Triumphrat

cruhen

Can any of the knowledgable folk here help me with this problem....

My CE died on the weekend - instrument cluster failed, lights failed, engine failed, unable to restart (solenoid chatter).

Back home - on the battery tender overnight.

Noticed that the Main Fuse (#3 30A) is melted in place, but still passes current.

Next Day

Checked voltages:

Ignition Off
12.2v at battery
Between 0 and 1v between red and black wires on Regulator/Rectifier - the reading never stabilised at all

Ignition On
11.85v at battery initially, but dropping .01v every 2 seconds or so.
.01v (steady) between red and black wires on Regulator/Rectifier

Running
11.49v at battery
.8v (steady) between red and black wires on Regulator/Rectifier

No shorts between Yellows and Red/Blacks from Regulator/Rectifier

I haven't got to the Stator yet, (got to work out where it is first!), but the dropping voltage with the ignition on alarmed me - it seemed to be dropping very quickly?

History of bike - I've had electrical trouble with it for the last couple of years - slow cranking, sometimes didn't start when hot, battery drained etc, and over that time I've had the R/R replaced, battery replaced, and most recently bought a battery tender and did the wiring mod as posted by ZAM70 (although haven't run heavy gauge wire to ground block from the battery, and did remove fuse #2 in favour of the new inline fuse). I thought this had solved everything - had 13.75v at battery when running, smooth response, strong starting etc, and it has been a good run for a few months. But now this.......

I'm thinking that something is obviously stuffed at present (RR?), but also that there must be something underlying all this that hasn't been resolved.

Any clues around what I should do next, before I end up paying the dealer more $ to scratch his head?

drakewn

It's under the left side crankcase cover. I think there are a couple threads that show pictures of a good vs. bad stator. Before attempting to remove the stator, get yourself a copy of the service manual.

DEcosse

Sounds like the fuse in the pigtail for charging mod is open.

You have no charging to the battery since you can't read battery volts at the red/black wires on the R/R and something is open between the red lines of the R/R and the battery - most likely the fuse in your new holder (part of the mod) although check out your wiring again.

No need to check your stator - regardless of anything else you MUST be reading battery volts at the red/black connector even with bike not running (unless you have a disconnect either in the wiring or from the fuse).

With your battery already being low, as soon as you turn on the ignition, lights will come on & the voltage would be expected to drop by at least that amount so that would be expected.

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T'Rat.net BOTM November 2009

cruhen

Thanks DEcosse - it's always blindingly obvious when it's explained .... I'll check the fuse and wiring.

One thing I didn't mention - the voltage dropping with ignition on - I had the lights turned off. So there would have had to be another cause of the drain ...?

I'm wondering what else that cause might be - and also (assuming the fuse in the pigtail is blown) what would be the cause of the blown fuse and the melted #3 fuse. I figure if I can get to the bottom of that, I might have a trouble free bike.

DEcosse

Hard to say what melted your fuses I'm afraid.

I still think even a small load with ignition on is enough to cause dropping voltage on an already discharged battery.

I should also have added that the regulator needs to have battery volts on it to work - you will get zero (close to) out without it connected. That's not to say that you there might not still be a problem with it, just that even a good R/R will give less than 1V out without it being connected to the battery. Unfortunate for troubleshooting!

Also - battery tender not the best choice to recharge a discharged battery - it's really for maintaining not for recharging

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T'Rat.net BOTM November 2009