Sports: Re: [DucatiST] battery may not be charging

----- Original Message -----
From: "d888spoltd" <d888spoltd@aol.com>
To: "st2 owners" <st2_owners@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 20, 2010 8:58:01 AM
Subject: Re: [DucatiST] battery may not be charging

Excellent advice and the easiest way to do this is with his meter:

http://www.compacc.com/p/Show-Chrome-Digital-5-Function-Volt-Meter

I have on one my GC and love it.

Cheers,

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

W, That's a neat little item, thanks for the tip. Nick A.

In a message dated 11/20/10 11:42:53 Eastern Standard Time, ian@ianellison.org.uk writes:

> hi there
> coming home form work yesterday evening I noticed just before
> turning the engine off that the illumination on the LCD display
> was varying in synch with the indicator flashing. I didn't think
> much about it at the time but this morning the battery was dead.
> I am charging the battery now and will see how things are tomorrow.
> I am a bit suspicious as this is a brand new battery which has
> only been on the bike for three weeks. That and the lcd display
> flicker may mean that the battery is not charging which point to
> a regulator/rectifier and/or alternator issue. I've checked the
> r/r 40a fuse by the battery and that's OK.
>
> So my question is if there is a charging problem where do I start
> looking for it?
>
> Please bear in mind that I know that electrons and wires are
> involved but that's about as far as my understanding of electricity goes!
> BTW this is the first problem like this I've had in five years
> with this bike

It's worth investing in a cheap multimeter from ebay or Maplins. Check the
voltage across the battery with the engine off, at idle, and at about
3000rpm. Shuold tell you if it's charging and if the r/r is working. At rest
it should be between 12 and 13.5V, at idle about 13.5 - 14.4V, and it
shouldn't go a lot higher - if you see 15V then the r/r is probably shot.

It's also worhh checking and cleaning all the connectors in the charging
system as if there's corrosion it can present teh wrong voltage to the r/r
and that can cause issues.

If you go back through the archives there will be any number of entries
about this.

Good luck!

IanE