Topic: Some urgent electrical help needed!

[evinrude7]

good luck with the charging system.  enjoying the blog. 

[The Lone Builder]

The LED voltage monitor is good info. Flashing red is too high voltage.

On mine PeWe, flashing red indicated <12.1.

I have finally made it to Addis. It took 30 hours to complete about 350km!

We set off and the bakkie broke down. The driver reckoned it was fuel pump. After watching things for a bit I told him I thought the pump was OK and it was a electrical or control issue. Nobody listened. After a couple of hours a mechanic came and dismantled adn cleaned the pump; still no go. We got a ride back to the town we start from for the night, leaving bakkie and bike in the charge of local village policeman.

Returned next morning and a new mechanic took 5 mins to fix the electrical problem - I never found out what it was exactly. On our way? No chance! We now had to go back to get the bonnet catch fixed. several hours later that was done and we picked up two more passengers and set off. We stopped for lunch about 1530 then set off again through thunderstorms.

About 30km from Addis, we stopped again; we had run out of fuel!! Someone went of to get a can filled and meanwhile we changed the rear tyre which was flat! After. About 1,5 hours the fuel arrived and we headed to town. The two passengers were dropped off and finally I arrived at my friends place at about 2200, having first set off at 1600 the previous day.

And all this grand local experience only cost me $100. 

So now the plan is to find a reliable battery shop, or buy a charger and give the battery a good overnight charge, while dying (Freudian typo I think) trying to source a new battery. Then I’ll run all the diagnostics again just to be sure it is the battery; I don’t want to be stuck somewhere between here and Khartoum.

Will let you know.

[PeWe]

OK, flashing red-green is the too high alarm. I have seen that sometimes.

[The Lone Builder]

I found a battery shop where they produced a Bosch battery analyser and told me teh battery was fine, but needed charging. No, they couldn’t charge it.

After much searching I found a place that had reasonable looking chargers adn where the guy seemed to understand the idea of stepped charging.

I left the battery with him and collected it a few hours later, when it read 13.4V; looked good. Then I went through the charging system again and everything checked out.  So I’m all set to go.

Except .....

The Sudanese Embassy had run out of visa stickers and had no idea when they would get some new ones and the Saudi Embassy wasn’t issuing visas to anyone but pilgrims until after the Hajj - in 3 weeks time! So I decided to avoid high blood pressure and frustration for 3 more weeks in Addis and flew home to replenish my patience tank.

Saudi make it very hard to get a visa, so I’ve decided they don’t deserve me as a visitor; I’m now going to go through Egypt. This will cost me €300 to get an additional Carnet de Passage, but what can you do?

So now I’m waiting for visa approval from both Sudanese and Egyptian embassies in Dublin and for a few other things, including the carnet to arrive by post. Hopefully they will come before the end of the week; come or not, I fly back to Addis on Sunday to re-enter the fray.

I’ve bought a battery charger - just in case!

[Deltarider]

Saudi make it very hard to get a visa, so I’ve decided they don’t deserve me as a visitor; I’m now going to go through Egypt. This will cost me €300 to get an additional Carnet de Passage, but what can you do?

Man, you will love Egypt. Follow the Nile and you will meet the nicest people everywhere... where as boring Saudi Arabia... jeez, what made you even consider going there?

[MauiK3]

Just read the latest blog, frustrating for you!
Best of luck in getting it all sorted out.
Aloha

[The Lone Builder]

 Man, you will love Egypt. Follow the Nile and you will meet the nicest people everywhere... where as boring Saudi Arabia... jeez, what made you even consider going there? [/quote]

I wanted to go to Iran and Saudi was the only possible route. Then Iran banned bikes above 250cc, ruling that out. I hear this has now been lifted, but Saudi still too difficult, so Iran will have to wait.

Now it’s Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Syria (again), Turkey, Greece and finally Belfast!

I know, I know, but as I said before, what can you do? 

[PeWe]

Ferry from Alexandria and cross the sea seems to not be an option?

[johans]

Had a motobat agm in my Ducati and it failed after a year , not a big fan . Have AntiGravity in everything now ( with obligatory v meter  and dedicated Ricks RR ) .  Never have a problem with charging ( or cooling  =)   The v meter gives a great piece of mind -

[The Lone Builder]

Ferry from Alexandria and cross the sea seems to not be an option?

I’m sure it’s possible, but everything I read about shipping into and out of Alex, put me off exploring further.

Also I want to minimise the ferry bits as much as possible; the idea was to ride, not cruise  . But if needs must ....

[The Lone Builder]

Update:

Back in Ethiopia and have all the visas I need to get to Jordan. But the electrics continue to be a problem.

I left Addis with a fully charged battery and my new Dyna 5 Ohm coils fitted. About 100 miles out I noticed the voltage monitor was orange and then it started to flash. So I stopped short of my destination having covered about 150 miles and checked voltage - the bike died just as I got to a hotel. It was 6.5 volts!

Next morning with it recharged – happy I bought that charger – I set off again, but only made it 100 miles before same trouble.

Another recharge, this time with the aim of getting to next big town and trying to sort the problem once and for all. I was even considering getting a new battery, in spite of the previous bill of good health, even though this would require a trip to Johannesburg and back!

I almost made the 100 odd miles, but the bike died 12.5 miles out. This required a few hours in a roadside “garage coffee shop” to recharge the battery ..... again (see pic).

I made it to the hotel I was aiming for ... just.

