crap! Stator/R/R meltdown 3 months in?

I am going to check the ground this week. The electrical engineer that I work with suggested the same.

 

I wrote Joshua at wiremybike.com and asked his suggestions.

One thing that I didn't include here is that I had replaced the stock lead/acid battery with a lithium ion one back in December too. Both Joshua and the electrical engineer at my office think that could be the issue.

letter to Joshua...

I got everything back from Ricks and reinstalled. I ended up cutting the new connectors off and had the electrical engineer at my office come by and use some fancy butt splice connectors that we then soldered and double shrink wrapped. He suggested keeping the VFRNess as added protection.

This weekend, while hoping to get a few hours of saddle time, I looked down and realized that the clock and trip odo had reset back to 1:00am and 0.0. Fearing the worst, I limped to a gas station and check the volts at the battery. With the engine off it read 13.2 at the battery (a lithium ion). I started the bike and it read 13.9 at idle and then 14.2 at 3k. Not wanting to risk getting stranded, I pulled the 20a headlight fuse and limped home. I reinstalled the 20a fuse and checked again and the readings at the battery were the same.

Later in the day I went back out. About 10 minutes in, I noticed the clock and odo had (again) reset to 1:00am, 0.0.

I spoke with Noah (electrical engineer) this morning and he thinks it could be either ground issues or that the regulator/rectifier isn't really made to charge a lithium ion battery and suggested I get a regular one.

Before I scrap the (expensive) lithium ion battery, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on what could be my problem. I REALLY love the bike, but I can't stand intermittent electrical issues.​

reply from Joshua...

Is it possible the resetting is tied to something else? I assume the resetting is while you ride since you said you looked down 10 miles in but since the battery remains fully charged I have no idea what could be the issue. I tried the Lithium derivatives and was not impressed...had more trouble with them than the SLA batteries for very little gain. One option would be to throw the Lithium battery in your luggage...it's small and light and could give you a few miles of limp home electrical if needed?​

 

Just spoke to the folks at Ricks Motorsport Electrics and they agree the lithium ion battery could be the issue. They suggested that I check with the manufacturer that the battery is capable of handling the output of 14.2-14.8 (from the regulator/rectifier).

I really hope getting a standard lead/acid battery will fix my issues.

Ride Safe!

ps. anyone interested in buying a slightly used lithium ion battery? I'll cut you a great price

 

Hope you get to the bottom of this issue...! I hate electrical :suspicious:

 

Not sure why people buy these lithium iron batteries, the best motorcycle batteries around these days are the AGM types

 

I'm a sucker for new tech shit.

Went out for an hour ride tonight with the voltmeter waiting for a clock/odo reset...never happened. I guess I should be happy, it was a great night for a ride, but I F#CKing hate intermittent electrical issues.

 

Agreed. Lot get them for weight reduction. Kind oxymoron for a sport touring bike. 7-8lbs less means nothing to any kind of touring bike to me.

 

If the lithium battery is causing the problem. Then think about what your doing to the RR again by riding around trying to find the problem. Your damned if you do and damned if you don't. So now what sparky?

 

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries
for any questions on these batteries

 

The lithium Ion batteries MUST be charged between 14 & 15 volts. Less will result in an incomplete charge & more (for an extended period) will permanently damage the battery. I've had my Li for a year now & it has been THE BEST battery I've ever had.

I don't think the battery is the issue. My money is on the grounding...

 

This is what you are probably looking for, and what Mello Dude means when he says to do the drill, drill, drill. See post 9.
http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/39277-How-to-fix-common-regulator-Stator-failures

 

I did follow the drill but my voltage still stay at 13.8 around 5k RPM :sad:

The Drill

-Looks like you gotta do…. “The Drill.” --------
Go through all your connectors for burnt leads, dig deep. Crispy wires? Not good. The stator connector is the number one burn it up connector on the bike. - Your gonna have to fix that!

Then---Go through this starting point quick list. You will need a multimeter too.

