Topic: Can a CB550 recharge a battery from completely dead?

[savannahcafe]

Ok, heres my issue. I removed the factory battery that is good for 12ah and replaced it with 2 12 volt 5.5ah sealed batteries. They don't seem to be keeping a charge. I also upgraded my headlight to a new style light(non sealed glass beam) Is there any way that the charging system cant charge the batteries fast enough to keep up with the light?  I had no problems with the factory battery and this light combo. I have the light wired to ignition also (its on when the key is on)  I have a dyna ignition on the bike so after dropping below I guess 10 volts theres no starting it even with the kick start. Have I overlooked something with the new batteries? Any suggestions would be great. Also please don't tell me to reinstall the points, I'm looking for help getting this thing going with what I have.  Thanks in advance.

Mark

[BobbyR]

Check the voltage ath the battery when the bike is running. The alternators don;t kick in till they get above 2500 rpm. With everything on, you should get about 14 - 14.5.V If not you may need to adjust the regulator. The battery actually runs the bike and the alternator recharges the battery.

[savannahcafe]

At Idle it shows about 12 volts at 3k rpms it just barely breaks into the 13 volts. I also just installed a new rectifier I purchased from oregonmotorcycleparts.com and still have the same situation. How do you adjust the regulator?

[754]

If your battery is a full charge and regulator is doing the regulating.. it should not be reading much higher than 12Volts..

unless I totally misunderstand the charging system..

[savannahcafe]

Problem totally solved. I replaced the 2 batteries with a motorcycle gell cell abd it is working great. 2500rpm shows 14+ volts. Thanks guys.

Mark

[BobbyR]

If your battery is a full charge and regulator is doing the regulating.. it should not be reading much higher than 12Volts..

unless I totally misunderstand the charging system..

Close but no cigar. Since power is always being drawn from the the battery you should see a higher voltage when it is running to keep the battery charged. When off 12V would be the correct reading.

[Hope]

Check the voltage ath the battery when the bike is running. The alternators don;t kick in till they get above 2500 rpm. With everything on, you should get about 14 - 14.5.V If not you may need to adjust the regulator. The battery actually runs the bike and the alternator recharges the battery.

BobbyR, please go teach that stupid "master mechanic" at G.N.Gonzales Honda what the hell an alternator does.

The genius manager over the Honda shop told me that my bike would never charge a battery.  "A bike isn't a battery charger." 

Yeah, I guess since I'm a woman, he took me to be a stupid #$%*.  Duh, I never said my bike was a battery charger, but I have enough knowledge to know that the alternator is supposed to re-charge the battery.

I also have enough sense to know that a new battery shouldn't be dead after just 1 ride.  (Yes, I charge the battery with a trickle charger for approx. 10 hrs before putting it on the bike prior to riding.) Honda checked my charging system.  Checked out fine.  Honda ate their bad rotten over-priced battery, too.  Gave me a free replacement.

When this stupid Honda battery craps out (and it will, probably sooner than later), I am going back to a gel battery.

[BobbyR]

Check the voltage ath the battery when the bike is running. The alternators don;t kick in till they get above 2500 rpm. With everything on, you should get about 14 - 14.5.V If not you may need to adjust the regulator. The battery actually runs the bike and the alternator recharges the battery.

BobbyR, please go teach that stupid "master mechanic" at G.N.Gonzales Honda what the hell an alternator does.

The genius manager over the Honda shop told me that my bike would never charge a battery.  "A bike isn't a battery charger." 

Yeah, I guess since I'm a woman, he took me to be a stupid #$%*.  Duh, I never said my bike was a battery charger, but I have enough knowledge to know that the alternator is supposed to re-charge the battery.

I also have enough sense to know that a new battery shouldn't be dead after just 1 ride.  (Yes, I charge the battery with a trickle charger for approx. 10 hrs before putting it on the bike prior to riding.) Honda checked my charging system.  Checked out fine.  Honda ate their bad rotten over-priced battery, too.  Gave me a free replacement.

When this stupid Honda battery craps out (and it will, probably sooner than later), I am going back to a gel battery.

Hope, the service manager is a salesman. His job is to sell service and minimize re dos on bad jobs, basically by lieing. In a perfect world  power is drawn from the battery and an equal amount is replaced. The job of the regulator is to sense the load, and if the load is high due to a discharged battery the load is greater and it pours more power into the battery. I use a charger that has been modified so that I can control the voltage with a knob. I hook a meter and the charger to the battery and read the voltage and then turn it up until it putting out more voltage than the battery is putting out. The reason for this is I need to push more voltage toward the battery than the battery is pushing back. If they were even voltages no charging could take place. I know Two Tired could go into more detail, but I am a Trainer and I tend make things as simple as possible.