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Battery problem

5380 Views 32 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  MacGyver, 
F
3
So my battery is bulging. What in the world? I will try to post some pictures of it.

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nick57
did'nt, my plan was to solder the wires.
For the oil i slit 1/4" tubing and slipped them over the wires to kind of keep them apart.
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F
Does the battery and voltage regulator area have enough air circulation so they don't overheat? This might be an overheating issue that causes the regulator not to function properly. Any one have thoughts on that? I am just baffled because I have gone on many "short" trips, 100 miles or less with no issues what so ever, then I go on a 300 mile or so and this fails me. Wife is beyond frustrated at me and the situation, but I keep telling her "better now than this summer when I am far far away from home." Thank you. You guys are great!!!
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Mrdub said:
The shop tested it and said it was putting out 14 amps and under 14V.. was that at idle.. as your riding you will hold a higher rpm longer and if the voltage goes up the amperage will go up with it when the regulator fails thus causing your overcharge.. I bet most of your riding was during the day. at night time you can see the lights get brighter when you accelerate which usually gives you some idea that the regulator is going.. they shouldn't brighten up too much when you accelerate.. a little variance is normal but it should be minimal and not a drastic change in light power. drastic is bad.

when you test the system this time.. bring the bike up to over 3000 rpm and watch the voltage .. if it goes over 15V no load.. you still have an issue to look at.
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Half of the riding was at night. Come to think of it, when ever I shifted up or down the light would get a little brighter, not too much though.
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nick57
https://sites.google.com/site/vstar1100kb/home/repairs/charging-system in the charging section here. some guys have drilled holes in the plastic chrome cover to let air in to the regulator....scroll down about two paragraphs
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Mrdub
Yup that sounds like a voltage regulator failure.. if you noticed it than it's out of the normal.. the regulator is designed to maintain voltage .. If the rpm's went up and voltage went up.. lights got brighter... than it's not controlling voltage properly.. and possibly overcharging when holding speed causing your battery failure again.

Your on the right track changing the regulator this time with a new battery :)
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F
I took the cover off the regulator and found this little guy hiding out. The wire with the blue connector. What is it to? Any ideas?

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F
Any one know what the blue connector is? It is not connected to anything but is below and behind the regulator.
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nick57
supposedly it has something to do with the overseas bikes.nothing here:grin:
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F
Thank you!
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MacGyver
I am overseas, but the connector is here as well, not connected to anything...

My voltmeter shows about 18V when the engine is running, so I will replace the regulator as soon as I got the replacement part.
The battery is replaced already, I hope it will last long enough.

Anybody got plans to reroute the regulator or how to place it to a place better vented? Aside from the hole-drilling?
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Deeksvstarclassic
fd757 said:
Any one know what the blue connector is? It is not connected to anything but is below and behind the regulator.
Click to expand...
When i asked a couple of years ago i was told it was for the parachute plug. I laughed.
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Deeksvstarclassic
MacGyver said:
I am overseas, but the connector is here as well, not connected to anything...

My voltmeter shows about 18V when the engine is running, so I will replace the regulator as soon as I got the replacement part.
The battery is replaced already, I hope it will last long enough.

Anybody got plans to reroute the regulator or how to place it to a place better vented? Aside from the hole-drilling?
Click to expand...
There is one for a roadie that is supposed to be stronger. If mine goes out i will go that direction next time. It appears to be a stupid place for heat by the exhaust. I believe the 650s have it mounted in the front lower frame.
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MacGyver
4
I changed my regulator yesterday. No big problems, aside from the fact that the screws teared off.
108647

This is the comparison of the regulators. The new one is the lower one.
108648

I replaced the clips with rivet nuts.
108649

This is how the new regulator sits in its place.
108650

And it works really fine.
No more too high voltage, just around 14.4V, that's fine with me.
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