Steps: ---
- Recharge battery overnite - then to take it to Autozone or similar to load test. -- Good? Bad? – An iffy battery can fake you out and act like a bad R/R. Buy new if needed.

- With good battery fire it up, warm up for a minute or two.

These are R/R quick checks---
--- With voltmeter at battery posts get voltages -- idle volts? 5000 rpm volts? What’s the numbers? Should be in 13ish min idle and in 14s at revs. (if in the 12s at idle, check at about 1900rpms instead. Its not unusual for the system to be in discharge at idle. )

- Check stator - These tests are done checking the connector that goes to the stator. (Engine off)
1. Pull connector apart. Set meter to resistance. Check pin to pin, 3 yellow wires, A to B, B to C, C to A. What’s the numbers? 3 separate readings --Should be less than 1.0 ohms.

- 2. Check continuity from each A,B,C pin to ground, -- -should be infinity - nada nothing. no continuity. -- 3 separate checks. (Connector still apart, engine off)

- 3. Crank it back up. Do another pin to pin thing, but set meter on AC volts. idle and 5000 rpms. What's da numbers? Should start 15 -20ish and climb 50ish and more. Again – 3 readings- (Again, connector apart) Repeat hot.

This quick list will catch the obvious stuff, but if you need to dig deeper check this chart. (Some guys like this chart, my taste, I don’t care for it.)
http://www.electrosport.com/media/pd...ng-diagram.pdf

 

Scubalong,

I did all that before I ordered the Rick's Stator/RegRectifier.

My current bet is bad ground.

 

Pliskin,

I did all that before I ordered the Rick's Stator/RegRectifier

 

Definitely, check the ground thoroughly. Also, if you can it's worth trying to check the battery under load. A poorly batt' can show passably good voltage at rest and will show decent voltage when charging if your charging system is doing it's job (as that's really what you're reading whilst the engine's running), but can plummet under load. That'll be when you get the clock reset, when the starter motor drains all available power...

Try the multimeter on batt' terminals whilst holding the starter. Obviously you'll only get a brief reading drop until your engine fires and you've gotta release the button, but it should give you a good idea.

 

I was responding to a post from Veefer Madness. So nanny nanny boo boo, stick you head in doo doo. :biggrin:

 

eep: otstir:

 

A couple of possibilities: first, the battery. Your R/R isn't designed to charge a lithium battery. It puts out the right voltage for a 6 cell lead-acid battery (ideally 2.3V per cell), somewhere between 13.8 and 14.2 volts. A lithium battery at 3.7V per cell is either 3 cells, which will be overcharged at 14V, or 4 cells, which will be undercharged. Either way, the battery will not live as long as it should. A lithium battery needs a special regulator.

Another possibility is the Service Diagnostic connector, which is wrapped up in the wiring loom near the R/R. Grounds from all over the bike come here. The idea is with a proprietary Honda service computer, the current draw from all parts of the bike can be measured. My Honda dealer doesn't have such a computer, and my own garage will never have one, so the connector is useless. I does make a great place for funky connections to cause weird current paths to ground from anywhere to anywhere. I cut the dam thing out, stripped the wires, tinned them, wrapped some heavy wire around the bunch and soldered them together, then took the end of the heavy wire, soldered a meaty ground lug to it and stuck that under a handy ground bolt. Then I covered the whole lump with shrinkable insulating tape. One less thing to go wrong someday in the middle of nowhere.

 

After reading this I said to myself, having a motorcycle means endless problems. But this becomes a lifestyle. I know how it feels when your bike has a problem like this, believe me. I have had them dozens of times. But there was never a time I felt I should get rid of the bike because if this. If I could not live with electrical problems, and expecting them to recur now and then, I should most likely not have a motorcycle at all, and especially not an older one. Yes, soldering is fine and the safest method, but...even wires soldered together can potentially break...wire harnesses get old, the plastic cracks, the wires get hot now and then...they will fail in the end, if not next month then next year or in five year's time...and what are you going to do then?