• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

R/R toasted or grouding problem?

  • Thread starter Thread starter J_C
  • Start date Start date
bakalorz said:
Since the old meter was toasted (what was wrong that it was toasted by the way) its hard to know if the info you gave before was valid.
Click to expand...

The voltage was reading way low compared to a known good meter, the diode function and several others no longer worked even with a new fuse. I think I killed it when I accidentally had the red lead plugged into the unfused post and touched it to the battery. Good thing this was only $12. The new one was around 30 so I'll be much more careful.

bakalorz said:
I still doubt that there is a leakage problem, but to be thorough you might want to check the key off CURRENT drain again.
Start at the highest current (10 amp ?) and work your way down
Click to expand...
I'll certainly give this a go. I remeasured and the voltage was still there (.75 v) but wasn't sure which amp selection to use... DC10A (unfused) or DCmA (unfused)

bakalorz said:
That is what you should get
Click to expand...

That's certainly good news. The stator papers said I should have a reading of 1.5v or higher on those two tests :confused:


bakalorz said:
I would like to see at least 13.5 at all RPMs, but where you are at is marginally ok.

If you haven't done it yet:
Run a direct wire from the regulator ground to the battery negative.
Replace the stator bullet connectors with spade type connectors.

Also, clean all the connections in the fusebox, and any connectors in the positive path between the r/r and the battery.

I harp on that stuff because in some cases it can fix marginal or non-functioning charging systems.

After all that stuff, come back and we'll see where you are.
Click to expand...

Thanks Martin! As per your advice in your sig, I already ran a wire directly from the r/r ground point directly to the battery. I also replaced all stator and R/R connectors to stator and fusebox with spades. However, I have NOT gone into the fusebox. I will unscrew it and flip it over to clean the back and I'll also clean up the fuse holders. THANK YOU for your help!
 
Tonight I took the fuse box off. Inside the back didn't look so bad, it's just that all the copper has tarnished, including where the fuses go. I put a copper wheel on the dremel and polished all the fuse contact points, sprayed the 4 wire square plug and back internals of the fusebox with electrical connection cleaner, and tried to get as much dirt out as possible, if it existed. Couldnt get the wires out of the square plug, but when I pointed a flashlight in there I saw a reflection so I'm hoping the contact points are good.

I'm hoping that cleaning these contact points will mean less resistance on the path to postive battery; the old bullet connection from fuse to battery hyas already been replaced.

Will try and post up some new readings on the amperage tomorrow to double check that drainage thing
 
Martin,

You were right, the drainage is not worth worrying about. Its only .08 mA. To test if the battery discharge is a short within the battery, I have disconnected the (-) terminal from the rest of the system and will monitor it. It is presently at 12.68 V, for record keeping.

Though the fuse contact points do not appear to be the cause of the miniscule drain, I am hoping that perhaps cleaning them will fix my less than ideal charging numbers. I will be firing up the bike saturday morning to test (I get home too late from work usually to bother the neighbors)
 
Add'l info; Help needed!

Add'l info; Help needed!

After 4 days disconnected from ground the battery read 12.63, for a charge drop of just over .1v a day. So I think that might just be a battery issue.


After cleaning up the fuse box, I have run the bike again. The charging numbers remain the same.

More Pressing:
The connections for wires coming and going from the r/r are getting RIDICULOUSLY hot, after a very short amount of time (a minute or two). Now, it may be that just two wires are getting hot and they're heating the others in the bundle, but I know for SURE that the Red and White/Blue connections are steamin'.

This is an issue I was aware of previously, but I thought that after trimming back the wires and replacing the old bullets with spades I had fixed the problem. Apparantly I have not.

Anyone with any ideas, please post. It seems I lost Martin's interest 8-[ :-D
 
Hi Mr. J_C,

Does one leg of your stator run up through a headlight switch then back to the r/r?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
Mr. Cliff,

Yes, G/W does (becomes R/W). However, I didn't notice these to be the main aggresors in this situation. Any insight you have is a thousand times appreciated.
 
J_C said:
After 4 days disconnected from ground the battery read 12.63, for a charge drop of just over .1v a day. So I think that might just be a battery issue.


After cleaning up the fuse box, I have run the bike again. The charging numbers remain the same.

More Pressing:
The connections for wires coming and going from the r/r are getting RIDICULOUSLY hot, after a very short amount of time (a minute or two). Now, it may be that just two wires are getting hot and they're heating the others in the bundle, but I know for SURE that the Red and White/Blue connections are steamin'.

This is an issue I was aware of previously, but I thought that after trimming back the wires and replacing the old bullets with spades I had fixed the problem. Apparantly I have not.

Anyone with any ideas, please post. It seems I lost Martin's interest 8-[ :-D
Click to expand...

You didn't lose my interest, it was just that my wife was complaining about me neglecting the kids ...

Also, I didn't really have much to say about the previous posts, and was waiting to see what your testing would come up with.

The wires getting really hot is significant, so hopefully will lead to a resolution.

Does the whole length of the wires seem to be getting hot or just near the connector ?

If just near connector then you should probably replace the connectors.

