Charging problem

[maleko89]

Charging voltage wasn't too much over 13 volts. I'm going through the fault finding diagram. When measureing voltage with (-) lead on positive battery post and (+) lead on red output wire of r/r I was getting about .35 volts. Diagram said it should be lower than .2 volts. What exactly does this number mean?

 

[Buster Hymen]

I take it you are referring to the Electrosport flowchart? At the step you are referring to it is testing the ground connection on the R/R. Because you are getting a reading of more than to .2 V, you need to check the grounding on the R/R. If you still have the original R/R for your 89, the R/R grounds through the case which then grounds through the plate that holds on the passenger footpeg. This plate is then grounded through a couple of posts and the bolts that hold it to the frame. As you can see it is a long horrible route and most of the grounding contacts on mine were rusty. I'm not sure how many "standard" charging mods you done n your Max, but the first one I'd do is run a ground wire from the - post of the battery to one of the mounting bolts on the R/R.

 

[maleko89]

Buster, I'm on the step where it says check the red wire connection between r/r and battery. You're talking about the next step which I haven't gotten to yet. I have the late model R/R and it already has a separate grounding wire. I'll check that though and make sure it's good. I have already cleaned the engine and frame grounds. Thanks.

 

[lankeeyankee]

Have you tried to remove the positive terminal off the battery while its running and than measure the voltage?
I have seen batteries pull down the charging system, its rare but before you start diggin in to deep its a simple test..

Just for your information and not aggrevation :clapping:


Yankees Burrito Supplier :rofl_200:

 

[maleko89]

Have you tried to remove the positive terminal off the battery while its running and than measure the voltage?
I have seen batteries pull down the charging system, its rare but before you start diggin in to deep its a simple test..

Just for your information and not aggrevation :clapping:


Yankees Burrito Supplier :rofl_200:

LoL

I haven't tried that. I was always taught to remove negative first, do I do that? Will it spark if I leave the negative terminal hooked up? I'm wondering about the battery. It's 6-7 year old PC680. Thanks.

 

[lankeeyankee]

LoL

I haven't tried that. I was always taught to remove negative first, do I do that? Will it spark if I leave the negative terminal hooked up? I'm wondering about the battery. It's 6-7 year old PC680. Thanks.

I wouldnt hold the positive lead against any metal frame and watch the pretty sparks nor try to arch weld this way. I have never had a problem removing the positive cable from a running system. I wouldnt install it back onto the battery though while it was running. Common Sense, No Spark No Problem, This isnt a Plug Prey Deal.. LOL

I am betting you have a battery issue IMO.
KISS
Keep It Simple Silly..

 

[maleko89]

I wouldnt hold the positive lead against any metal frame and watch the pretty sparks nor try to arch weld this way. I have never had a problem removing the positive cable from a running system. I wouldnt install it back onto the battery though while it was running. Common Sense, No Spark No Problem, This isnt a Plug Prey Deal.. LOL

I am betting you have a battery issue IMO.
KISS
Keep It Simple Silly..

Cool. If I get shocked you owe me a big ass burrito.

 

[lankeeyankee]

I have to comment about the topic first... "The Red one is the positive & The black one is the negative... And the big Yella One is the Sun..:clapping:


Ohh Congrats on your Nice Guy Award! :clapping:

arty::th_fridaayMy Friday anyways) :eusa_dance:

 

[maleko89]

Thanks. Don't expect any speeches. I freeze up.

I'm still trying to figure out why the fault finding diagram has me measure voltage from the red wire of the r/r to the battery positive? If I'm reading .35 volts what does this mean? Why should it be less than .2 volts?

 

[lankeeyankee]

Thanks. Don't expect any speeches. I freeze up.

I'm still trying to figure out why the fault finding diagram has me measure voltage from the red wire of the r/r to the battery positive? If I'm reading .35 volts what does this mean? Why should it be less than .2 volts?

I dont know about all that. I keep things simple which reduces the chances of creating other problems. Good luck with that, its the only advice of troubleshooting I can give you on this problem.

 

[Buster Hymen]

Thanks. Don't expect any speeches. I freeze up.

I'm still trying to figure out why the fault finding diagram has me measure voltage from the red wire of the r/r to the battery positive? If I'm reading .35 volts what does this mean? Why should it be less than .2 volts?

Hi Mark... I've attached a drawing of what I believe they are trying to test. It looks like they are trying to test the integrity of the + feed to the battery from the R/R to check for issues to ground. In the drawing you can see the is no ground reference for the volt meter from the battery so any reference to ground would have to come from the wire to the battery grounding out somewhere or from the R/R unit itself. In theory, there should be no reading, but I guess they are saying less than .2v to account for any induced voltage.
What voltage are you getting from the battery at idle and at about 4 or 5k RPM? you said you were getting about 13 volts. Do you have the actual readings?

