Battery question

[Juzz976]

32V would be very bad, getting 0V doesnt sound right after the initial reading. leads either way around in AC mode will give same value. Depending on meter of course, maybe it can only de couple one way according to the offset.

Check again as 32V is definate not good, but would be unlikely if alt output is 25V.
Unless its a 4 wire star alt, and u measured from 1 phase to neutral. and your phase to phases is like 42V

[Spuds1234]

I put you wrong with the alternator output. Its about 66V between all 3 phases. I had the wrong wires.

What I was testing when I got 25V must have been something different. Probably the wires coming out of the RR. There were 4 of them 2 of a blue colour and 2 of a red colour I think.

I cant remember if there were 25V between a red and a blue or a blue and a blue now though.

I'll retest the AC voltage shortly. If I do get a high value again is it likely that my RR unit is on the way out?

[Juzz976]

yes or its not earthed properly, its most likely a shunt type, meaning it drains off current back to ground to limit the voltage.

I'll draw A pic for u when i get home

[Spuds1234]

Well the new battery has solved all my starting problems which is nice.

Now to get to the bottom of the RR putting out 32Vac and the tail light bulb blowing (which I wont be able to check again for a day as the local servo was out of bulbs this morning).

Would this high AC voltage be likely to shag my new battery in short order or do I have a bit of time to get it sorted?

At some stage I'll try another meter and see what I get. My meter is only a cheap one.

[Juzz976]

Yep, you'll notice the acid will boil out the overflow tube. If you can use another meter to check, also make sure the range wasnt on mV cos 32mV would be ok.

This can also cause damage to other components, you cdi should have its own regulation built in but the pulsing may eventually kill it.

Sorry drawing is work in progress as its evovled into something that will be of use to many people with reg/alt problems.

[Spuds1234]

Both batteries Ive had have been of the sealed variety as it is on about a 45° angle.

What are the signs of the battery boiling if its a sealed battery? Are there any tricks to stop/prevent the battery from boiling?

The meter only has a 200V and a 500V setting for AC. I still only get the 32Vac reading when I have the "positive" lead on the meter hooked up to the positive terminal and the "negative" lead hooked up to the negative terminal.

If I switch them around it just says zero.

I got a new tail light before from repco and its still good after a quick 5 minute ride whereas before it was blowing after a minute or two so Im going to keep a spare on me and see how things go with that.

[Spuds1234]

I think my meter is stuffed. I figured that an easy way to test it would be to put it on the AC setting and put it across the old battery with nothing connected to it.

It read 28Vac with nothing connected to the battery, and 35Vac with my battery charger connected. So Im guessing that my RR is probably fine and my meter has put us on a wild goose chase.

[neels]

I think my meter is stuffed. I figured that an easy way to test it would be to put it on the AC setting and put it across the old battery with nothing connected to it.

It read 28Vac with nothing connected to the battery, and 35Vac with my battery charger connected. So Im guessing that my RR is probably fine and my meter has put us on a wild goose chase.

Yep, your meter is dodgy, should read the same both ways around and nothing across a battery.

If you're getting 14.6 VDC on your battery that's about right, so your bulb shouldn't be blowing. Seem strange to only be the tail light though, if you had too many volts running around then I'd expect your instrument, headlight and indicator bulbs to go as well. I'm trying to think of a wiring fault that could cause the bulb to blow but can't really think of anything. You could try turning it on and see if it blows when you put the brakes on instead, if it does that would make it really confusing.

Edit: I've got a good multimeter at my place if you want to brave the dodgy roads and bring it round for a look.

[Spuds1234]

Yip its an interesting problem thats for sure. Should be sorted soon enough but in the mean time Im just going to carry around a spare bulb or two.

Thanks for the offer of the meter. I'll just pop in and see Wayne though as I dont know when I'll be heading into town again. At the moment there's a nice wee gravel detour around Lineside road. Im hoping the road through to Ohoka is open as that should be a little less gravelly.

[Spuds1234]

Just an update incase anyone is interested.

All the electical problems on the bike seem to have fixed themselves with a new battery. Although I have yet to test the R/R Vac output.

I will edit this post when I have sometime in the next week.