Heated Gear: Be careful with battery charge!

[Ogier le Danois]

What it produces and what is actually excess is two completely different things.

And actually you only have 22 watts EEC available. :|

http://www.powerletproducts.com/sho...10/suzuki-dr650se-1996-present/17/583#formtop

I know more than a few folks running heated gear on the same bike with no battery problems.

 

[Kornholio]

I know more than a few folks running heated gear on the same bike with no battery problems.

Depends completely on what it is and how much it's drawing. And just because it doesn't fail at first doesn't mean it won't later.

 

[ST Guy]

2 amps is too much to charge a motorcycle battery.

Also, if your battery was reading 14 volts (motor off) 4 hours after removing the charger, one of two things is wrong. Either the battery has something seriously wrong with it. (Doubtful as they rarely have a problem that will result in over-voltage.) Or, the equipment you're using to measure the voltage is extremely inaccurate. A brand new battery, prepped properly and fully charged should read 12.8 volts. Maybe, in rare cases, 12.9. 14 volts indicates a reading that's way too high. And if it's a lousy meter and the battery really is not half bad, then your meter could be reading anywhere's from 1.2 to 1.5 volts too high. Which means that all the other readings you've taken are too high as well. Check your equipment.

 

[Ready to Ride]

I recently put a digital volt meter with a single LED readout on the Tiger after installing a Twin Light Driver and auxiliary lights. I am expecting to add some Gerbing gear soon but my experience to date indicates there is enough excess power available to run the additional load when at speed, but not in stop and go city riding. With the voltmeter it's easy to manage the charging state by selecting various load options while underway. The single LED readout is bright, but easily mounted and discrete. Only $25.00 and the actual voltmeter is small and easy to mount with sticky velcro. Gives one confidence.

It is halfway down the page here:
http://www.customdynamics.com/LED_battery_gauge.htm#LED_Battery_Gauge_with_Remote_Flush_Panel_Mount_LED

 

[torrey.smith]

OK, here is Round 2 for my 2002 Hayabusa with 45,000 miles:

I used a calibrated multimeter.

Here are symbols for components that were tested:

B = Brights

HG = Heated grips on high

V1 = Valentine 1 radar/laser detector on

Bike trickle charged for 24 hours on new battery.

-Trickle charger removed-

0:00---Bike off:----------13.28V
0:30---Bike off:----------13.20V
1:00---Bike off:----------13.19V (one hour after trickle charger removed)
--------Idle:-------------12.40V
--------4K:--------------14.00V
--------Idle:-------------13.48V
--------Idle, B, HG, V1:--12.21V
--------4K, B, HG, V1:---12.45V
--------Idle, HG, V1:-----12.37V
--------Idle, V1:---------12.50V
--------Idle:-------------12.54V
--------4K, HG, V1:------12.30V
--------Idle:-------------12.50V
--------4K:--------------12.29V
--------6K:--------------12.80V
--------Idle:-------------12.15V
1:20---Bike Off:----------12.64V (twenty minutes of testing)

I hope this information is conveyed decently.

What do you guys think?

The battery is new. The Voltage Regulator/Rectifier and Alternator are original parts on the bike.

 

[serazin]

Really? Damn, I've never checked a bike that didn't require at least a bit of reving to get it to start getting to charging voltage. Do you know any other bikes that make enough power to charge at idle?

My bike puts out 13.6 V at idle with hand grips on high, vest turned on and headlight on high beam. At 3 thousand rpm with all the same things on and an extra 100 watts of Piaa aux lights it is still about the same. Or, just a measly 14V with only the head light on low and no heated gear no matter what rpm.

Then, my bike does have a 840 watt alternator.

2001 BMW K1200RS

 

[Ogier le Danois]

Depends completely on what it is and how much it's drawing. And just because it doesn't fail at first doesn't mean it won't later.

I figure if someone I know who has put about 65k on a dr with heated gear and no long term problems I will risk it.

I think that theory and reality are sometimes different.

I will let you know if my nighthawk or DR gets bodgered up from running a vest and the new heated grips.

 

[Sidewalk]

I put this on my Nighthawk and really liked it. I want to get another one for my van.

http://www.casporttouring.com/store...&Product_Code=14124&Category_Code=Electronics

 

[Whodat]

Here's the meter I run on my bike. Gives you real numbers to look at. I watched the voltage drop off as my stator died on the way home one night.

datel meter

 

[ST Guy]

Datel's great.

Torrey: One more test. At what RPM does the voltage go up to 13.5 volts?

You might want to check your stator. It's possible that one of the 3 windings is out and it therefore takes more RPM to generate the juice for the VRR to rectify and regulate.