If you don't have any, you could try the following:
(but realise that it might be kind of jury rigged)

Recrimp both connectors, in case the crimp was not tight enough

Spade connectors that are tight enough are moderately difficult to take apart.
If they are too loose it's possible to tighten loose spade connectors, take the two apart, and then SLIGHTLY squeeze the female one using a pair of pliers.

In case the connectors have light internal corrosion, take them apart and put them back together a couple of times. Hopefully this will wear through any corrosion. Do this after making sure they are tight as above.

To prevent them from corroding, put a glob of dielectric grease in before you mate them the final time.

Then retest and see if they still get hot.
 
Hi martin! Thanks for the response. The connectors were all replaced less than a month ago, but I checked for corrosion in case, also put on some more dialectic grease.

The connectors are very snug, difficult to connect and disconnect. They're also insulated so should be very little corrosion.

I recrimped them about as much as they'll crimp. I still got some heat coming off them, charging numbers remain the same. I'm wondering if it's possible that damage to the wires before I got the bike resulted in them burning / corroding (?) within the insulation for several inches back towards the r/r. It was difficult to tell whether the heat was originating in the connector and conducting to the wires, or if the wires were heating up on their own...
 
J_C said:
Hi martin! Thanks for the response. The connectors were all replaced less than a month ago, but I checked for corrosion in case, also put on some more dialectic grease.

The connectors are very snug, difficult to connect and disconnect. They're also insulated so should be very little corrosion.

I recrimped them about as much as they'll crimp. I still got some heat coming off them, charging numbers remain the same. I'm wondering if it's possible that damage to the wires before I got the bike resulted in them burning / corroding (?) within the insulation for several inches back towards the r/r. It was difficult to tell whether the heat was originating in the connector and conducting to the wires, or if the wires were heating up on their own...
Click to expand...


Ummm ... I don't know what to tell you ...

Are they still ridiculously hot, or better than before ?

If better, try doing a few more mating/unmating cycles maybe.

You asked, so I guess I'll say it's possible that the wires are corroded under the insulation ... but it wouldn't be my first guess... on the other hand, I dunno ...
A more likely guess to me would be that they were corroded when you crimped them, leading to a poor connection in the crimp itself.

You seem to have gone through most of the obvious stuff, so its hard to try to troubleshoot over the net.
 
Thanks so much. That's definitely a possibility. It seems a little better than before, so it might be a combination of the two. Perhaps I should get some tinner's fluid or whatever that stuff's called? Shouldn't that clear up any corrosion that may exist and open the door to better connectivity? I got a new soldering iron tip so I'm willing to try that as well.

Just took the bike on a 20 minute spin. As soon as I parked I took the seat off and checked the wires; they felt reasonable. The battery went from 12.63 before to 12.76 after.
 
J_C said:
Thanks so much. That's definitely a possibility. It seems a little better than before, so it might be a combination of the two. Perhaps I should get some tinner's fluid or whatever that stuff's called? Shouldn't that clear up any corrosion that may exist and open the door to better connectivity? I got a new soldering iron tip so I'm willing to try that as well.

Just took the bike on a 20 minute spin. As soon as I parked I took the seat off and checked the wires; they felt reasonable. The battery went from 12.63 before to 12.76 after.
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not familiar with the tinner's fluid , so can't say either way.

Regarding soldering ... The absolute first step when you are soldering is to have clean bright metal and a good close mechanical connection.
If you don't have the metal clean first, the solder won't wet it.

I've soldered 3 connections on my bike where crimps would have been too bulky. I've done a LOT more with unsoldered crimp connections.
I have advocated pretty strongly against soldering in this thread, especially for people who are not already experienced solderers.

I'll guess you don't have much experience soldering.
It sounds like the wire is possibly corroded/degraded
As such, I suspect it will prove more frustrating than helpful.

If the connections are still a problem (and it sounds like you may have ended up fixing it by mating/unmating)
I would probably recomend cutting the affected wires back a few inches, and then using crimp connectors to extend them and connect them.
Although I don't know that I would bother with the extra expense, there are sealed/waterproof crimp connectors available. (perhaps called marine use, intended to be used on boats)

-

The voltage readings indicate that the battery is charging while you ride. Perhaps not as much as it should; but charging slightly, not discharging.

I can't say I recommend that you ride it till it is charging "properly" ... however... I rode my 650 for over a year with only 2 legs of the stator working
I would put it on the charger before I rode and after I came back. The battery was way to weak to start it, even after it just came off the charger.
So I got VERY good at push-starting it.
But don't do that ... fix it properly ... do as I say, not as I do ... \\:D/
 
Hahaha. OK :) Thanks for all your help Martin. It's very possible this info will help many many people down the line when performing searches on similar issues. As such, I am going to do what you recommend with the wires. Hopefully it will result in a healthier charging system in the end.

Again, thanks for your help is this long and meandering thread.
 
I just wanted to give an update on this.... I found a lot of corrosion inside the main battery lead, as well as the ground wire. This was a result of following Martin's advice to look for corrosion. I started at the statpr wires and worked all the way through. As soon as I started sanding the battery leads, the voltage shot up. I purchased replacemnent battery terminals and I'm proud to report a 13.8 to 14v range, from idle straight to 6000 rpm. Thank you Martin, thank you all!
 
mine was doing that and blowing the main fuse every 5 seconds. It was the regulator rectifier which in turn fried the stator. good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top