Author Topic: BATTERY NOT CHARGING 100%, regulator problem??? (Read 21574 times)

interfuse · « **Reply #30 on:** November 06, 2006, 01:37:20 AM »

Sounds like you've got a problem. It should be higher then 12v at 5000 rpm.

It could be your regulator or generator.

Seeing that your generator is pumping out 71v AC (manual says 70V is good) then it's most likely a failed regulator. I don't think anyone on here has had a failed generator, but lots of RRs have gone bad. Fairly easy to replace. The early 90's gs500 regulator is the same and should be easy to find.

stormi · « **Reply #31 on:** November 06, 2006, 03:03:40 AM »

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Sounds like you've got a problem. It should be higher then 12v at 5000 rpm.

It could be your regulator or generator.

Seeing that your generator is pumping out 71v AC (manual says 70V is good) then it's most likely a failed regulator. I don't think anyone on here has had a failed generator, but lots of RRs have gone bad. Fairly easy to replace. The early 90's gs500 regulator is the same and should be easy to find.

Geez I wish I would have written some of this stuff down when I was doing the tests regularly.

The RR for a GS500 hasn't changed as I recall. That means that you should be able to get an RR from any year of GS500. Compare them when you see the new one, they're identical. I was looking for one from a 2004 when I needed one.

Stealth · « **Reply #32 on:** November 06, 2006, 09:38:05 AM »

I found this question and answer from the www.thegsresources.com

My bike seems to charge OK on idle and slightly up, but when the revs rise up to, say, 4000 RPM, the voltage on the battery poles starts to drop down. What's wrong here?

It seems at this point as if your stator doesn't have a complete shortage, but the insulation has deteriorated enough to cause a leak under load, as is the case when the revs rise, since the stator would then generate more power.

If the rectifier/regulator is still okay at this point, you will probably want to replace your stator right away, since when the stator blows, it'll probably fry the diodes in the rectifier. But on the other hand, this might, on a GS, well be caused by the phenomenon as described in the theory story, so this might be a very bad omen. Check your commonsense (and your bank account).

The problem sounds similar but my stator is putting out enuff voltage so I have no Idea whats going on. I tested the Reg/Rec and it tested fine according to that one electrosport charging guide.

stormi · « **Reply #33 on:** November 06, 2006, 04:08:53 PM »

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Ironically, it started up fine the rest of the day (how does this happen?)

Bad connection. I said it before, I'll say it again - Run through the electrosport test, it also pinpoints bad connections.

stormi · « **Reply #34 on:** November 06, 2006, 04:12:35 PM »

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I took the Battery to a Shop and they said it was perfectly fine.

Im gonna do the Whole test again tomorrow and report back to you.

Did they just check the voltage on the battery, or did they load test it. 2 different things. How old is the battery?

stormi · « **Reply #35 on:** November 06, 2006, 04:20:16 PM »

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when the bike is completely warmed up. My battery is at around 14-14.1 volts at idle. Then the higher I rev the bike, the lower the volts get. When I reach 5000 the volts are around 12

That doesn't seem right. According to the test it should get higher ( to a point) as the engine revs. That almost says to me that there's a draw somewhere. What is it at 2500rpm?

Seems to me that if the test is saying that the charging system is OK, you have the bike bleeding off power somewhere else, or have a bad battery ( see my previous comment about testing the battery.) Do you have a friend with a known good battery that you can do the test with?

Stealth · « **Reply #36 on:** November 06, 2006, 05:05:12 PM »

Im not sure how they tested the battery, I just gave it to the guy, he took it to his shop, couple minutes later, he came back and said "the battery is perfectly fine-just needs a charge"

I also dont know how old the battery is because I just bought this motorcycle so it could be anywhere from 15 years old to brand new. Although, I got all the major receipts from the previous owners and none of them indicated a new battery. So I dont know.

The voltage at 2500 rpm is about 13.7.

Unfortunately, none of my friends have motorcycles and so none have battery's.

stormi · « **Reply #37 on:** November 06, 2006, 05:21:26 PM »

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Im not sure how they tested the battery, I just gave it to the guy, he took it to his shop, couple minutes later, he came back and said "the battery is perfectly fine-just needs a charge"

The voltage at 2500 rpm is about 13.7.

Did you charge it up before running the tests? The results will be weird unless the battery is fully charged to begin with. The battery being low will skew the results as it "pulls" power to charge.

