Charging problems??? Advice. Tarka etc...

[piguglyshandydrinker]

I have noticed on ocasion that the PDA (sat nav) stops charging &/or the heated grips stop working (light goes off), this happens, normally after a while & not at the beginning of a journey.

A basic check yesterday revealed, (recently run bike);

* residual battery voltage 13.3v
* Running bike, +/- 14v through the revs
* running with side lights, 13.7v
* with full lights 13v ish
* as above with heated grips 12.5v
* as above with brake light on, 12.2v

Switching all electrics off & voltage is up to 14ish, bike switched off & voltage steadily drops to low/mid 13's.

So if voltage when running, is not enough to activate the relay (for the ancilaries), where do I look next?

Could it be a winding breaking down in the alternator?

Any thoughts/opinions greatly recieved, Phil

[Dee Duble Yuh]

Always go for the cheapest, simplest solutions first. Replace the relay!

[Tarka]

What is the rated output wattage of your alternator ??

You may simply be drawing too much from it with everything switched on.

[piguglyshandydrinker]

I'm not sure of the rated output of the alternator but the voltage drops to little over 12v with just the bike lights & heated grips (from 14), I think the grips are about 25w (2amp).

I know of others with a 650 Alp who are running phone, heated grips, satnav & 2*55watt auxilary lights without problems!

I'll go & buy a voltmeter & wire it from the battery & rig it up temporarily and swap the relay maybe try bypassing it for a while & check all the connections.

Thank's for the reply's, Phil

[Austin]

What is the rated output wattage of your alternator ??

You may simply be drawing too much from it with everything switched on.

from memory the output is 375watts. I think you would be hard pushed to exceed that - I run dipped lights, 2x55watt lamps, autocom and heated grips virtually all the time and all is OK. relay and / or battery could be the prob, or a short somewhere.

I hate electric problems

[piguglyshandydrinker]

Ok, I had a run out tonite with the multimeter connected to;
A - directly to the battery,
B - the permanently live through relay,
C - switched side of the relay.

All tests were carried out at various engine speeds with full lights, heated grips with PDA & sat reciever charging.

A - Good charge between 14.2 & 14.5v
B - Variable, between 12.5 & 14v (depending on revs).
C - Variable, between 0 & 12.5v! depending on revs, also seemed worse as the bike (relay?) warmed up.

Pretty conclusive - Ditch the relay & connect ancileries to the switched ignition!
Thank's all, Phil

[Von Short Hausen]

Pretty conclusive - Ditch the relay & connect ancileries to the switched ignition!
Thank's all, Phil

Could be corrosion/dirt on either the internal switch contacts of the relay, or the connections on the outside. How long has it been on the bike ?

I'm a great believer in relay switched supplies - If it were me I would replace the relay. (You should be able to get one with corrosion-resistant silver contacts fairly cheaply)

[matt]

Do you have an OEM fuel pump? As these start to disintegrate they turn into bar heaters, sapping current like mad. About this time, your rectifier may start playing up, followed by some oxidising connectors somewhere. These things always happen in threes so you con't pinpoint just one fault.

I've now fitted a battery charge indicator - a glowing LED into the idiot lights box. When I have just the lights on and I pull up at a junction it glows orange, that means it there is just enough current to supply the draw.

If I have the heated grips on and headlights, and do a fair amount of slow town work, with a number of restarts, I can drain the battery enough to not get it to turn the engine over by the end of the day.

Sanding back all contacts, spraying with contact protector, leaving the bike on charge overnight and using the fuel pump as promoted on this forum, I no longer have lost that 0.5-1v.

But that voltage is easy to loose if a number of elements are not tip-top.

[piguglyshandydrinker]

Hi, I fitted the relay & fusebox just last November, i always make a habbit of smearing all electricsl contacts with vaseline to keep moisture & corrosion at bay, so all is fine on that side.

It could be a duff relay, while being no 'sparky', I like to think that I know the basics of vehicle electrics, which is why I fitted one in the first place & that was the bit that failed!!!

Not sure wether to try another one or find a switched live - I'm not a fan of attaching onto the existing wiring though.

Phil

[Von Short Hausen]

I didin't notice if you've mentioned whether you do it, but as Matt just said putting the bike on trickle charge overnight is a really good idea. This may not be the cause of your problems, but since I started using an Optimate I've found the bike to be alot happier. Winter starting really hammers a battery, so it makes sense to keep it in top condition.