Beck Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 The new Radio Shack True RMS tester I just bought for really cheap (70 bucks originally, but I got it for only 22 bucks!) from a closing Radio Shack store last week, is revealing ame surprising things with my charging system. The 13.6 -13.8 volts (at Idle) that i was was getting on my on-board voltmeter (connected to license plate light (removed from the bike) circuit) was giving me the wrong "signals" about my charging system, was way off! The RMS tester is telling me now that at the battery posts, the voltage is at 14.3 - 14.5 volts at idle, with not too much change at all to 4K RPMs Which I think is pretty good. instead of marginal. which I always thought with the on board voltmeter readings. I don't think the on board meter is defective of way off calibration. I think the readings are lower as it is coming from the license plate light circuit and not directly from the battery. I guess there is voltage loss with that circuit before it gets to the voltmeter..... So at least one big lesson learned here for me, relating to on-board voltmeters, rig up the on-board meter so that it takes readings straight from the battery and not an existing switched circuit. I really don't want to add yet another relay to do so to fix the situation so maybe I'll piggyback the voltmeter on to the already exiting relay I installed for the grip heaters which is taking power directly from the battery when the grips are switched on. Tested the Stator for any signs of continuity between legs, and it is OK. Running voltages seems to be OK too. Only niggling problem that still seems to come up occasionally that is most likely electrical in nature, but not detectable so far with my meter, is a slight miss at idle. I suspect that it could be my ignition leads deteriorating/arcing over or something similar, as it goes away every time I move the ignition leads around under the fairings....... The big red horse is getting old after all at 20 years now......and these small niggling hiccups are just natural to come up at this point, I guess.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Mohawk Posted June 17, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted June 17, 2015 Good to see you have a handle on the voltage reading. Re the miss, why not just replace the HT leads ? Buy a length of quality HT lead & cut to size, then tap on to the cool & plug cap, easy peezy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telegraphroad Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Have you checked the voltage at your licence plate light with the same voltmeter? Anything more than around 0.5V drop between the battery and any simple switched circuit could indicate a failing connection elsewhere in the circuit. In the worst case this could cause overheating of the faulty connector and melted parts - or worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beck Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Have you checked the voltage at your licence plate light with the same voltmeter? Anything more than around 0.5V drop between the battery and any simple switched circuit could indicate a failing connection elsewhere in the circuit. In the worst case this could cause overheating of the faulty connector and melted parts - or worse. Thanks for the heads up. I'll check all the connectors related to that circuit and see if there's a problem. I also suspect that the cheapy voltmeter design on my on-board vold meter by "Fizz" is just also inaccurate, as it is really just swag meant to farkle up a boy racer car's interiors..... I'll check the voltage with my tested where I connected the on-board voltmeter..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryboyle Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 What was the result of your investigation? Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Rectaltronics Posted August 25, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted August 25, 2015 I'm curious too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.