 

[maleko89]

Buster, thanks. I didn't rev the bike up at all, just checked at idle. It was about 13.25 if I remember correctly.

 

[robsplatf4]

You are checking the continuity of the red wire for the r/r. Unless you are using a particulary good brand of voltmeter like Fluke, I would clean the contact areas of your ground wire on the r/r and move to the next step. Is the flow chart telling you to use voltmeter or the ohmeter?

 

[maleko89]

I was checking voltage with bike running of the red r/r wire to battery +. The wire from the r/r goes to that crimp.....which I soldered. Two wires come from the crimp...one goes to the main fuse and on to the battery. The other wire goes to the key switch and then on to the fuse box.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

Thanks. Don't expect any speeches. I freeze up.

I'm still trying to figure out why the fault finding diagram has me measure voltage from the red wire of the r/r to the battery positive? If I'm reading .35 volts what does this mean? Why should it be less than .2 volts?

Mark, what they are doing by having you check voltage from the red on R/R to the positive battery terminal is to determine what condition the connections are in between the r/r + and the battery terminal.

Electrically they are the same point and therefore in a perfect world there should be Zero volts across these connections.

When you add resistance in the form of crappy connections then the charging current creates a voltage drop (and heat) across the connections.


I know for sure there is the plastic connector behind the left side cover and I think the crimp is part of this also but can't remember.

It doesn't have anything to do with the state of grounding as they cover that in other areas of the chart.

You can check from the negative of the R/R or the actual grounded wire if it has one (don't know what year your bike is) to the ground terminal on the battery and you are performing the same test except looking for drops on the negative portion of the circuit.

This is an ideal way to trace down voltage drops across connections and get rid of them, the one you are speaking of was the main culprit on my bike. bUt they all add up.

Just for grins take a reading directly off the R/R positive to the case of the R/R or to the negative R/R wire if you have one.

This is the true voltage output of the R/R and anything less at the battery means you have voltage drops in the positive or negative sides of the path from the R/R to the battery, or more typically both sides of the charging system....


Anytime you take a voltage reading across two different locations that are electrically the same point there should be zero volts ideally, but when you flow current (in this case the charging current coming out of the R/R) across a resistence then a voltage drop is created and you can see it with a meter.

By electrically the same point I mean to say that they are all COMMON to each other, a long wire, two wires with a connector in between, or several different wires that jump from place to place without going through a device that WILL effect the voltage.

On another note, all my connectors were in perfect condition, clean bright and dry, and even after cleaning them anyway I was still getting small drops across them.

When I ditched all of them for soldered butt splices and ran a new ground wire straight from the battery to the R/R mounting bolt, I picked up full R/R output all the way to the battery

Call me at 713-542-6169 if you need some live help...


Rusty

 

[maleko89]

Mark, what they are doing by having you check voltage from the red on R/R to the positive battery terminal is to determine what condition the connections are in between the r/r + and the battery terminal.

Electrically they are the same point and therefore in a perfect world there should be Zero volts across these connections.

When you add resistance in the form of crappy connections then the charging current creates a voltage drop (and heat) across the connections.


I know for sure there is the plastic connector behind the left side cover and I think the crimp is part of this also but can't remember.

It doesn't have anything to do with the state of grounding as they cover that in other areas of the chart.

You can check from the negative of the R/R or the actual grounded wire if it has one (don't know what year your bike is) to the ground terminal on the battery and you are performing the same test except looking for drops on the negative portion of the circuit.

This is an ideal way to trace down voltage drops across connections and get rid of them, the one you are speaking of was the main culprit on my bike.

Anytime you take a voltage reading across two different locations that are electrically the same point there should be zero volts ideally, but when you flow current (in this case the charging current coming out of the R/R) across a resistence then a voltage drop is created and you can see it with a meter.

By electrically the same point I mean to say that they are all COMMON to each other, a long wire, two wires with a connector in between, or several different wires that jump from place to place without going through a device that WILL effect the voltage.

Call me at 713-542-6169 if you need some live help...


Rusty

Thanks Rusty, I'll do that after supper.

 

[daves86vmax]

did you ever resolve your charging issue?i'm doing the same thing on my 86,i think i've traced it back to the stator.I used the flowchart and checked the 3 white wires coming out of the stator.I got 1 low reading out of three readings at those wires,low on was about 32 if i remember right

 

[maleko89]

Dave, yes I did. It was a bad R/R crimp connection. The main fuse connection to battery was also bad.

 

[lankeeyankee]

Dave, yes I did. It was a bad R/R crimp connection. The main fuse connection to battery was also bad.

I guess you didnt find any burritos under the seat while troublshooting:confused2:

I was hoping that it was a burrito causing a poor ground:th_favorites24:

 

[maleko89]

Lankee, you would things so but I soldered ring terminals on each end. I think I'm on to something here.