Charging voltage

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gtotiger1

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Ok, so in a nutshell what is the charging voltage at the battery supposed to be after the crimp fix, and idleing at 1000 rpms, without the fan running , mine is 12.7 then with fan on 12.3 / 12.5
but the bike runs funny at the lower voltage, whats the cheapest easiest way to inclease voltage, its a 1988 max.
 
Clean up the rear footpeg mount on the left side where the R/R is mounted. Will help provide a better ground. You can also upgrade the R/R and direct wire it to the battery, both + and - sides (put a 30A fuse inline with the positive). Also, check the white 3-wire connector from the stator to the R/R. If it is corroded you should clean it and make sure you put some dielectric grease in the connection before re-connecting. Also check both the ground wires from the battery (to the engine and frame) and make sure that they have good contact as well. Every little bit of corrosion or bad connections will add up in the voltage/amperage/wattage area by adding resistance into the circuit. Start with cleaning all the connections and making sure you have good grounding, then go from there.
 
I did clean the foot peg mounts really well, and checked the connectors also, they are clean, then i ran an additional ground from the rr to the ground near the faux tank too, still seems the same, where do the battery grounds connect to the chassis and the motor?
 
The engine ground is right next to the oil fill plug for the engine. The secondary ground should ground right next to the faux tank latch assy. I wouldn't count out that your R/R and or your stator might just be getting tired. Also, I ran my idle at 1,100 rpm with carbs. That extra 100 rpm might not sound like much, but I would be curious to see if your voltage does come up a wee bit. Mine runs ~13.6-13.8v at idle and tops out at 14.7 at 3k rpm. I would look at picking up a late model R/R, they are fairly inexpensive and seeing how much of a difference that makes, if any. You can also look for a Venture R/R which is actually 2 in 1 housing and it also has a voltage sensing wire that monitors the charging system voltage. There are threads here all about changing R/R's to the various types in use by folks. I currently run an 04 ZX6R regulator with great results.
 
Use the fault finding guide sticky post in the electricals section and you'll figure it out.
 
Ok, thanks, i'm going to do the rr test tonight, i see most say use a later model one to cure this issue, will it bolt right in? And i think i read some where there is an additional wire to run, if so where to? - as for the stator getting old, while it is an 88 old in years its only has 14000 miles on it , i cant see the stator going with such little milage correct?
 
gtotiger1 said:
Ok, so in a nutshell what is the charging voltage at the battery supposed to be after the crimp fix, and idleing at 1000 rpms, without the fan running , mine is 12.7 then with fan on 12.3 / 12.5
but the bike runs funny at the lower voltage, whats the cheapest easiest way to inclease voltage, its a 1988 max.
Click to expand...

this will cost you ~ $3.00 & you will get 14+ volts, as mention before clean the foot peg mounting area and add an additional grounding wire to the RR & ground it to the frame.
 

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I have the older rr, with only the 3 white and 1 red wire will this mod still work?
 
gtotiger1 said:
I have the older rr, with only the 3 white and 1 red wire will this mod still work?
Click to expand...

Yes it will, just attach a grounding wire to the body of the RR and ground it to a good spot on the frame, some ground it directly to the battery -ve terminal but I feel grounding it to the frame is better to feed all the frame with -ve charge which many connections on the bike use. take a look at the 3 white stator to RR wires & connectors, clean them, some find the connectors melted if that's the case just solder them & use heat shrink tubing to insulate them. you will get 14 + volts above 1500 RPM.
 
Thevmaxrider said:
The engine ground is right next to the oil fill plug for the engine. The secondary ground should ground right next to the faux tank latch assy. I wouldn't count out that your R/R and or your stator might just be getting tired. Also, I ran my idle at 1,100 rpm with carbs. That extra 100 rpm might not sound like much, but I would be curious to see if your voltage does come up a wee bit. Mine runs ~13.6-13.8v at idle and tops out at 14.7 at 3k rpm. I would look at picking up a late model R/R, they are fairly inexpensive and seeing how much of a difference that makes, if any. You can also look for a Venture R/R which is actually 2 in 1 housing and it also has a voltage sensing wire that monitors the charging system voltage. There are threads here all about changing R/R's to the various types in use by folks. I currently run an 04 ZX6R regulator with great results.
Click to expand...

14.7 volts is a sure way to shorten your battery life, it doesn't take much to top off the battery & any more volts will eventually destroy the battery as per fault finding sticky. stock RR also give great results.
 
Ok, so i made a quick jumper wire to try out the above advice, and its true, if you run the red directly to the + battery terminal you , or i got about 14.5 at 1300 rpms, then around 3000 rpms it drops to about 14.0 others have said this is bad for the battery, i have the stock battery will this be an issue? Also has anyone tried to make a jumper which runs the stock wiring and a lead off to the battery, to see if the voltage lowers a bit?
 
firefly said:
14.7 volts is a sure way to shorten your battery life, it doesn't take much to top off the battery & any more volts will eventually destroy the battery as per fault finding sticky. stock RR also give great results.
Click to expand...

Re-read the sticky Ibrahim. 14.7v is fine, >14.8v tells you that there could be a problem. Also, the stock R/R works good in a stock bike, but when you add on all sorts of electrical load it is woefully inadequate.
 
Both my Odysseys hold 12.9, the day after. One is 4 years old and going strong... Some meters will read
high on lower settings. Make sure yours doesn't. I've seen 17.9 volts with some meters and with the range
higher it's actually like 14.X.
 
gtotiger1 said:
Ok, so i made a quick jumper wire to try out the above advice, and its true, if you run the red directly to the + battery terminal you , or i got about 14.5 at 1300 rpms, then around 3000 rpms it drops to about 14.0 others have said this is bad for the battery, i have the stock battery will this be an issue? Also has anyone tried to make a jumper which runs the stock wiring and a lead off to the battery, to see if the voltage lowers a bit?
Click to expand...

Check voltage during cranking, if it dips below 10 volts your battery is on its way out, double check your grounding and make sure the surface is contacting bare metal not paint.
 
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