Fahren Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Me again with another question....my battery runs outta power if i run the bike with the lights on during the day... yeah i know someone is thinking dont run with lights on lol but ur average car driver has enough trouble spotting us!! I only had me side lights on.....now maybe i need a new battery or need to give the whole electrical system a good checking...but from reading a 1987 Superbike mag on the FZ600 they say the battery runs very low after only a short time round town with lights on and the occasional use of twinkers....so the question is; is it possible to uprate the charging system on this bike? or is it just a question of buying a better battery....this one is a year old and was installed last August by last owner who also replaced the stator arm (albeit a second hand one) and a new regulator....can anyone reccomend a decent make of battery cos i dont want to be stranded at the bottom of a hill in the dark should i venture out during the darker times of the year.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fahren Posted August 30, 2009 Author Share Posted August 30, 2009 Right ive topped the battery up cos it was a little low on the old eloctrolyte and charged it for 27 hours....i used a duel car/bike trickle charger the aitomatic types that are supposed to switch to green when battery is ready ...well after 27 hours it was still charging and i was a little concerned ....electrical testers said it had 13.6 v on it so figured it was okay to put back on bike........ Bike has been running fine last 2 days starting first time every time....ive just been out on a night run 24 miles with main lights on and the bike died. Stopped to buy cigs n booze and bike wouldnt start so had to bump it....few hundred yards with lights on and bike starts running lumpy as though its running outta fuel, as soon as i turned the lights off it ran fine.......tested battery on the bike while it was still running and it shows 11.4v dropped to 10v with lights on So the bike runs fine during the day and battery seems to hold charge....old receipt from last owner says he paid to have a new rectifier and a 2nd hand generator stator arm...could this be the problem i.e. the stator arm is fubarred? It seems that the bike cant generate enough power to charge the battery when the lights are on and the engine eventually stalls because its not providing enough to actually keep the engine running? does this make sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fahren Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 right ive just ran the bike for 30 miles with lights on with a new battery....bike started to cut out so i turned the lights off and bike was fine.......rode another 4 miles turned lights back on half mile later bike stuttering again, lightrs off bike fine u get the picture.....all connections cleaned and checked everything seems fine...anyone any ideas? not sure if this model has bushes on the generator, haynes manuel doesnt really cover this part much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted September 1, 2009 Moderator Share Posted September 1, 2009 measure the voltage on the battery posts, see if it increases with revs increase, that will indicate if the charging circuit is ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fahren Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 measure the voltage on the battery posts, see if it increases with revs increase, that will indicate if the charging circuit is ok. sorry should have mentioned that bit....(god im slow) did that yesterday and no noticable change..revved to 2500 rpm then 5000 rpm no change either up or down. Battery read 14.06 v when put on bike, started her up and it read 12.3v ran it with lights on got home bike would not start reading said 11.3v.......not enough to turn the starter motor that was on the old battery new battery lasted a little longer but end result the same...so i guess it is the charging circuit but which part, will take a little more investigation, i suspect the generator stator arm cos LO replaced it with 2nd hand one, he also replaced the rectifier with a brand new one. bike has run fine for the 2 months ive had it but until the other day i havent used the lights .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fahren Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 well not entirely sure what i did but the problem seems to have been resolved...all ive done is check all connections especially around the rectifier. I think the problem was twofold 1) being the connection from the rectifier and 2) the bushes on the generator, all though all i did was remove the gen cover as much as i could and was able to check the bushes which both seemed ok, i just gave them a push to see if they were moving and cleaned the contact area as best i could...been out twice now on some long runs with lights on and no problem...... Im thinking maybe the bushes werent contacting properly, anyhow fingers crossed its sorted!!! I did another voltage check and there is now an increase on the meter when the bike is revved!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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