On the road - inconsistent voltage, help diagnosing please!

[jconly]

Originally Posted by Gustavo.Ramos

To the OP i'm not trying hijacking the thread, although it sure looks like!

Not a problem!!
By all means, lets make this a place to sort these issues.

In response to the 13.5-15V healthy number.. I would agree that this is a good range of values one should see. Anything over or under is dangerous. But I disagree that this is an acceptable "working range," if you will.

Since installing my Mosfet I've seen some interesting things.
When I first installed it, I was seeing that 14-14.4 number that I was looking for.
As time has progressed, that peak output has dropped a little, and the scale has slid down slightly.
I get the best numbers on the open road, in the city here, and certainly idling, performance drops.

So what's the deal... heat.

I feel like these regulators are in a terrible place on our bike. Hidden by the skidplate, with no windflow to keep them cool. Call me crazy, but IMO it shortens their life span. They slowly die.


My suggestions... Order up a Shindengen.
Find a good place to mount it with solid airflow.

I'm about to take my back on the TET all the way down to Miami, and I'll be keeping a close eye as I go and while down there. If theres any place that will put a hurting on it, its being in a city much further south. If the regulator beings to slide further down that scale, I'll be looking for a new place to mount it.

[bomose]

I'm just getting back to this thread.I had a few times on my trip that my bike was hard to start, mostly when cold.Batteries Plus twice checked the battery and said it was 100%. They were wrong. It was the battery. After I replaced it, no problems at all.

[Gustavo.Ramos]

So my 990 was having a bit of a hard time or strange mood regarding battery charge. After disassembling the electric area near the battery and cleaning everything i found this:



What i find strange is that such important part is so poorly crafted to avoid moisture contamination.

New starter relay on order

[jconly]

Originally Posted by Gustavo.Ramos

So my 990 was having a bit of a hard time or strange mood regarding battery charge. After disassembling the electric area near the battery and cleaning everything i found this:



What i find strange is that such important part is so poorly crafted to avoid moisture contamination.

New starter relay on order

Agreed, it's really not a good place for those components.
Same can be said for the VR... why does it live in such a hot place? Right under the engine, shielded from cooling by the bash plate. Should be up and out front, why not mount were they put the oil coolers on the race bikes?

[Gustavo.Ramos]

Originally Posted by jconly

Agreed, it's really not a good place for those components.
Same can be said for the VR... why does it live in such a hot place? Right under the engine, shielded from cooling by the bash plate. Should be up and out front, why not mount were they put the oil coolers on the race bikes?

Some decisions are purely void of meaning. Being in the auto industry (cars) i've seen some things that would made me scratch severely my already bald head...

Back to my bike, after changing the starter relay all the fussing with improper charging is gone. Onto the next issue!