzuki manual.
 
Billy Ricks said:
The regulator is what controls the voltage. If you have a stator problem you usually start blowing the main fuse. The test procedure I outlined is directly from the Suzuki manual.
Click to expand...
Thanks Billy,I will do that test tomorrow and let ya know what happened.I have never had a fuse blow or anything.I just try to keep my battery between the lines that are marked for level.
 
If the voltage is too high, its going to be the R/R thats at fault.

Earl



tconroy said:
Would the stator cause an overcharging and the rectifer be ok or would all fingers point to the reg.rec.in this case?.A reg.rec is 90 bucks which is well worth it if there is no other problem.
Click to expand...
 
tconroy said:
Would the stator cause an overcharging and the rectifer be ok or would all fingers point to the reg.rec.in this case?.A reg.rec is 90 bucks which is well worth it if there is no other problem.
Click to expand...

If after your checking you find that the R/R is bad, you can get a new, guaranteed one at Z1 Enterprises for $67.50 plus $6.00 USPS Priority Mail shipping.
 
It does sound like you have a bad regulator that is overcharging the battery.

To answer part of your original question, it's not normal to need to add water to a battery. Maybe a tiny bit maybe once a year at the end of a long, hot summer, but if everything is working correctly, you'll likely never need to open your battery caps again after you install the battery. You still have to check it to catch problems like yours before the bad regulator takes out the stator and starts costing some serious money.
 
Battery levels can vary.

Battery levels can vary.

You should always keep your battery level at or above the lowest fill mark. I've had batteries over the years that would eliminate fluid in between the upper and lower marks. After refilling some several times to the upper mark I left them alone and found that they got to a point above the lower mark and stayed there.

It is good advice and I also urge you to test the voltage at the battery while running. If the voltages are too high then its time for a R/R and a stator too if it doesn't check out.
 
Boondocks said:
If after your checking you find that the R/R is bad, you can get a new, guaranteed one at Z1 Enterprises for $67.50 plus $6.00 USPS Priority Mail shipping.
Click to expand...
is that the one for an 83 650 gl? I didnt see it listed that way.
 
Boondocks said:
If after your checking you find that the R/R is bad, you can get a new, guaranteed one at Z1 Enterprises for $67.50 plus $6.00 USPS Priority Mail shipping.
Click to expand...
Ilooked at that r/r and is that a ground wire by itself on the r/r./They refer to it as a single female plug-in.
 
I looked at the pic and that R/R will do just fine on your bike. The R/R shown has a black wire, a red, and three yellow. Black is DC output 12v negative and connects to battery negative. Red is DC output 12v positive and connects to battery positive. The three yellow wires are AC input from the 3 yellow stator wires on your bike. It doesnt matter if the plugs match what you have, just use electrical connectors on the wire ends instead. I always do.

Earl


tconroy said:
Ilooked at that r/r and is that a ground wire by itself on the r/r./They refer to it as a single female plug-in.
Click to expand...
 
I was going to take the battery box off and clean all terminals and also see where the r/r is plugged into .Mine must be original cause it has red,blue,yellow white and black wires and is grounded to the battery box.Could a dirty connection cause overcharging?I might as well order the new one and get it over with!!!!!!!!!!!What about the three yellow wires on the new one?Does it matter which yellow wire hooks to the stator wires.It looks as though the plug goes right to the stator plug next to the starter solinoid.
 
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If your bike is in stock configuration, one of the stator wires will be looped through the wiring harness in a lighting circuit. Just ignore those connections to the harness and plug the RR into the appropriate battery terminals and connected to the three stator wires. Stator wire colors dont matter. The are all electrically the same. yeah, bad connections will play havoc with your charging system and battery voltage.

Earl



tconroy said:
I was going to take the battery box off and clean all terminals and also see where the r/r is plugged into .Mine must be original cause it has red,blue,yellow white and black wires and is grounded to the battery box.Could a dirty connection cause overcharging?I might as well order the new one and get it over with!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks earlfor.I think I will clean all connections first then do the voltage test with the meter and if all is not well I will get a new r/r.I need to get in there and see how everthing works anyway,thats half the fun of owning these bikes!Thanks again for your wisdom and advice!!!
 
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