| Author | Message | ||
     Jackbequick |
I'm not sure if the Knowledge Vault is a good place for new running threads so I posted this here. I'm open to suggestions on that. But my kudos to reepicheep for the charging trouble shooting guide. I will use it tomorrow. I had put a new battery on my recently acquired '00 M2 a few weeks back (it still had the original). Today it would not start when I paused during a local jaunt. I had just run about 50 miles at steady 35-65 MPH speeds and when I hit the starter it just chattered the relay. I pulled the lights fuse, waited 15 minutes, and it almost had enough to start but not quite. Got a jump start and eased the 15 miles home on battery with no lights. At home, battery showed 12.03V (Fluke 79) and it would not self start. I gave it an hour charge at 10A and it started. Ran it a minute or two, battery was showing steady 12.1V or so with no gain at 1800-2000 RPM. So now I'm giving it an overnight charge with my 1.5A charger. Tomorrow I trouble shoot it. My questions (finally), are there any optional stators that will increase the charge rate? I have added a GPS (draws < 1A, it was not on it today) and have an electric vest I'll use eventually. Will the stock stators keep up with much in the way of accessories? I'm also going to add a voltage monitor I think. That's too simple to not have one. I love my box stock M2 so far, don't want to turn it into a J. C. Whitney special, but some things are just simply needed... Jack | ||
| Reepicheep |
The stock stator has a decent margin, more then 70 watts as I recall. It is a shunt regulator, so the more current you burn up with GPS / vest the less heat dumped into the stator coils. There are aftermarket stators that are significantly cheaper. I thought the Harley part was a bit pricey, though not horrible given my local dealer had it in stock. The aftermarket parts will probably need to be ordered, and who knows if they are as good. It would be an interesting excercise to take one to a electrical shop to have it rewound as well. No idea how much they would charge. I bet it's your stator... but that's just a hunch. Make sure you REALLY clean the daylights out of that crank before putting the loktite and nut back on, and follow the instructions closely. Lots of them have backed off post service. | ||
| Jackbequick |
My 1.5A charger signalled it had finished charging when I got up this morning. I pulled that, let the battery set an hour, and had 13.0V. Looked like my new battery is good. So I went through your trouble shooting guide (thank you again!!). The voltage dropped to 12.3V (Fluke 79) after starting and it held steady at that as I played with the lights and stuff at 2,000 RPM. Not gaining, but not losing. I did the tests para 4) tests, 1 - Stator was O.L. (open line) to ground from both stator pins 2 - Stator was .4 Ohms across the pins. 3 - Stator output was 54 +/- AC Volts at 2,000. So I was down to the VR at this point. I put it all back together. Battery was 12.3V and I went and got gas. Did about 6 miles, shut down and restarted 2 okay times, and got back home. After it set for about an hour, the battery was 12.4V. So I'm not sure that I had a charging problem. I just put in a new Everstart (20AH rated) battery recently that was physically a perfect match for the original H-D battery. The battery cables and connections all looked good when I pulled the cables to do the testing today. The battery posts are slightly different and you have to use a small cylindrical spacer (supplied with the battery) to get the cable lugs to hang vertically on the face like the originals. I am going to pick up some 6mm/1/4" Bellville washers to get more constant/positive pressure there. The posts on the Everstart battery are kind of stupid. They are a hollow, thick walled rectangle open on the ends. You slip a nut into the opening and then the 6mm HHMS holds the cable lug against the cylindrical spacer (which is in contact against the outside of the post) and goes through the side wall, engages the nut, and keeps it all together. I had filled the space behind the nuts (with them pulled up snug) with Hi-Temp RTV to keep the nuts from falling out when you remove the cable screws. I checked that and the RTV was not anywhere it should not have been, it was not making the charging connection weak. I'll take a couple of more test jaunts before I condsider it resolved. I did not check the VR output yet, that will be the next thing I test if I think this is still acting wonky. This is my first bike without a kick starter. Will the Buell twins do a run and bump start okay? From my past, but not recent, experiences (including a couple of 500cc 4 stroke singles, I would probably try it with a good downhill run (or two big strong pushers that I trust) and would dump the clutch in 2nd or 3rd gear. Does that sound like a workable plan for a Buell with a weak battery? Thanks for your help and advice. Jack | ||
| Reepicheep |
That sounds like a happy stator, but they can come and go for a while before they finally weld themselves into a molten blob. Your diagnosis sounds solid, it is either connections, or the voltage regulator at this point. If your stator is good, a bumped start buell will probably run fine. If the stator is shot, it will run fine until the battery is toast, then stop dead. | ||
| Jackbequick |
Hi Reepicheep, Looks like all the bad news may be in. Today I did a short jaunt (20 miles) and heard a clatter on start when I got home. Decided to test the charging lead from the VR. Some confusion on my part about the wiring and service manual and where to check it. I have a black lead out of the VR in the same sheath as the two stator leads. That should be the charging lead, and it goes into female bullet connector located next to the stator connector. I can't see the wire on the female side, it is sheathed up and too damn short to even work with. I finally decided there had to be a black male to red transition at the female even though I could not see the red. And I decided I wanted to take the charging lead reading at the other end because of the working conditions near the VR. I pulled the single red wire from silver post on the 30A breaker and clipped my meter between the lug on that wire and silver post it came from. That showed around 10V at idle and only rose to 11V at 3500 RPM. So if I tested that right, I'm not getting a charge. And have a bad VR, right? Someone mentioned after market or less expensive source for parts like stators, is there one for voltage regulators? Or a popular source for non factory parts? At any rate, I'm going to get one ordered up on Monday. Seems like that would be part shared with some Sportsters. Maybe. Different subject, what does "HVPS" on the engine stand for? The neighbor asked, I said "Has Valuable Person Seated". He grunted. Sometimes its hard to tell a Mainer a joke. Jack |
