newbie charging system update

Spent the morning going over all of the connections again and cleaned everything with contact cleaner. Discovered that it does indeed have continuity between all three stator leads.Looks good between rr and plug on right side near oil dip stick, but shows continuity from plug to stator. Bad stator?
Voltages with bike running read 13.40 at idle and all the way to above 17.4 at 5k.

I'm pretty sure lane splitting is highly illegal in La. Plus most South Louisianians are too busy putting on makeup while talking on their cell phones to realize that they need to stay on their side of the yellow line:(
Scott

Mrydr@xxxxxx wrote:
In a message dated 4/8/2006 11:37:48 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, johnmalexander@xxxxxx writes:
Lane splitting will solve that problem. %-)

LOL, John,

He's a newbie...........give him a few weeks......LOL

Fred.....
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On Apr 8, 2006, at 10:13 AM, Scott & Kathie Thibodeaux wrote:

> Spent the morning going over all of the connections again and
> cleaned everything with contact cleaner. Discovered that it does
> indeed have continuity between all three stator leads.Looks good
> between rr and plug on right side near oil dip stick, but shows
> continuity from plug to stator. Bad stator?

definately a bad stator. Don't run the bike anymore and replace it
immediately.

> Voltages with bike running read 13.40 at idle and all the way to
> above 17.4 at 5k.
>
Yikes! 17.4 volts is more than enough to do some serious damage to
the rest of the electrical system. You should do the diode test on
the R/R to see if it has suffered any damage. If the reading are
more than a few thousandths of a volt different from each other or
you have voltage on both sides, or the readings aren't within a
couple hundredths of a volt of half a volt the R/R has suffered
damage and needs to be replaced too. I strongly suggest doing this
test before ordering the Stator, because you could also need to
replace the R/R too.

>
> I'm pretty sure lane splitting is highly illegal in La. Plus most
> South Louisianians are too busy putting on makeup while talking on
> their cell phones to realize that they need to stay on their side
> of the yellow line:(

Not to mention they are likely to run you off the road or shoot you
for doing so. Actually they are likely to do that even if you are
behaving yourself. It seems to be a sport down there.

Chris Stumpf
resident VFR charging system expert
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> Voltages with bike running read 13.40 at idle and all the way to above 17.4
> at 5k.

That's too high at 5K. One way to tell if a battery is being overcharged is to place a hand on it. If it's warm, it's being overcharged. Sustained 17.4V will harm the battery. Many VFR owners use 5K as the sweet spot for cruising, so you don't want it that high. The idea with the charge system is that the o/p can vary, going up and down with rpm, but the average charge voltage shouldn't exceed about 14V. These are ballparks, not perfect numbers, before anyone cries foul.

Cheers,

Randy F
'98 VFR
Portland OR


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Fellow listers,

Recently my '94 had its electrics gone over and fixed up (not by me as
I'm electrically challenged). I currently get a solid 14.2 to 14.5
reading from my datel meter.

I have both a heated vest (gerbings) and heated grips. When running
either one I don't seem to have any problem. With the grips on I don't
see a drop in the voltage reported, 14.2 - 14.4. With the vest on full
blast the voltage drops to the low 13s. With the vest on low to medium,
the voltage ranges from mid to high 13s (sometimes low 14s).

The problem is when I want to run both of them. When I do this, the
voltage drops below 12.6. By adjusting the temp of the vest down, the
voltage raises to above 13. The only problem with this is I don't get
enough heat from the vest.

Is this normal or indicative of a problem?

