not charging

[bumpmuncher]

hello again got another gremlin bike has stoped charging. any suggestions. have got recipt for diode board and rotor tool with the bike. and the regulator has a red top where should i start. she has been doing well nearly 2 weeks and not had to attack it with any tools untill now. how far can you get with a full non charging battery with no lights on. working in london and dont want to use car tomorrow. Bm

PS any one know about the guzzi paris dakar bike/ traily followed one the other day spent ages trying to figure out what the trail bike with shaftdrive was

 

[cookie]

does the charge light come on when you turn on the ignition before starting engine? if not, yer rotor's fecked.

the guzzi was a Quota.

 

[Wreford Miles]

Have you put a volt meter across the battery when the bike is running to get the real facts?

I think you can bypass the regulator if you are not getting charge with to eliminate that as a fault.

This site helped me: http://home.jps.net/~snowbum/techindex.htm

My airhead had the charge light come on but it was still charging!

 

[cookie]

My airhead had the charge light come on but it was still charging!

diode board fecked?

 

[bumpmuncher]

volt meter reads the same engine running or not it read just under 10v when the aa turned up charged it for 10 mins 13v which got me home going back out to check the other bits had no lights to say not charging. cheers Bm

 

[bumpmuncher]

befor i go back out couple of things it had a new diode board before i got it and its got rotor tool so it may be possible that the previous owner had problems and replaced diode board and played with the rotor to get bit more time out of it. when i got it i did not think it was charging that well it was 12.8v engine running with no change with revs thought this was not unusual but i noticed today the regulator says 14v on it

 

[cookie]

volt meter reads the same engine running or not it read just under 10v when the aa turned up charged it for 10 mins 13v which got me home going back out to check the other bits had no lights to say not charging. cheers Bm

but does the charge light come on before starting the engine?

the lamp is in series with the rotor. if the lamp does not come on with ignition it almost always means the rotor has gone open circuit.

conversely lamp will not light to indicate any charge problem when the engine's running if the rotor's shot.


the standard regulator (red top) does not allow much charge anyway. the black top "police spec" item is not much better. old fashioned bean tin reg charges much higher IME.

 

[nud1e]

Rotor

It's an airhead. The battery isn't charging. The rotor is fecked.
This is one of life's great truth, one of the things that you can be certain of when everything else is chaos.
Have a read of http://65.38.186.190/forums/showthread.php?t=38180

 

[bumpmuncher]

cheers for the quick replys going to go get my charger then check it brb (in a bit)

 

[Wreford Miles]

diode board fecked?

I'd put a secondhand diode board on to try and cure a power drain.

When this happened I read that it could be a diode not matching the voltage across the charge light so I dug out the old one cleaned it, tested it, fitted it and the lights been out every since!

However I have test the one I took off and the meter says it's OK!

As you seem to be a a knowledgable man:

Occasionally the neatural light will glow... I rekon it's the dioed in the starter relay. What do you think?

As for the power drain that's got me stumped... I supose it would help if I knoew how to use a meter to test for a drain.... que ;-)

 

[cookie]

I'd put a secondhand diode board on to try and cure a power drain.

When this happened I read that it could be a diode not matching the voltage across the charge light so I dug out the old one cleaned it, tested it, fitted it and the lights been out every since!

However I have test the one I took off and the meter says it's OK!

As you seem to be a a knowledgable man:

Occasionally the neatural light will glow... I rekon it's the dioed in the starter relay. What do you think?

As for the power drain that's got me stumped... I supose it would help if I knoew how to use a meter to test for a drain.... que ;-)

could be a failing diode in the diode board backfeeding the neutral light somehow, or possibly just a bad earth somewhere.

diode boards seem a bit prone to problems, especially mounted where they are, they get too hot. less grief with them on guzzis as they are out in the breeze. ditto starter motors.

i always keep a new diode board spare to use as a test substitute

 

[bumpmuncher]

rotor is gone no continuity inbetween rings so the list gos ,recon rotor, new brushes and springs. do i need to replace the brush holder if it looks ok and do i need any other bits. think i will use it tomorrow 70mile each way "gentelmen place your bets please" and hope i dont need the man with the yellow van again they were quite quick today gave them a call after seeing if i could do any thing only just had time to finnish my lefover lunch tossers picnic on the side of the A12 1 airhead in attendance thanks for the quick replys Bm with a battflattery

 

[bumpmuncher]

all fixed re con rotor fitted and now it charges. got to turn the idle up not charging at tickover, its about 750rpm bit below spec think i will not upset it and see how it gos thanks for the pointers Bm

 

[Rob Farmer]

Not charging at tickover is normal. The charge light should go out around 1500 rpm. If it does I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[bumpmuncher]

cheers rob dont suppose its a good idea to let them tickover for too long any way. think i will leave the idle as is dont want to upset her seeing as she seems nicely ballanced. think i am going to enjoy the rest of the days sun and check out the charging. Bm

 

[nud1e]

Spare rotor

u now need to get a spare rotor. U will put this somewhere safe as it is important to have a spare rotor for an airhead, especially when going on a ong trip.















When u going on a long trip and need this rotor, it will be have put it in such a safe place that you will be unable to find it.

Such is the life of an airhead,

 

[bumpmuncher]

that sounds about right. i already have spare set of springs and brushes thought they were sold in singles not pairs so got 2 sets cant be bothered to return them. they may come in handy

 

[(RIP) Proff]

Not charging at tickover is normal. The charge light should go out around 1500 rpm. If it does I wouldn't worry about it.

Agreed, If my charge light went out below 800 rpm I'd be looking at a fried battery within a week

 

[bumpmuncher]

ok been out for a ride battery light goes out at inbetween 1250 and 1500 rpm and comes on at 1000 rpm on the run down and i am getting around 13v with a few revs so am reasonably happy thanks for the input. Bm