| Author | Message | ||
     Lost_in_ohio |
I am going to hookup the volt meter and just looking for a couple of more opinions. I am going to use the ground off of the horn for the ground and I was thinking about using the red and black striped wire off the ignition for the the positive lead.......... Is there a better place to get it??????? | ||
| Henrik |
Ideally you'd hook it directly to your battery via a relay. Henrik | ||
| Jackbequick |
Is the red/black the wire that goes hot in the first on position? Or does it go hot in the full on (ready for starting) position? The first position applies power to the accessory circuit, on the M2 that was a red wire with a gray or silver trace. It should work with either wire but if the XB wiring is similar to the M2, and you use the accessory circuit, it will let you see the battery voltage without lights, ignition or any other draw on it. I think Henrik's suggestion for using a relay and connecting across the battery is a better idea. That would let you monitor the voltage across the battery. Activate the relay in the first ignition on position and the relay will connect the meter across the battery when the ignition comes on and disconnect when the ignition is off. That keeps the meter from drawing on the battery all the time. Engine running, the meter will show charging circuit voltage as measured across the battery and that is a good thing to know. After the engine is stopped it will show you state of the battery charge at shutdown. Also good to know. Then when the ignition is switched to the accessory position again, before you start the engine, it will let you see how well the battery is held its charge in the intervening period of time. Connected that way, the meter will give you basic battery and charging system trouble shooting info before you start, while running, and at shut down. Any fluctuations seen at the meter while running and using various accessories (horn, lights, etc.) will give you some feedback on the effects of applied loads and how the charging system is reacting to them. You may be able to spot issues or problems in the early stages. If you connect the meter to either the ignition or accessory circuits you will be seeing the same voltages but through a switched and fused circuit with other loads on it. That can open the door for other things to change the readings on the meter. Jack | ||
| Reepicheep |
Ditto Jack and Henrik. The voltage differences between just plugging into the wiring harness somewhere and going straight to the battery could come from a couple different sources. Voltage drop as a result of loading of current passing through the wiring harness will probably be detectable, but would probably stay well under 1 volt. The more significant thing would be a broken wire or corroded connection. If you hook the meter to the wiring harness, you would not really know if the battery is getting a charge. I would guess at about 1/4 of all charging failures would fall into this category, and your meter would then not see them until it is possibly too late. | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
Boy you guys make things complicated......if you are going straight to the battery thru a relay that means fusing the battery connection on it as well. To be real honest I am just looking for a general health of the system. Dead or ailing charging circuit..... I am just going to go with the red/blk wire off the ignition switch. Once you set a base line or normal state, even if it is off by a volt because of where you are taking the reading, That will be normal. I could careless whether it says it is 12.8 or 13.8 as long as that is normal....now once normal is established...if I see a reading of 10 volts I know that I am in trouble and had better head for home or help. I am going to bet the bike will run at least 50 miles on a full battery charge. So if the stator dies I just need to know it in a reasonable time.....At night the lights would dim and you would notice it, during the day time is what the volt meter is for. So for the bulk of my riding I can make it home or to a dealer. I have four dealers within 70 miles. Not a bad idea about the relay....but my motto is KISS. I will post what I end up doing and maybe a picture or two. | ||
| Jackbequick |
"..Is there a better place to get it???????..." I thought we were answering the question. And you're right, I'd fuse the hot leg on the relay and I'd fuse the hot leg on the run to the meter too. Good luck with that. Let us know if you blow any electronics or melt any wiring, maybe we can help you trouble shoot that. :>  Jack | ||
| Reepicheep |
That'll catch stator failures and voltage reguator problems, which are probably the second and third most common charging problems. It won't catch a loose battery connection though, which is the most common charging problem  But like you say, it's simple and is much better then nothin! | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
Well it is installed.....Put 300 miles on the bike this afternoon. Ran to Indiana for power ball tickets for the group I am in.. I got the power and ground off the turn signal relay. I used the black as ground off the relay and the orange with black stripe for the positive lead. pushed the spade connectors out the front of the relay connector and soldered the meter leads directly to them. Works fine. I mounted the gage beside the reset button on the lower right side of the dash just below the low oil and fuel lights. It is the one from american sport bike. With the key on the display lights up to mid range roughly about 12 volts which is yellow.....with the bike running at idle it lights over to the first green which is about 13 volts. With the bike at about 1500rpms it lights the second green which is probably 13.5 volts....... Reepi.....thinking about the most common charging problem. I am thinking that it might catch it. If you remove the battery as a load on the charging system .......wouldn't you see the voltage increase or random spikes in voltage because of the loose connections???? I had a car battery open up and that is what happened....the charge circuit voltage went up to 16 volts. It was in a jeep and we bottomed out really hard..... Don't know just throwing that out there to be discussed. | ||
| Reepicheep |
As I have not tested it, I don't know. It's a shunt type regulator, so in theory it could regulate just fine with no battery installed. It would just be dumping a lot more heat out of the stator and regulator. | ||
| Lost_in_ohio |
The volt meter has been in a while and works great.....my only complaint is that it is really bright, almost to distraction. It does have a photo cell for a dimmer after dark. Where I hooked it up worked perfectly. | ||
| Bigdog_tim |
Ohio - how about some pictures? | ||
| Aldaytona |
I have been using the Signal Dynamics "Heads-Up" voltage monitor on several bikes for quite a while. Cheap, top shelf quality, and available with or without remote LED feature. Did I mention very easy to install? Wanna see? www.signaldynamics.com |
