Electrical Gremlin Help

[amkluttz]

I have gremlins, please help!!!

I have gone through the tests on this page (http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=38480.msg431967#msg431967) and have pretty much narrowed it to the R/R.  I have ordered a FH010 from a Yamaha R1 to replace it with.  It's supposed to be a MosFet Regulator.

I have been having issues with the bike not cranking at certain places and then started noticing it was doing it on shorter rides.  When I put my multimeter on the battery to test it while running I noticed it was getting 16-16.5 volts.  I knew something wasn't right so I spent part of yesterday tearing down the bike to do the checks on the above mentioned link.  I also took the battery to Advanced Auto and had them run a test on it.  To my surprise he said the battery checked good but that it did need a several hour charge.  I took it home and let it charge on low for 8-9 hours before putting it in the bike. 

It sat overnight and when I checked it before cranking this morning it was at 13 volts or so and was 13.5-14 volts while running so I figured it would be fine to take to church.  I rode the 10 minute ride to church and parked.  Left church 3 hours later and it didn't even have enough juice to turn the starter.  I am becoming an expert at push starting this thing.  Normally I would take my time and work through this but I have a Blue Ridge Parkway trip coming up on Saturday and a friend riding all the way to North Carolina from Wisconsin to ride with us.  I can't keep dealing with this. 

I did notice that my lights were extremely dim on the way home and that my indicator lights on the dash were sluggish with the signals.  How could one 10 minute ride be enough to kill the battery that much?  When I got home I took another reading and it was somewhere around 10 volts which I guess explains the lights. 

My question is could this all be because of the R/R or does it sound like I could have something else wrong as well?  Is there a possibility that the guy at Advanced doesn't know what he's talking about and that I really do need a battery?  I'm in a time crunch for ordering parts and getting things fixed before next Saturday.  We've had this trip planned for months and I would hate to miss it but I just don't feel comfortable on my bike. 

[adidasguy]

Voltage regulator going above 15 volts means it is dieing. It may now be dead.

You can ride 20 minutes or so on a fully charged Shorai battery (ask how I know).

Given the bigger capacity of a Shorai, I would say 10 minutes is about all you get from a standard battery if it is not charging.

[amkluttz]

I guess my next question would be....   What else can it be?  Am I pretty solid with just replacing the regulator?  The stator ohm'd out fine but I had the bike in too many pieces to fire it up and check the stator.  I'm probably going to check that out tonight. 

So all I should be looking at is the stator, regulator, and battery?  The stator checked out fine (for the most part) and the battery tested fine as well.  The regulator only passed half of it's test so that's what I jumped on first. 

[adidasguy]

Over voltage is always the regulator - because it has stopped regulating. Often the clues to bad regulator are:

1. Not charging, so things go dim and die while riding
2. Lights going bright and dim (but can also be a bad battery as the battery acts like a huge capacitor)
3. Blowing out headlights repeatedly (over voltage will do that)

Most common electrical part to go out from what I have seen is the voltage regulator (well, maybe the fuse ranks first or at least second.)

Replace the regulator and you will be OK.
Go used stock. If buying a new one, spring a few bucks more for a MosFet one. They do work better and shut down if over stressed (then turn back on) rather than blowing out.

[vinny]

Voltage regulator going above 15 volts means it is dieing. It may now be dead.

You can ride 20 minutes or so on a fully charged Shorai battery (ask how I know).

Given the bigger capacity of a Shorai, I would say 10 minutes is about all you get from a standard battery if it is not charging.

Odd, i managed an hour and a half on the cheapest [new] battery that fit. Still had enough juice left over to start up after that.

OP - a 10 min ride then sitting for 3 hrs should leave plenty of power.. What voltage do you get off the battery when at 5000rpm? (Below that it wont generate enough)

[amkluttz]

So I just got back from a ride after installing my Shindengen FH010 regulator/rectifier.  It seems to have fixed the problem but there still seems to be an issue.

When using my multi-meter to test the battery while idling I'm getting 16.5-18 volts at the battery.  Could there be something wrong still?  That just doesn't seem right.  After a 17 mile ride I touched the r/r to see if it was hot and didn't feel a thing.

I deleted the factory wiring as suggested here and ran the stator leads directly to the r/r and the positive and negative leads from the r/r directly to the battery (with the 30 amp fuse in the positive lead).

If anyone has any ideas...