Having put the battery on charge again, I set about going over the charging system again, from scratch. While checking the resistance between yellow alternator wires at the rectifier (hadn’t done this before), I discovered that the wiring from the rectifier (electronic replacement from Germany) plug did not match the wiring from the harness; only 2 of the yellow wires were connected!

So I guess this would mean I only had 2/3 of the charging current which would help explain why the battery was discharging. But, I have been running like this for some 12,000 km, although the problems only started about 4-5,000 km ago.

Is it possible that the battery was slowly discharging all along, but only recently was unable to keep up with the demands on it, given the weak charge it was getting?

The bigger question now though is, “Is the battery beyond it?” It will reach 13+ volts on the charger, but seems to drop quite quickly once removed. In a few hours it is down to 12.something. I have to decide whether to spend $600 or so to fly to Jo’Burg, plus cost of battery, plus cost of new visa ($100) or to risk going on with this one.

I plan to let it charge overnight; let it sit for a couple of hours; put it in the bike and test the charging current/voltage. If that is OK, then I’ll take it for a ride and see what happens. If green light stays on, then I’ll chance it ... maybe ...

Thoughts?

[Deltarider]

... It will reach 13+ volts on the charger, but seems to drop quite quickly once removed. In a few hours it is down to 12.something.
Thoughts?

Yes, having read your last post, it seems to me the battery is toast. A battery reading 12V is around 80% depleted. However if you mean by '12.something' 12,6 or more, battery is still good.

[RAFster122s]

I am thinking your battery is a goner. Would it be possible to call a place that has the needed battery in stock and have them sell you a battery over the phone and ship it to you?

Do not understand what you mean about two of the yellow wires? Are you saying you only have two of the three wires connected and showing resistance or that only two of the three wires are connected to the rectifier?
Do you have a broken wire from the alternator causing it to not supply full alternator capacity or is one of the yellow wires not connected?
All three yellow wires need connected to the rectifier - regulator for the charging system to work.

Can you sketch the wiring from the field wires and from the bike's alternator (three yellow wires) and each of their connections to your rectifier regulator?
David

[The Lone Builder]

I checked the 3 yellow wires at the engine side of the alternator/harness plug; all good - resistance all 0.7 ohms.

Then I went to the rectifier and checked the wires at the harness side of the harness/rectifier plug. Here, based on the position of the yellow wires on the rectifier side, I was getting OL readings. Closer inspection revealed that only two of the yellows were in the right place; pic is the best I can do. Hope it clarifies things.

I tried the delivery option. Only distributors are Egypt and S Africa. DHL from SA would be R14,000 (about $920!) they said! On top of that, customs duty in Ethiopia is enormous, so cheaper to fly there and get it myself.

[PeWe]

Chapter 8 in the CB750 shop manual describe how the diods in rectifier should be measured. I think Twotired has described it too in a charging thread. I'm currently away from my computer, only phone available for a while.

[RAFster122s]

So, have you moved the third yellow so all three are connected? You could do a ride around doing loops outside the city you are in to test to see if the battery is going to hold charge now. Provided you can ride at normal charging rpms...it could verify your battery with lower risk of having to get towed from greater distance.

[Spanner 1]

Battery only getting charged at 2/3 normal rate ( one yellow disconnected ) will eventually kill it for sure. It may accept a charge now that the alternator is correctly wired, good luck !

[scottly]

The bigger question now though is, “Is the battery beyond it?” It will reach 13+ volts on the charger, but seems to drop quite quickly once removed. In a few hours it is down to 12.something.

The battery seems to be able to take a charge and can provide enough power for 100+ miles with a malfunctioning charging system, so I would not say it is "beyond it".
Quick and dirty test when out in the bush with a 750 is to check the magnetism of the field coil at the heads of the coil mounting screws. With a charged battery, key turned on, and motor not running, the screws should be magnetized. If not, the problem is with the regulator/field side of the alternator.

[The Lone Builder]

Battery now at 13.2v. Will let it sit a while and then try again as suggested.

The field coil resistance was a bit high at 8 ohms, but that isn’t a major increase, is it?

Power just gone so internet has died; glad battery was charged before that. Oops, it’s back again.

Later!

[scottly]

Neal, please do the simple magnetism test. If it won't hold 8mm bolts, it won't charge. At one point early on, you stated zero volts on the white field wire. The field coil resistance sounds good, but if it isn't fed 12 volts from the regulator, it can't produce a magnetic field.

[The Lone Builder]

Well it’s later now.

The paper clip stuck when ignition to position 1.

Battery was charged to 13.2 and dropped to 12.96 over next couple of hours. I hooked it up and got the following:
                          Lights off               Pilot Light                Low Beam
IGN Off.                    12.96   
IGN On.                    12.3
1000.                       13.5                      13.3                        12.8
2000.                       14.0                      14.0                        14.07
3000.                       14.07                    14.07                      14.07
4000.                                                   14.11                      14.11                   

I took it for a ride over about 30km in both traffic and open road. Voltage indicator stayed green all the way indicating >13.2 volts. Checking on return, the battery was 12.96V and the green light kept flashing implying >12.5V.

I’ll check it again tomorrow morning, but I reckon I’m good to go, without a trip to J’Burg and with lots of beer money saved.

Tomorrow is, depending on the road and departure time, either a 175km run to Gondar, a 350km ride to the border at Metema, and then into Sudan. ...... or 40km out and 40km back again! 

[Deltarider]

Your readings show no abnormalities sofar.
Gondar is great!

[The Lone Builder]

Everything now working fine 

I can now ride with my running light on again.

Thanks for all the support and advice.

[scottly]

Good job!