imported post
agoguen wrote:
I went on a long trip yesterday to Leesburg Fl and ended up
in stop and go traffic for a long time. When we got to
where we were gonna have lunch I noticed the horn didn't work. But after letting it run for a few mins it started working again. I shut it down and tried to restart and
it was dead.
We ate lunch and it started to to rain so I was figuring
I was gonna have to push start this hog, but it started.
I have notice in the past that when I come to a stop and
apply the brake my lights go dimmer. I have had the stator
plug changed and output checked and it was good.
I am thinking maybe connections are dirty or somthing with
the wiring to cause a drain when the brakes are applied.
Any suggestions?
agoguen, without a voltmeter hooked to your battery when the problem happened there is no real way to tell if you have charging system problems, normal occurance, or a starter problem.
If you are running extra lights or accessories on your Wing you could have just run the battery down in all that stop & go traffic.
Those early Wings only have a 360 watt charging system so there is no charge at engineidle. If you were inching along in traffic for a long time with the cooling fan running & the brakes on you could have run the battery down. Any extra lights really add to that basic problem.
You could also have had a problem with the starter hot soaking due to all that low speed operation & when that happens it just won't crank up until the starter cools off for a while.
On my personal 1200 Wing I have a switch installed to turn the head light off when caught in long traffic jams. I also have an analog voltmeter installed to keep an eye on the battery voltage. When sitting at astop light with the engine idling, fan running,& brake on, I can watch the battery voltage drop to about base battery voltage.
If that long trip yesterday to Leesburg Fl. was the only time you have had a problem with starting you might just run it some more & see if the problem doesn't return. If not it was probably just all that stopping & inching along.
A sulfated older battery can also run low very easily so if your battery is old or weak it probably doesn't hold enough reserve to keep itself up during high discharge conditions (like you had on your trip).
I have notice in the past that when I come to a stop and
apply the brake my lights go dimmer.
That is about normal, especially when the battery starts to get older. If you are running any extra lights or other power using accessories it will really dim at stops when the bake lights &cooling fanare on & the engine is idling.
It sounds like a good time to install an on board voltmeter to monitor your charging voltage & battery condition. I have both a voltmeter installed & a home built LED monitoring system that glows a green LED light when above 13.5 volts & glows a red LED when below 12.5 volts.
Those 1200 charging systems are just not very powerful so leave a lot to be desired at low engine RPM's with lights & cooling fan running.
I have also raised the engine idle on my 1200 Wing to 1100 RPM's (1140 RPM after 1 hour of running) as that helps the idle charging rate slightly. I also don't sit with the brakes applied if at all possible.
Installing a voltmeter (even a temporary cheap digital multi-meter) will allow you to monitor your charging system output & see if it can keep up with your lights & other accessories.
At least with a voltmeter you will be able to see when (or if) you are starting to experience a low battery. Maybe it isn't the battery/charging part but just a starter starting to drag when hot.
Good Luck.
Twisty