Thanks in advance,
Demian

p.s. One thing to note about the heated vest. It's an older style
gerbings and I have to use an adapter from their newer style thermostat.
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On Apr 8, 2006, at 11:10 PM, Demian wrote:

> Fellow listers,
>
> Recently my '94 had its electrics gone over and fixed up (not by me as
> I'm electrically challenged). I currently get a solid 14.2 to 14.5
> reading from my datel meter.
>
> I have both a heated vest (gerbings) and heated grips. When running
> either one I don't seem to have any problem. With the grips on I
> don't
> see a drop in the voltage reported, 14.2 - 14.4. With the vest on full
> blast the voltage drops to the low 13s. With the vest on low to
> medium,
> the voltage ranges from mid to high 13s (sometimes low 14s).
>
> The problem is when I want to run both of them. When I do this, the
> voltage drops below 12.6. By adjusting the temp of the vest down, the
> voltage raises to above 13. The only problem with this is I don't get
> enough heat from the vest.
>
> Is this normal or indicative of a problem?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Demian
>

Nope, no problem, the output of the alternator on the VFR is pretty
marginal. The system is actually operating at a loss when the
radiator fan kicks on. So it is no surpise that the vest has such an
effect on the voltage. When the voltage drops under load, it means
you are drawing more current than the alternator can generate. It's
generally a bad idea to overload an electrical circuit because as the
voltage drops, the amps increase, as does the amount of heat in the
affected circuit. Not to mention the fact that the battery is making
up the power the alternator can't provide. So prolonged running
under those conditions can leave you with a dead battery, which can
strand you. Or worse, overheat connections melting stuff and frying
the electrical system. Not to mention overheating the stator, which
will shorten it's life.

So keep an eye on the voltage. Anything below 13.5 volts is break
even and below 12.8 is discharge.


Chris Stumpf
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Christopher Stumpf wrote:
>
> On Apr 8, 2006, at 11:10 PM, Demian wrote:
>
>
>> Fellow listers,
>>
>> Recently my '94 had its electrics gone over and fixed up (not by me as
>> I'm electrically challenged). I currently get a solid 14.2 to 14.5
>> reading from my datel meter.
>>
>> I have both a heated vest (gerbings) and heated grips. When running
>> either one I don't seem to have any problem. With the grips on I
>> don't
>> see a drop in the voltage reported, 14.2 - 14.4. With the vest on full
>> blast the voltage drops to the low 13s. With the vest on low to
>> medium,
>> the voltage ranges from mid to high 13s (sometimes low 14s).
>>
>> The problem is when I want to run both of them. When I do this, the
>> voltage drops below 12.6. By adjusting the temp of the vest down, the
>> voltage raises to above 13. The only problem with this is I don't get
>> enough heat from the vest.
>>
>> Is this normal or indicative of a problem?
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>> Demian
>>
>>
>
> Nope, no problem, the output of the alternator on the VFR is pretty
> marginal. The system is actually operating at a loss when the
> radiator fan kicks on. So it is no surpise that the vest has such an
> effect on the voltage. When the voltage drops under load, it means
> you are drawing more current than the alternator can generate. It's
> generally a bad idea to overload an electrical circuit because as the
> voltage drops, the amps increase, as does the amount of heat in the
> affected circuit. Not to mention the fact that the battery is making
> up the power the alternator can't provide. So prolonged running
> under those conditions can leave you with a dead battery, which can
> strand you. Or worse, overheat connections melting stuff and frying
> the electrical system. Not to mention overheating the stator, which
> will shorten it's life.
>
> So keep an eye on the voltage. Anything below 13.5 volts is break
> even and below 12.8 is discharge.
>
>
> Chris Stumpf
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
Sweet. Thanks for detailed answer.

Demian

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On Sat, 8 Apr 2006, Demian wrote:

> Fellow listers,
[tale of low volts with heated vest and grips on high snipped]
>
> The problem is when I want to run both of them. When I do this, the
> voltage drops below 12.6. By adjusting the temp of the vest down, the
> voltage raises to above 13. The only problem with this is I don't get
> enough heat from the vest.
>
> Is this normal or indicative of a problem?

Could be either; it depends on how your measurements and wiring are
set up. I'd suggest measuring the voltage difference between RR and
battery terminals. If the _difference_ varies with the accessory load,
you have a problem with the wiring. If the difference does not depend
on accessory load your wiring is fine, and it's necessary to compare the
electrical draw to the rated output of your stator.

I'm not sure about your bike, but on my '98 the system can deliver
a little over 100 watts of accessory power without trouble. At about
140 watts it has difficulty keeping up.

In other words, a '98 has about ten amps of reserve capacity.

hope this helps,

bob prohaska

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