How do I wire a voltmeter??

No idea what it is made of, never occured to me to look...

 

Just a question:

I wired up my Voltmeter yesterday. Positive wire to the Ignition/FuelPump/Starter Fuse and ground to the nearest turn signal ground wire.

At idle the Voltmeter is showing below 12volts...and doesn't show anything above 12.9 volts until the revs are well above 2000rpm.

Should I find a better Positive and Ground source?

 

Bah....odd.

I'll check with a Multimeter at the battery and see if it matches what the volt guage is showing.

 

True....it's still bothering me though. I feel like it should be higher than the "less than 12 Volts" that it shows at idle-2k rpm.

 

I used my buddies digital multimeter and hooked it up to the battery.

With the bike off:
Voltage LED: n/a
Multimeter: 12.5v

With the ignition on:
Voltage LED: Under 12v
Multimeter: 12.0v

With bike at idle:
Voltage LED: Under 12v
Multimeter: 12.2-12.4v

With bike in neutral & 2k rpm:
Voltage LED: Under 12v
Multimeter: 12.4v-12.7v

When I'm riding the bike down the road it seems to take a few seconds for the
Heads-up Voltage LED indicates a normal voltage level.

I think either the Voltage LED isnt accurate or there is too much resistance where I wired the
Positive wire.

 

If the DMM is accurate, you definitely have a problem. You need to be above 13V at idle and above 14V once you get over 1500 RPM.

 

Hmmm....I don't think that's correct. ^^

Though I do think it should be higher at idle, I don't think it would be at 14v at 1500rpm.

Even the Honda Repair manual states the R/R puts out 13.5v-16v at 5,000rpm....and at 5,000rpm the bike puts out good voltage.

For the record I did just get, and install a new R/R with the larger cooling fins as I was still running the OEM R/R. All connectors/wires looked unburnt.

 

http://vfrworld.com/forums/mechanics-garage/22098-my-charging-results.html

This post shows what I was getting. I found that my idle was a little too low to maintain the battery in hot stop and go traffic, where the fan would be draining it faster than it was charging. I increased the idle to about 1k just to be safe.

The specs in the book are just min and max levels, which are to be used as a guide. I'm sure if everyone on this forum tested their's, there would be a wide variety of readings at different RPMs. I found that at 5k it was above 14V, but lower than my highest reading.

For the record, I'm still running on the original RR on my '95.

You should check the output of the stator. The RR can't produce it, if the stator isn't providing it.

Good luck,
:crazy:

 

I must have done something wrong when I wired mine in.....as it only took about 10 minutes.





.

 

The regulator/rectifier is supposed to get very hot.
that is why it has fins on the aluminum heat sink,to give off heat from excess energy being produced.

The battery should be about 13.8 volts at rest.
Should be between 15 and 17 volts when running.


Each of the 6 cells of the battery produce 2.3-2.8 volts and that is why a "12volt" battery is actually 13.2 volts t rest. 2.3 volts X 6 cells. See what I mean?


You just attach the multimeter to the battery terminals to measure alt output, and battery at rest voltage. End of story.
Set the meter on DC volts. IT is that simple.

 

Oh...its you again. "at rest" to me ,means engine not running ,bike just sitting there "at rest"

Running means (in context to THIS discussion), running fast enough to be charging.

BTW..
"The OEM RR on the VFR, in the early generations anyway, did not have cooling fins"

But it still got hot.

I'm building more sand castles so you will have something to knock down.

 

I don't want someone to read this post and think that their battery or RR is u/s, because they didn't meet these out of whack specs. The info I have supplied is from wikipedia, with the author using data from various reliable sources.

These are general voltage ranges for six-cell lead-acid batteries:
Open-circuit (quiescent) at full charge: 12.6 V to 12.8 V (2.10-2.13V per cell)
Open-circuit at full discharge: 11.8 V to 12.0 V
Typical (daily) charging: 14.2 V to 14.5 V (depending on manufacturer's recommendation)
Equalization charging (for flooded lead acids): 15 V for no more than 2 hours. Battery temperature must be monitored.
Gassing threshold: 14.4 V
After full charge, terminal voltage drops quickly to 13.2 V and then slowly to 12.6 V.

I hope this helps to clear things up a little.

:crazy:

 

As you may know WIKIPEDIA gets information at random. Some of it is correct and some of it is missing or wrong.
Proof of this is that sometimes WIKIPEDIA has to CORRECT its definitions when they are challenged.

My point was to tell the forum members that 12VOLT batteries are NOT 12 volts.
IT MAY vaRy depending on the BRAND of battery and the condition of the battery and the TEMPERATURE. ALSO car batteries (which are BIGGER) can store the charge longer than a motorcycle battery. WIKIPEDIA did not distiguish if it was a car battery they were talking about. Car batteries can store the charge longer because the battery is larger than a motorcycle battery.

Lets not quibble about 12.1,12.2 etc,etc,.

As far as the regulator/rectifier that must be tested according to the workshop manual for each model of machine and NOT connected to the system usually.
A volt ohm meter is used to test that part(R/R), when that part is NOT CONNECTED to the battery. That is a separate test. READ your workshop manual.

When a system is CHARGING it can be 14 volts 14.2, 15.1,15.3 and EVEN up to 17 volts!!! IT MAY VARY.
It does not matter the EXACT voltage it matters that when the system is supposed to be charging that the voltage is MORE than when the engine is NOT running.

 

My ford van meters out at 17 volts when running and It has never cooked a battery and I have owned the van for 10 years with no charging problems.

What about 16.9 volts? is that incorrect too? This is a silly discussion.

I am going back to work now.