aaaghh boiling battery

[ash]

hI guys went out for a good 2 nd ride on my 1995 rd07 AT on Sunday, rained most of the day on and off fairly heavy, I got 3 miles from home and she cut out took seat off and there was steam coming from the battery after that no power to start back up so its in the garage at home
Any advice greatly appreciated
ash

[Zenarchy]

If it's a water filled battery, make sure that it's topped up OK (guessing you've already done that though). I think once they've boiled like that it can cause damage causing the plates to warp or something, so you may need to replace the battery if that's happened.

I'm a bit useless where electrics are concerned, but by the sounds of it your regulator/rectifier might be misbehaving. It's common for them to fail and put out too high a voltage apparently, resulting in the same problem you seem to have had (though there may be other causes, that might be worth investigating first as it shouldn't be too hard to check).

If you do a search here for "regulator rectifier" you'll find some tips here about measuring the voltages to check and about replacements if you need one (either honda, electrex world ones, or fitting ones from other bikes such as the R1).

From the sounds of things in another thread, I think you may need to be testing with a working battery to get reliable readouts when testing the reg/rect using the battery terminals. So if your battery has been damaged already then it may be a bit more tricky to take measurements using a volt meter until you get a replacement (though there is some method to take a reading from the unit itself as well as the battery terminals).

Testing using the battery terminals is fairly easy - you just take a reading with the bike off and fully charged it should read around 12.5 - 12.8v I think. Then with the bike running and revved a little it should be in the 13.5 to 14.5v range, showing that it's charging but not overcharging. There may be a little leway there above 14.5 but I don't think you can get away with much past 15 without it causing damage. From what I can gather when testing with the bike ticking over or revved, they're designed to be measured with the lights on.

Not an expert by a long stretch though - so don't take this as gospel and do your own research before rushing out to buy things - just what I picked up recently reading up about it myself when I bought a spare regulator to carry.

As I say, there may be other reasons for it, but reg/rect failure seems to be a common problem with these bikes and some people resort to fitting bigger heatsinks, fans, and opening up the fairings for more airflow to stop them overheating and failing (when they do fail it seems common that the go over voltage and fry things).

On the plus side, if this is your problem, then it probably isn't a particularly hard or expensive problem to sort out in the scheme of things (unless it's fried anything else as well as your battery if this does turn out to be the problem ofcourse).

Probably best to wait until someone more experienced comes along to give you definite advise, but hopefully this will help to give you a pointer for at least one thing to look into that might explain your symptoms in the mean time. Good luck

[BobA]

Symptoms sound like a rec/reg failure to me also.

CHECK that no acid has spilt from the boiled battery onto the frame or swingarm. If so wash it off quick!!!

Remove the battery and stick it on an Optimate to see if you can recover it, and get the voltage output of the rec/reg checked. 5 minutes to swap it over if it proves to be faulty.


Good Luck


Bob

[pw20]

I had a similar problem on my old VFR. The problem was traced back to a faulty alternator. I ended up with reconditioned alternator, new r/r unit and new battery.

[pxlpig]

Sounds like Reg Rec to me, when it happened to me....... 3times!!, Reg Rec boiled the battery... aaaah that lovely eggy smell, I had to replace the reg rec AND the battery as both were buggered, oddly the Reg Recs were all from Electrex.... on the third Reg Rec, I had a good moan to the folks at Electrex, sent the unit back, they checked it and they replaced it (for free) with a "newer model" that is more sturdy,...all is fine now...touch wood.

But i will be sorting out some cooling method to the reg rec...just in case.

I will probably cut a hole in the side panel, cover the hole edges in rubber trim, apply some allu mesh on the backside of the hole and hope cool air gushes through onto the Reg Rec.

All my replacement Reg Recs were for an XRV750 not R1's etc

[Dr Green]

hI guys went out for a good 2 nd ride on my 1995 rd07 AT on Sunday, rained most of the day on and off fairly heavy, I got 3 miles from home and she cut out took seat off and there was steam coming from the battery after that no power to start back up so its in the garage at home
Any advice greatly appreciated
ash

I'd put money on it that it's an early sign your rectifier needs to be 6 foot under and a new one bolted in!

New rectifiers aren't cheap, but if it is that, it'll save you money in the long run. (Before it b*ggers your new battery, headlamps, rev counter, cdi, possibly other parts and leaves you stranded again!!)

(speaking from the experience of a friend with an RD04, and quite a few miles from home!!)

[PHILinFRANCE]

Hi Ash
Iv,e just gone through the same thing on my Vara but cooked two batterys SH1TE and am now waiting for a recti/reg to come from WEMOTO UK £76 and probably have to get another battery
Phil

[Chad]

rect/ reg

[Zanzibar]

Reg/rect faacked. Been there, done that, paid the money. Welcome to the world of Honda.

[Zanzibar]

Hi Ash
Iv,e just gone through the same thing on my Vara but cooked two batterys SH1TE and am now waiting for a recti/reg to come from WEMOTO UK £76 and probably have to get another battery
Phil

Hi Ph. Can't find how to PM you. I'm near Le Puy. What's your nearest big town? Cahors? PM me.