[84GrayWing]

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Went out this morning and the wing wouldn't start. Dead battery. Autozone checked this battery a week ago and said it was good. Now I've been real gun shy about this whole stator issue with the Goldwing and I'm thinking well today's the day it had it. I get home from work and jump the bike to start it and throw my volt meter on the batteryand it's reading 14.6 volts while at idle, that's good right? This is the third time this has happened and it all started with the connector meltdown in front of the battery. Would the battery be bad and not show up on the battery tester at autozone? I still don't think it's the stator, but do I need to get more information to help analyze the problem?



Jeff

 

[The New Owner]

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Maybe you have a power leak (short circuit) somewhere, so that causes the battery to discharge when not running the engine? Just a guess....

And yes, it is possible fora badbattery to temporary showgood voltage reading, but it can't hold that voltage when comes under load (can't give enough ampers).


As for the autozone tester, sorry but I don't know what is it! Over here we use the pipette typetesters with balls, which are designed to show the "density" of the acid and that is apretty certain way to find out if the battery is good or bad, regardless to the voltage.

 

[Bo]

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The testers at cut rate part stores usually only test voltage and only low amperage draw. a battery with 12v can fool them. Best guess is the battery may have a dead cell. just a possibility

 

[rcmatt007]

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the key to battery life:

ride all the time.... or

invest in a GOOD charger that up-charges when the battery is low, and "maintains" once it is charged...... about $35 at autozome

 

[84GrayWing]

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I do ride all the time. The most it's sat since I bought the bike is a week and a half when I was in the hospital. Maybe three or four days after that.

Jeff

 

[Broke Winger]

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14.5v at Idle seems a little high to me. I'll admit I don't know much about the 1200's but as i understand it they have basically the same stator as the 1100's. Makes me wonder if you may have a regulator on the blink.

 

[goldwingnut]

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Can you hook your meter on the bike somewhere while you ride it, to so what it's doing on the road? Regulator is a strong possibility.

 

[Shimmy8]

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If you disconnect the battery ground and install a test light between the cable end and the neg batt post(the kind with an gater clip and a lighted handle with a point used for testing) the light will illuminate if you have a residual draw somewhere in the system, (Key Off), if the light does not illuminate you have an intermittent condition or a bad battery. Hope this helps, Shimmy.

 

[tricky]

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I would suggest that 14.2 at idle is too high, usually about 12 give or take.
Is the battery boiled dry? it might at that rate, check the level of the electrolyte every couple of weeks at least.

Have the battery checked again.

 

[cycleman]

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Without knowing the drain you have ie: extra lights, fan running all the time, etc it's hard to tell if that higher reading is because the alternator is trying to fill the need or not.

If you can shut every thing but the headlight off, it should be around mid 12's or so at idle & as you rev up to about 2000 or so it should be up around 15 + on the tester. If it's doing that then I would think the alternator is charging properly.

Melted connectors indicate to me too much heat ie: too much draw/amps being passed through.

 

[Armo]

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I have a suggestion, while the bike is running, touch and feel alll the wires that's near the battery, if any of them feel hot, then they need to be rewired.

 

[Olegrumpy]

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I had a similar problem and the battery that tested good at Advanced Auto was in fact bad. I also suspect your meter may be reading high.

 

[84GrayWing]

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More information gathered today.



@2000 RPM 14.66

@Idle RPM 14.85

No current flowing while bike is turned off (Checked using multi meter in series between the Neg post on battery and neg battery cable while disconnected)

Wires that were repaired when stator connector melted one seemed warm to the touch but it has been cold here today and it may have been a false feeling.



Battery read 12.3 when I checked it before starting it.



Here's what I have control over, I'm going to redo the wiring that melted and this time solder the sections of wire in and heat shrink over that.



I suspect a possible two part failure, battery and regulator caused by melted connector. I may be off my rocker so please reply if I've missed something.



Jeff

 

[Broke Winger]

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I would say you are ont he right track Jeff. It is interesting that you have a higher reading at idle than you do at 2k rpm. This to me points a pretty big finger at your regulator.

 

[cycleman]

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Yes I would initially suspect the regulator but your battery reading is low. If its over 2 years old, get another one.

12.3 volts is fairly low for a charged healthy battery. It should be higher. That reading indicates battery is about 40/50 % charged. That won't start the bike. In fact if you put a meter across the battery & hit the starter button, kill switch on, you'll most likely see a reading below 10 volts. If you have another good charged battery you can put in place of the bikes battery, ( could be from a car/truck whatever ) just disconnect the bike battery & use booster cables to hook the other battery to the bikes system. ( Watch out for contacting metal with cables ) Start the bike & see what your reading is.