 

[RichK]

2 amps is too much to charge a motorcycle battery.

Also, if your battery was reading 14 volts (motor off) 4 hours after removing the charger, one of two things is wrong. Either the battery has something seriously wrong with it. (Doubtful as they rarely have a problem that will result in over-voltage.) Or, the equipment you're using to measure the voltage is extremely inaccurate. A brand new battery, prepped properly and fully charged should read 12.8 volts. Maybe, in rare cases, 12.9. 14 volts indicates a reading that's way too high. And if it's a lousy meter and the battery really is not half bad, then your meter could be reading anywhere's from 1.2 to 1.5 volts too high. Which means that all the other readings you've taken are too high as well. Check your equipment.

Thanks - I was wondering about the 14V reading. I just borrowed a friend's multimeter for tomorrow's testing...

 

[RichK]

Well, I found the problem! This is my ex-stator:



I also measured the resistances in the Regulator using the diode function on my borrowed multimeter (Thanks ST Guy, you were right about my multimeter problems - the battery is at 12.8 V), and it seems the Regulator may also have problems, so I'll replace that with the stator.

Anyone know of an aftermarket stator for an '06/07 ZX-10R? I can only find OEM, and I'm not thrilled with OEM performance after only 19k miles.

The burned out stator leg is probably what I was smelling. I started up the bike today before disassembling it, and the system voltage never increased above 12.8V at any RPM. With the high-beam and heated vest running on high, the system voltage was about 12.0V at any RPM.

I'm going to buy one of the small voltage gauges mentioned in this thread, and mount it on the bike for insurance. This failure of the charging system was very abrupt, and caused an extremely dangerous situation on the freeway at night, so I'll be keeping an eye on charging voltage while I'm riding in the future.

Thanks again to everyone for the advice in this thread - I learned a lot about motorcycle charging systems in general as well. Donation to BARF is on the way - this saved me a lot of headaches.

 

[bgamebiker]

CHECK YOUR STATOR!

I say this because I just got done with fixing my bike. I was having some electrical issues - most notably my headlight wouldn't come on when I started the bike, and then at the end the bike was running off battery power and was not being recharged - and I was told the stator had gone bad. Replaced it and now everything works fine. If your battery is not being recharged when running, that could be the culprit.

Dave

I second the stator issue - same thing happened to my old bike. It would run fine, then the dash went dead and the only thing I could do was rev the crap out of it which brought it back to life, but only for a few miles, sputter and eventually die. The mechanic said that if it ever happens out on the road too far from home, take out the fuse to the lights and you'll have a better chance of getting home.

 

[DaineseDan]

Where have you been? :teeth

Besides, modern charging systems operate differently from the old Lucas systems, which everyone knows uses proprietery smoke in a closed system.

So true. Replacement smoke is damned expensive too.

http://www3.telus.net/bc_triumph_registry/smoke.htm

 

[Whodat]

Well, I found the problem! This is my ex-stator:



Anyone know of an aftermarket stator for an '06/07 ZX-10R? I can only find OEM, and I'm not thrilled with OEM performance after only 19k miles.

You can get a stator and regulator from Ricks

or get your stock stator rewound from custom rewind

Ricks is around $150 and Custom will rewind yours for around $100. Best to call them for pricing and availability. Stay away from anything by Electrosport.

 

[Volcomism]

And a lesson I learned the hard way, if you replace the stator, you might as well replace the R/R too, least that's what I should have done :2cents

+1 ... Same thing happened to me. Ended up having to replace the stator again.

 

[RichK]

To bring some closure - I replaced the stator & regulator-rectifier & added the LED voltage indicator for future insurance.

My new readings are:

Ignition off: 12.8V

Ignition at Acc: 12.4V

Idle: 14.7V

Idle, high beams, heated vest on High: 14.0V

4000rpm, high beams, heated vest on High: 14.7V

So - it looks like this bike's charging system can easily handle the heated vest. :cool

 

[serazin]

Thanks for the update! Now go enjoy your warm ride.. :teeth

 

[whatever whatev]

I wish I would have seen this posting earlier. I was only halfway through your initial post and I was ready to tell you to replace the stator.

I was in this exact same situation with my Monster. Many jumps, battery tenders and a new battery later I found the stator was the culprit. Glad you got yours figured out, too.

 

[ST Guy]

To bring some closure - I replaced the stator & regulator-rectifier & added the LED voltage indicator for future insurance.

My new readings are:

Ignition off: 12.8V

Ignition at Acc: 12.4V

Idle: 14.7V

Idle, high beams, heated vest on High: 14.0V

4000rpm, high beams, heated vest on High: 14.7V

So - it looks like this bike's charging system can easily handle the heated vest. :cool

:thumbup