STOP STOP STOP WTF ? Disconnecting the battery deprives the charging system of the voltage needed to make it work. .......... Check voltage across the battery at 2500~3000 RPM with everything connected. Better yet, follow the instructions to check charge rate amperage.
________________________________ From: bull city <[email protected]> To: Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers! <[email protected]> Sent: Sun, March 7, 2010 12:29:24 PM Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] Re: '83 550 SC Electrical Issues So the dealership replaced my battery and I just checked it. When the bike has the ignition on but I haven't cranked it it's reading 12-13 volts. As soon as start it and disconnect the negative lead the voltage drops to 2-3 volts. It's a brand new battery that is cranking up perfectly. It's cranking and riding great... but I am sticking very close to home until I have ok'd the charging system. So this test is not good, what do you reccomend looking at next? What shou On Jan 25, 1:34 pm, Dennis Hammerl <[email protected]> wrote: > good / no good > > ________________________________ > From: bull city <[email protected]> > To: Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers! <[email protected]> > Sent: Mon, January 25, 2010 4:25:59 PM > Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] Re: '83 550 SC Electrical Issues > > oops.. forgot to post to whole group. > > short story: 6000 miles, WPS battery (cheap), dealer forgot to have > battery ready when they said they would and probably rushed to get it > ready after that. > > what does g/ng mean? > > On Jan 24, 11:04 pm, Dennis Hammerl <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > How interesting. You have a problem and have started to look in the wrong > > place first. Your description is very good. Why ? Because it points in a > > totally different direction than you are going in. Let's gather some > > information first. How many miles are on this ? What brand is the battery > > and if you bought it from a source that did the proper pre-delivery service > > before selling it to you. You say it goes flat quite quickly. That is the > > sign of a poor battery. Was it load tested after being charged ? It matters > > not that it is new, a battery must be properly serviced before being put > > into use. An improperly serviced battery will NEVER be at 100% no matter > > what. A low quality battery that is not treated properly before being > > placed in service will cause starting AND charging problems. So much for > > part one. > > #2 The question about mileage is important because the starter may be going > > bad. You've done a ton of work on this and probably started it quite often > > without riding it enough at any given time to recharge the battery. The > > starter may be drawing a lot more than it should as well. > > SO... Take the battery to a dealer ( I know and I don't want to hear it. > > DEAL WITH IT) have it charged and tested on a load bank. G / NG ? > > Once you resolve that issue, get the bike started and check the > > alternator output. A battery that has less than 10.5 volts will not have a > > functional charging system. The charging system can be checked only with a > > good battery. All of your resistance checks indicate a good system. A check > > of the charging rate is called for. Do that with an ammeter inline with the > > battery. Use an ammeter with a +- 10A range. Disconnect the ground cable > > from the battery and hook up the ammeter inline with the battery. DO NOT > > START the bike this way. Hold the ground cable terminal against the battery > > post to start it. (trying to start it through the ammeter will cause the > > ammeter to fail) Once running, separate the terminal from the post and read > > the charge rate. Those bikes begin to charge at a point above 2000rpm. The > > charge rate will be high for a time and then fall off as the battery is > > recharged. If the bike has no / low charge rate, there are further checks. > > That's enough for now. > > I'm not there, but I see a brand X battery that's been poorly serviced, > > abused by repeated starts and than ridden a short distance with a > > non-functional charging system.. then failed completely. If I hadn't seen > > this a thousand times already, I wouldn't be quite so sure. I am. > > Get PO'd at me and scream. I'm used to it. > > > ________________________________ > > From: bull city <[email protected]> > > To: Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers! <[email protected]> > > Sent: Sun, January 24, 2010 4:26:58 PM > > Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] '83 550 SC Electrical Issues > > > I had my $600 garage find running with a new battery and rebuilding > > the clutch and front brake. After a couple of weekends of working on > > it, and only taking ti out for about a 5 minutes ride the bike went > > dead as I pulled into my driveway. I tried to restart but the battery > > just didn’t have any power. > > > I let it sit for about two months as Christmas passed. I’m figuring > > the problem is somewhere in the rectifier/ alternator. I went and got > > the battery recharged at autozone, tried to restart the bike but the > > battery just didn’t have the juice and went dead within 5 minutes (if > > that) of trying to start it. > > > So I have not been able to do any running tests on the bike. But here > > is what I have done: > > > Checked the rectifier using a multimeter to check resistance between > > each of the 3 yellow leads to the green ground. It registered zero > > ohms on each with one polarity, when the polarity was reversed there > > was no current on any. So I am assuming that means it good. I found > > this method on-line athttp://www.dansmc.com/electricaltesting.htm. I > > have the manual but have no idea what the tests are that the manual > > calls for (Sanwa SP-10D, etc...) > > > Checked the alternator by seeing if there is connectivity on the > > winding. All yellow leads coming from the alternator show > > connectivity. The manual says to check this on the “alternator side”of > > the connector. I am assuming this means the winding is good. > > > The next step in the manual says to check resistance levels on the > > “harness” side, which I am assuming is the leads to the rectifier? I > > am NOT getting connectivity between the yellow leads going into the > > rectifier. Is this what I am supposed to be doing? > > > Next is says to check between each yellow lead and the green ground, > > which I have and it shows no connectivity, which it supposedly should > > not. > > > I don’t have a running bike at this point to I cant check any running > > tests. > > > So, what should I check at this point? > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
