Is 13.6 V charging enough? + more.

[HyperPete]

I was under the impression that the 1999 I just purchased had a bad battery, so I replaced it last Friday. The new battery did not have enough juice to kick the bike over, so I jumped it and rode home, about 40 minutes on the highway. I assumed I would have enough surface charge from the ride home to kick it over, but it was flat upon my return.

I cleaned the grounds at the lower right corner of the engine and by the bottom right side of the top cover and put it on the batter tender for 2 1/2 days. The bike fired right up, but voltage across the battery terminals at 3 - 4000 RPMs is just 13.6 V. That seems nominal at best to me, but perhaps I am wrong.

Is 13.6 V enough, or do I need to track down a charging system gremlin?

Below are a couple of photos of the ground locations I found. Are there any others I need to clean and hit with dielectic grease? I also used dielectric grease in all of the connectors, including the one on the left side behind the side cover that I am guessing is from the stator (3 yellow wires.)

Lastly, the last photo shows some new (orange) wires added with crimp connectors (to be soldered very soon.) Are there any suggestions to what was wired in based upon the location of the connections?

Thank you in advance!

 

[Rusty McNeil]

I think you have to be on a personal computer to delete a post, not sure you can do it there either tho'

You can edit it and just leave a deleted comment in its place

 

[alorio1]

Here is a good read on what is adequate voltage and how to improve on your charging system...http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=19108

 

[HyperPete]

PERFECT! Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

 

[alorio1]

If you do everything Ra did, author of the "HOW TO", and just leave out the R1 mod. I'm almost positive your voltage will come up to par, pending your rectifier is good.

 

[Rusty McNeil]

13.6 isn't really that bad tho, if its consistent, but it can do better.

 

[HyperPete]

Well, it won't hurt to go through everything. If nothing else I will become more familiar with the bike.

 

[magna_dude74]

Well, it won't hurt to go through everything. If nothing else I will become more familiar with the bike.

Hey All,
I was having low and inconsistent reading when I did my (3) checks, off / idle / 2500RPM, so I started looking around. I cleaned the connector on the block and the surfaces of the frame. I also pulled the rear coil mount up and out of the way, to check if previous owner did the "crimp-fix", needless to say this is when the wife stuck her head and asked if I was ready to go:ummm::bang head::ummm: It was my in-law's birthday party (time flies when you get into the "MAX-ZONE" so I quickly buttoned her up, without confirming the "crimp-fix" and headed off to the party. needless to say, my HOT-START issue has gone away:clapping:, but that just means I need to find the weak spot in the cluster of wires. My nephew (WYOTECH grad) said I need to spray all these connectors with electrical contact cleaner, and to do the "crimp-fix" or just bypass the crimp and run direct from R/R to battery. Just thought I would state it's worth putting your hands on everythingunk:

 

[KJShover]

13.6 isn't really that bad tho, if its consistent, but it can do better.

+1

I went through my wiring harness one lazy day and pretty much cut out the crimps and such and soldered and then heat shrink wrapped the connection. Then I went to the connections that I left. I disassembled them and soldered the pins then put them back in the connectors. Then I wired the R/R directly to the battery. All this (with my new stator) gave me almost 1v at idle.

My Stator went toes up so I had it rebuilt from a local company. But For around $100 or so, on eBay there is a guy that rebuilds stators to perform a little better as well and at a very nice price. My bike is now around 13.5 at idle and shoots a little over 14v by the time 1500 r's are hit.

 

[redneksoldier]

+1

I went through my wiring harness one lazy day and pretty much cut out the crimps and such and soldered and then heat shrink wrapped the connection. Then I went to the connections that I left. I disassembled them and soldered the pins then put them back in the connectors. Then I wired the R/R directly to the battery. All this (with my new stator) gave me almost 1v at idle.

My Stator went toes up so I had it rebuilt from a local company. But For around $100 or so, on eBay there is a guy that rebuilds stators to perform a little better as well and at a very nice price. My bike is now around 13.5 at idle and shoots a little over 14v by the time 1500 r's are hit.

This is really the best way to improve the voltage throughout the entire electrical system. If you check the voltage at the headlight, you will find a pretty serious drop in most stock Maxes. If I remember correctly, mine was only getting about 11.2-11.5v at the headlight, horn and fan with the engine running. This was after having done all of the grounds, soldering the three stator wires, and the crimp fix. Battery voltage was about 13.5 at idle, so approximately 2v drop to the headlight. After going through the harness, voltage at the light was about 13.2v reducing the drop to about .3v. It is definitely worth the time to go through the entire harness and fix up some of the engineering no-no's.

 

[sdt354]

I can only get 13.7 through the crimp, it's soldered. But, it's enough. Straight to the battery gives me 14 volts.