If your old battery is the problem you should see the idle volt reading drop down into the mid 12's at idle. The regulator in the electrical system is just trying to match the demand.

Another issue is corrosion on the + cable between the battery & solenoid. Mine had this problem, you could look at it & it looked good but there was a slight voltage drop which I measured over the wire. Replaced this cable & battery & had no more problems.

 

[sandcastcb750]

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Make sure that all the connections are clean with no corrosion. I bought a brand new battery that I thought was bad but sanding the connections made it work.

Maybye the voltage reg is bad or trying to compensate?

 

[84GrayWing]

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Ok, I'm looking at this site and wondering which regulator to buy. There are several that are in my year range. I have a 1984 Interstate. Can someone point me in the right direction?



http://www.regulatorrectifier.com/catalog/honda-1200-c-198_184_178.html?osCsid=e0f7d01e3358242abae10abe835b35b3



I got the new battery and re hardwired the yellow wiring next to the battery. Hopefully this will be resolved soon. Still getting higher voltage at idle than at 2000 RPM.



Jeff

 

[cycleman]

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There are some tests that you can do on your regulator. You'll have to get a copy of the manual for your bike. I'm pretty sure they are on line somewhere.

I'd do all the testing with a test meter before I bounght anything. You can chase your butt around for ever when its an electrical issue. Just go step by step.

A good electrical system will always have the volts go up as the idle goes up until the stator/alternator reaches it's maximum output. The regulator is designed to keep the voltage/amps at a safe level for the battery. It sends to ground anything that is over the required amount to protect the battery/system.

 

[dustin neal rose]

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Also be careful by saying that its not drawing through ground with the key off with a meter. Some meters will give you no reading but a test ligh t will still light up very dimly..Very dimly/ probly need to check in a dark garage. I had the same problem in reverse though. I was getting a 12v reading on a meter, but what i was working on would not run. When i used a test light it would not light up. It was a voltage reading, but was not putting out any amps! turned out to be a regulator

 

[ccsailor]

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GL1200 Stator Testing





Get a digital voltmeter that measures A/C and DC as well as resistance

Pull battery cover (left side) off and put bike on centre stand



Have battery load tested at battery shop if OK charge overnight measure DC volts straight across battery after charge should be about 13.5-13.9 VDC Reinstall battery.

On the left side of the battery you will see three yellow wires either going to a plug or wired straight thru by previous owner


Disconnect the plug OR cut the three yellow wires one at a time VERY important ONE at a time mark wiresA; B: C; You have to disconnect to get true readings. If left connected a lot of other problems could mislead you. Clean wires leading to stator by about ½ inch. You will be soldering later



Start The bike



This will not hurt the bike in anyway. It will run on the battery

Put meter on A/C scale across any combination A-B;B-C;A-C rev bike to 3000 RPM. You should see 45 to 60 volts A/Cacross any of above combination

If OK shut bike offmeasure on resistance scale (50K is good) from each of three wires to ground It should be infinite EG open must not have any shorts to ground

Measure from A-B; B:-C; A:-C; measurement should be in the vicinity of 1.2 ohms on any of the legs

If all measurements are ok (volts and resistance)your stator is good



Bad News Scenarios



1 A/C volts under 40 V A/C (with wires disconnected and at 3000 RPM)

2 Any leg A: B: or C: shorted to ground (Low or no resistance to ground)

3 Any combination A:-B: B:-C: A:-C: open (infinite resistance)



If stator is bad you may consider the alternator alternative See separate post on that subject

Or it entails pulling engine to replace stator



Ifyou havethe plug cut it out and solder each of the three yellow wires straight thru cover with heat shrink. Follow wiring all the way down to where it enters engine(under sleeve) just to make sure there are no other hidden splices (throw the plug at the neighbour’s cat or some thing it’s a piece of crap)



While you are in the area it is recommended that you change the fuseable link (30 amp main fuse) to a heavy-duty fuse holder with bayonet style fuses. These old fuses have a tendency to corrode and fail at the worst times leaving you with a dead bike


Start bike with meter still attached to battery voltage will go down while cranking over but should come back up to 13 VDC plus when you rev bike turn on Hi Beams volt should drop slightly but still be over 13 VDC if not e.g. 11 to 11.5 dc replace regulator 10 min job (lots on ebay)