VFRfix Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Ok so I bought a voltmeter to test my electrical system. I noticed that my clock keeps resetting itself on my 5th gen. 1999 vfr800. In any case when i check the battery it reads 12.6 volts. when i turn the bike on it will slowly climb up to 14 volts. But the climb isn't matching the amount i rev the engine. I see in some videos online that as a person revs the engine the volts climb up more as the person revs it. But mine just seem to steadily climb up to 14 without reving the engine. and they don;t go passed 14 ... Battery tested good at Autozone. Is this normal? Is it showing signs of charging problem? If everything is normal why is my clock not holding time? :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNRabbit Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 The Drill: Go through all your connectors for burnt leads, dig deep. Crispy wires? Not good. 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, Batterys Plus 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 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, try at 1900 rpm. (It’s not unusual for the system to be in discharge or no charge at idle.) - Check stator - 1. Pull connector apart. Set meter to resistance. Check pin to pin stator side, 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. (Engine off) - 2. Check continuity from each A,B,C pin stator side to ground, -- -should be infinity - nada nothing. no continuity. -- 3 separate checks. (Engine off, again connector is apart) - 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 stator side connector and still apart. - Repeat hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFRfix Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 Ok the battery has been checked by oreilly and they said it is good. I bought a voltmeter and these are the numbers I get - which seem weird. 1. bike off 12.5 volts 2. start bike and let it warm up for 5 minutes - check volts at battery 14.0 volts 3. rev engine to 5,000 rpm volts drop a bit to between 13.5-13.8 volts. that is that drop about? I thought i was suppose to be higher than when idling... ??? I'll do the rest of your stator check now if I can figure out how to set this multimeter to resistance and continuity... (got the harbor freight one) (bike always starts up no problem) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFRfix Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 Ok so I went through your stator test... - Resistance I set meter to the omega sign and checked the stator wire (wire going to stator not to R/R) with engine off. I kept getting readings of 3.3 between slots (i had the multi meter set to "omega sign 200" - but there were 4 other options on the multimeter) - Continuity Checking each wire to ground I got no reading ------Turned engine on - set multimeter too 200 ac volts - engine on the resistance was something about 18 for each slot - engine on with revs resistance test was up to fifty and over if I reved higher. turned engine off recheck resistance - 3.3 to 3.6 -rechecked again 20 minutes later and it came in under 1 ??? lol :P Why the slight voltage drop when i rev the engine and check the voltage at the battery (it will drop to 13.5 volts when reving instead of going higher - when i stop reving goes right back to 14.0)? Hmmm.... is it possible my new harbor freight multimeter is not calibrated correctly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MorganSteele Posted April 19, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 19, 2015 Wish I could help, but I've had a good R/R since Day 1 and still test with good voltage. Hopefully, someone can help here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFRfix Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 Hi, with your good system do the volts drop slightly when you rev your engine up to 5k? (testing from the battery terminals) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rovari Posted April 21, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 21, 2015 Just to add to TNRabbit's great suggestions...I found the below link in electrical and it provides a flow chart from "Electrosport" which you can follow to determine if you have faults in both your stator and or R/R. Good luck http://www.electrosport.com/Images/fault_finding.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MarkDetroit Posted April 21, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 21, 2015 Hi, with your good system do the volts drop slightly when you rev your engine up to 5k? (testing from the battery terminals) Voltage does not drop as rpm increases from idle. Your stator tests are not good. If you are uncertain about your meter maybe invite a friend over who has his own meter to double check results. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spud786 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Ok so I bought a voltmeter to test my electrical system. I noticed that my clock keeps resetting itself on my 5th gen. 1999 vfr800. In any case when i check the battery it reads 12.6 volts. when i turn the bike on it will slowly climb up to 14 volts. But the climb isn't matching the amount i rev the engine. I see in some videos online that as a person revs the engine the volts climb up more as the person revs it. But mine just seem to steadily climb up to 14 without reving the engine. and they don;t go passed 14 ... Battery tested good at Autozone. Is this normal? Is it showing signs of charging problem? If everything is normal why is my clock not holding time? :/ 12.6 is below threshold on a agm battery that's fully charge, 12.7 volt is replacent stage, Good battery will hold above 12.9 volt, and normally above 13. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayarearider Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 When it comes time to replace, try these guys. Two day free shipping from Oregon, no tax. Just got a Shorai from them last week. http://www.batterystuff.com/batteries/motorcycle/?gclid=CIv2qa-2hsUCFQSUfgodraAAbg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MBrane Posted April 21, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 21, 2015 Voltage dropping as RPMs increase is a sign of a baked stator. You need to do the stator test with bike fully warmed up i.e. temp should be well above 200℉. Waiting until the fan kicks in, and then shuts off again is better. That means things are good 'n warm. As the previous post states a good battery should read at least 12.7 volts 24hrs after a full charge assuming there is no parasitic drain. I have one of those cheapo CenTec multimeters I keep on the bike at all times, and I have found it to be surprisingly accurate for the price compared to my Fluke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFRfix Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 Ok I'll recheck the stator again with it fully warmed up. But i did check it running and it seemed good... Maybe I'll jut assume this is a battery problem and get a new one eventually. It seems fine for starts and really only seems to be messing with the clock. I might just keep it alive a while longer... can i add water to it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MBrane Posted April 25, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted April 25, 2015 Batteries are consumables so I just replace 'em when in doubt. I have had them test good then fail 2 days later in the middle of a trip. The clock reset on hot start is a sign that it's near death given good connections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFRfix Posted April 26, 2015 Author Share Posted April 26, 2015 Oh ok... I'll do that then... thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer HughJebolzak Posted December 3, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted December 3, 2015 Reviving the thread here. I did a quick check on my recently purchased '99 and got the following (just took battery charger leads off prior to testing); Bike off - 13.5 Volts Idle - 14.3 Volts 5000 rpm - 14 Volts What does that tell you? I'm new at this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted December 4, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted December 4, 2015 Looks pretty good - though I've not seen a resting battery at 13.5v. If it just came of the charger, maybe start it, run for a bit then once off re-check. My guess is high 12's (12.8 or so) is what you'll get, which is good. When the R/R on my '99 was going out, I would get low 14's at idle and then the voltage would decrease as RPM came up down to about 13.5v at 5,000 rpm. If it were mine I'd put a voltage meter on it and keep an eye on how it behaves - if the lower voltage with increasing rpm's gets progressively worse I'd probably swap out the R/R. Also check your connections from the R/R particularly to the stator for heat / discoloration. If those show signs of stress, cut them off and solder the wires for a good connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spud786 Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Reviving the thread here. I did a quick check on my recently purchased '99 and got the following (just took battery charger leads off prior to testing); Bike off - 13.5 Volts Idle - 14.3 Volts 5000 rpm - 14 Volts What does that tell you? I'm new at this. For a 5th gen, that sounds good, they don't quite have the output of the 6th gens, put the bright lights on when you do the 5000 rpm test or a lot gets shunted to ground, and why you see the voltage drop with rpm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer HughJebolzak Posted December 5, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted December 5, 2015 Good to know. The seller (a forum member here) tells me the bike already has a VFRness, updated Honda voltage regulator and electrical connections cleaned with Oxyguard most every year. I'll have a peek at the stator in the spring. She's tucked away for the winter at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ca315 Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Ive got a '99 with an upgraded rectifier in it. Manual says rectifier output:14-14.8V Battery fully charged at 13.2V I've got a lithium battery in mine, sits at 13.2v with engine off. Running the engine the voltage sits at 13.5V with the lights on. Doesn't take much to keep the lithium battery charged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer VFROZ Posted December 16, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted December 16, 2016 On my 2001 with Honda stator and R1 rectifier I get 14.1 at 5000rpm, and 13.4 at idle with lights on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer MBrane Posted December 16, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted December 16, 2016 Anything below 13 at idle, and near or above 15 at speed is not good. Should be a fairly steady 14 to 14.5 at anything above 2K RPM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer fink Posted December 16, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted December 16, 2016 54 minutes ago, VFROZ said: On my 2001 with Honda stator and R1 rectifier I get 14.1 at 5000rpm, and 13.4 at idle with lights on. That's fine 5 k lights on main should be about 14.5v Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer VFROZ Posted December 16, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted December 16, 2016 A bit low at idle with lights on, check your idle speed. I raised mine to 1300rpm for that reason. If you did lots of stop start traffic riding with that voltage you will drain battery. Did you replace your main fuse holder from R&R to battery? That could be your bottle neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Cogswell Posted December 17, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted December 17, 2016 2 hours ago, Saoirse said: is the idle adjusted through the little hole in the right side of the frame? It is. There should be a rubber plug in the hole, but many go missing over the years. The FSM says idle speed s/b 1,200 rpm, 1,300 for a California emission equipped model, so 1,300 should work out fine if it helps bump up the idle voltage a bit. I can't recall if a flat blade or Phillips head screwdriver is required - maybe someone's done it more recently and remembers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer VFROZ Posted December 17, 2016 Member Contributer Share Posted December 17, 2016 Phillips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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