dodgy electrics
 

hi sv650.org,

a friend of mine is having trouble with her sv650 - one that I recommended that she buy - so I'dlike to help her get it sorted if I can. it's a '98 model or thereabouts - the curvy shape

the problem seems to be that the battery discharges to the point that the engine cuts out & won't restart. checking the voltage gives ~10v so obviously it's getting pretty well discharged. it has had a brand new battery & it's still doing the same, although it takes a little longer to discharge now. I've checked the voltage across the battery with the engine running & it's ~14v, so it certainly seems like it should be charging

if anyone has any bright ideas they would be much appreciated!!

many thanks

~andy

It looks like a dodgy regulator/rectifier connection somewhere, you should have about 14V or more while the engine is running.
Sod's law states that when you check it, all will be working just fine but will go open circuit at the farthest distance from home.
Some peep's on here have mentioned bad regulator units, I'd check all connections and wiring before replacing the unit.

Reg/rec is a known weak spot of the SV, but there are other possible problems too.

I've posted several times on checking charging circuits, do a search there's plenty on here.

it is not uncommon for the RR to test good, until fully warmed up then it doesn't test

Heat is the enemy of semiconductors

Like they say.

You indicate that it seems to be seeing 14V (ish) at the battery while running, yet it's discharging. If the battery is good (from what you say that's most likely), then it clearly isn't getting 14V otherwise it wouldn't go flat.

The SV Reg/rec is renowned for failing, from what you describe it'd be where I'd look first.

Electrex has been suggested on here before as decent equipment.
http://www.electrexworld.co.uk

thanks for the suggestions, they rather confirmed what I was thinking re. cabling and/or reg/rec. I will investigate further & report back with the solution :-)

many thanks

~andy