So the voltage is a little high at 2500rpm,... hmmm....

Have you checked all of your connections, and made sure they all have dielectric grease in them?

gsxr400 racer · « **Reply #38 on:** November 06, 2006, 06:33:25 PM »

i have stators 4 sale lol

Stealth · « **Reply #39 on:** November 06, 2006, 06:53:25 PM »

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Did you charge it up before running the tests? The results will be weird unless the battery is fully charged to begin with. The battery being low will skew the results as it "pulls" power to charge.

So the voltage is a little high at 2500rpm,... hmmm....

Have you checked all of your connections, and made sure they all have dielectric grease in them?

I fully charged it before I did the tests.

The 3 yellow wire connecter didnt have any di-electric grease but the black/white, red connecter did.

I have some more interesting info.

Today, I tried starting it at around 12pm, it seemed like the battery was gonna die, the cranks got slower and slower It was like turn...........turn...............turn...............
turn
so I held the throttle a bit and it got a lil faster, this time it was like

turn..........turn...........turn..........turn

I still held the throttle and eventually it was like:

turn..turn..turn..turn..turn..turn..turn..turn

but still didnt start so i gave up and push started it. Fired right up. went around the block, left it to idle for 1 min on my driveway and then turned it off.
Brought it back in my garage and then decided to try to start it with electric start again. so I turn the key, press the button and right away it starts. At this time im amazed so i turn it off and do it again. It starts again!! so I go for a ride again :) then I park it in the garage and leave it there for until 5PM, at 5PM I start it again and it starts with no fuss :)
so I went to this one store to get something, I park it in the parking lot, i take about five minutes, i come back to go back home and i press the electric start; It starts fast but not as fast as it did the first 3 times.

And just incase for those of you wondering<- I did use the choke the first time, but it still didnt work

stormi · « **Reply #40 on:** November 06, 2006, 07:47:45 PM »

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The 3 yellow wire connecter didnt have any di-electric grease but the black/white, red connecter did.

A little grease might not hurt there either

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I have some more interesting info.

Today, I tried starting it at around 12pm, it seemed like the battery was gonna die, the cranks got slower and slower It was like turn...........turn...............turn...............
turn
so I held the throttle a bit and it got a lil faster, this time it was like

turn..........turn...........turn..........turn

I still held the throttle and eventually it was like:

turn..turn..turn..turn..turn..turn..turn..turn

This is screaming out starter to me. Is there a test in the service manual for this? That's a classic symptom on a car when the starter is failing. It draws huge current, and it sounds like it won't start. Often if you hold it longer it will speed up and start. With a bike, the CCA of a battery is usually small enough, it may kill the battery first instead. It's usually especially bad on the first start of the day, cos it's been sitting for hours and hours.

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but still didnt start so i gave up and push started it. Fired right up. went around the block, left it to idle for 1 min on my driveway and then turned it off.

Just think of all the muscles you're building by having to push start?

That was my first year with the B4 too. I can't remember what the end cause was though. I think it was battery.

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so I went to this one store to get something, I park it in the parking lot, i take about five minutes, i come back to go back home and i press the electric start; It starts fast but not as fast as it did the first 3 times.

Not as much time for the battery to "recover"...

Stealth · « **Reply #41 on:** November 06, 2006, 08:05:05 PM »

I forgot to mention:

The Starter started turning faster when I opened the throttle a bit, when it was closed it was dieing down

Stealth · « **Reply #42 on:** November 06, 2006, 08:11:54 PM »

but even if it was the starter, that cant explain why the battery voltage drops as the revs get higher

I noticed another thing also.

When I rev the bike up to 5000rpm the voltage is around 12 but when i immediately let go of the throttle, the voltage on the battery jumps back to 14.XX

When I rev up to 10K, and let go, the voltage jumps to a number higher than when i let go at 5000rpm
although it never goes past 15volts

just some more info so we can figure out the problem

stormi · « **Reply #43 on:** November 06, 2006, 09:38:23 PM »

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The Starter started turning faster when I opened the throttle a bit, when it was closed it was dieing down

Was the starter turning faster, or the engine firing more??

Stealth · « **Reply #44 on:** November 06, 2006, 09:47:02 PM »

Starter turning faster.

If the engine fired, wouldnt that mean that the engine would start?