charging issue

VMAX  Forum

Help Support VMAX Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
All the connectors the r/r the Plate the r/r sat on sanded the plate the r/r put electric grease on everything
 
All the connectors the r/r the Plate the r/r sat on sanded the plate the r/r put electric grease on everything

Great so you didn't spend money & changed parts. with max the harness is weak & suffers from easily oxidized connectors.
many with your weak charging problems go replacing stators & RR & upgrading to R1 RR without doing these simple fixes & that includes me, I replaced stator & RR for no reason before.

I'll give you an example, the other day I needed to use a flash light, turned it on & the thing was dim, took out the battery and bulb, lightly sanded the terminals & put it back together now its bright as if I changed the battery, this is what oxidation does, connectors don't have to look rusty, my connectors looked good but were not conducting as good as they looked. this is why better audio connectors are gold plated.
sanding the contact surface is good but they will get oxidized again if not treated with oxidation inhibitor found at radio shack used for volume controls, WD-40 is a good substitute or dielectric grease.
 
Connections, Connections, Connections, Connections,

After that solder the crimp (see "crimp fix") run a new ground wire from the r/r mounting bolt straight to the battery, and another new one straight from the battery to the engine, also can cut out the connectors between the stator and r/r, and between the r/r and the battery, and butt splice then solder them........anywhere you land new ground wires make sure the metal is clean and paint free and then use some of that nasty white "heat sink compound paste" it will help stop corrosion, use it on the back side of the r/r when you mount it too....essentially you are improving the existing connections and with the ground wires you are parrallelling the existing grounds with better and more directly routed ones, and eliminating the use of the frame for grounding.....

My bike charges at 13.4 at idle with two 100 watt head lamps (cybermax headlight) turned on, and over 14 with the headlights off...and that is with a stock stator and stock r/r.....it's a '99

Installing a headlight kill switch is good too, no point in loading the system with the heaviest load it has when there's no need for it; like when your just warming it up or working on it.......
 
Its NOT recommended to ground the RR directly to the battery, if you understand how the current flows it flows from -ve to +ve.
the only purpose for the battery is starting only, all electrical demands are met by the stator/ RR to run everything from lights to ignition + topping off the battery.
you can't eliminate the frame as grounding point since many components are grounded to the frame, connecting the RR grounding to the frame provides good grounding for all components then feeds the battery with negative.
the crimp fix is really dealing with the wrong problem (the +ve) that is not the problem the problem is grounding.

After the battery starts the bike all current is coming from the stator as AC current then is rectified by the RR to DC current and regulated to not exceed 14.6 volts then distributed to the entire frame by the RR grounding
and a direct +ve connection to the battery.
adding an extra -ve wire from the -ve battery terminal to a second good grounding spot on the frame also improves the grounding and charging current.
on my bike I get 14.30 volts with headlight off, 13.90 to 14.10 with 55 HID on.
also having an on board voltmeter is added insurance to monitor the state of charging, the health of the battery & saves a lot of frustration with max electrical, its also an early warning for a battery that is getting weak by looking at the volt drop when cranking the bike, below 10.00 volts indicates the battery is on its way out
 
Ibrahim, not true. If you remove battery after starting the bike will not run well at all. I do agree with not grounding directly to the battery. There are plenty of places to ground to the engine or frame.
 
Ibrahim, not true. If you remove battery after starting the bike will not run well at all. I do agree with not grounding directly to the battery. There are plenty of places to ground to the engine or frame.

Well the battery is an integral part of the system so it can't be eliminated completely with the bike running. the resistance of the battery is factored in the complete electrical system, it also acts as a current booster keeping the flow of electrons.
 
Hello,
I just wanted to add, if no one has already mentioned it, that when I connected R/R to battery I ran the R/R + through the Spare Main Fuse Holder by adding wire terminals to the "spare" position from the R/R into and out of the Main Fuse Holder. It's conveniently right next to the + battery terminal. I did not want an unfused direct connection to the battery. I ran my - directly to ground, then to frame ground at faux tank rear area with other grounds, and then down to the engine ground by oil fill plug. I also ran a separate - from R/R housing to frame ground at same location at rear of faux tank. I did solder and marine shrink tube the three whites to rid myself of that connector too. Used di-electric on the "spare fuse holder" and also zip tied/strapped a spare fuse onto the holder since I used its port.
Happy New Year !
Best regards,
Jim
 
the worst location for the RR. I relocated mine to the back of the bike under my rack, looks OEM and cools so much better.
 
Back
Top