help interpreting figures.

Ok so ive had the reg/rec issues and read the jiymassive thread on testing. i got a new reg/rec to no avail. Then i did the direct wire to battery mod* and have been running the sv like this for 2 months. Battery wouldnt turn over the bike on saturday after 5 days of freezing temps and no use, so got it charged up yesterday. Decided to do the testing again as im still not fully sure my charging woes are over. So here are the figures:

1 : battery - 13.10 after 3 hours off charger.

2 : idle no lights - 14.29.
.....idle dims - 14.10

3 : 5,000rpm headlights - 12.3 / 12.8 fluxuating between rapidly
.....5,000rpm dims - 13.8 pretty steady

4 : idle and headlights - 12.74

5 : idle no lights - 14.18

6 : off - 13.18

7 : after 10 mile spin with dims 13.19 dropping to 13.

How do these read to you??
Am i being paranoid or did maybe a mixture of too short a spins and 5 days freezing with no use just take the kick out of the battery? It was reading 12.1 and dropped to 11 under load on saturday.

*Wires directly from reg/rec to battery pos and neg were taken from an old fridge power cable. Is any old wire ok or should i have used specific? (electrical newbie)*

All help appreciated as im just confusing myself at this stage,
JB.

[Biker Biggles]

I think you need to test the three yellow wires that go from the alternator to the reg.rec.You test each wire against each other wire---1-2 2-3 3-4 with the engine running at about 5000rpm and you should get about 60--70 volts AC on each reading.If any one or two readings are significantly different you have an alternator issue.Looking at your figures it seems the result with the headlights on is a little low.
Mine charges at 13-14 volts on that measure.

Originally Posted by Biker Biggles

I think you need to test the three yellow wires that go from the alternator to the reg.rec.You test each wire against each other wire---1-2 2-3 3-4 with the engine running at about 5000rpm and you should get about 60--70 volts AC on each reading.If any one or two readings are significantly different you have an alternator issue.Looking at your figures it seems the result with the headlights on is a little low.
Mine charges at 13-14 volts on that measure.

Thanks biggles. Yeah i did the alternator test 2 months ago when i did the direct reg rec to battery wiring. All 3 were up there in the right range...

did u replace the battery? If not i'll puts quids on the battery not holding enough charge.

Originally Posted by thefallenangel

did u replace the battery? If not i'll puts quids on the battery not holding enough charge.

Nope. Every thing was fine for the past 2/3 months up until the freezing spell we are having here. The bike only had a 20min spin in 7 days. Some people said the battery still should have been ok to turn the bike over after a few days of 0 and low minus temps. Some said yeah that cold would take the grunt out of it. Battery is only about 4 months old, thats what got me to do the testing again..

if your eg/rec went it will take a battery out with it i'm lead to believe.

Go out, test the battery and have a blast on the bike, come back leave it for an hour and test the voltage if it's dropped from the inital run by anything noticeable (about 1/2 a volt or more) then there's your answer. Batteries are an accurate power source but weaken as time or faults dictate.

And on using old cable, is it the same size cable as the ones taken off? And have you electrical taped them up to be the same as the old ones so if you sold the bike onto someone else the wiring diagram would be the same? (Last bit is nit picking and a hate of mine from work).

Originally Posted by thefallenangel

if your eg/rec went it will take a battery out with it i'm lead to believe.

Go out, test the battery and have a blast on the bike, come back leave it for an hour and test the voltage if it's dropped from the inital run by anything noticeable (about 1/2 a volt or more) then there's your answer. Batteries are an accurate power source but weaken as time or faults dictate.

And on using old cable, is it the same size cable as the ones taken off? And have you electrical taped them up to be the same as the old ones so if you sold the bike onto someone else the wiring diagram would be the same? (Last bit is nit picking and a hate of mine from work).

My reg/rec is the same one as was in it. Reading and Testing led me to believe it was the wiring from the reg/rec to the battery that was faulty. There was no cables taken off doing this, just spliced on and taped. Situation would be explained if bike was sold on (once what i did worked sufficiantly).

Just out to test it there after 3 hours of sitting up and its still at 13. Forgot to mention the bike has an alarm, which hasn't been turned on today, but was on for the week of minimal activity previously described. Will check it in another 3 hours to see, but the alarm shouldnt really effect the reading im getting in the testing..

[TSM]

wont be the alarm at fault, its the cold weather

on mild days my bike seems to be ok but on realy cold mornings its been having issues, my battery is yausa and abt 5-6yrs old, also being a curvey its harder to turn over in the morning plus the carb heaters will be pulling power, im changing it for a newer one anyway just as i need the reliability to go to work

if the battery is getting a bit old then the extra cold can be making it harder to turn over the bike

so nothing is realy wrong with the battery its just not 100%, checking voltage on a battery which is low when the bike is running will usualy give you a low reading as the battery is sucking up the power to charge itself up

ps. This wiring mod, who told you bout it, its not somthing that peeps seem to do on SVs.

Originally Posted by TSM

wont be the alarm at fault, its the cold weather

on mild days my bike seems to be ok but on realy cold mornings its been having issues, my battery is yausa and abt 5-6yrs old, also being a curvey its harder to turn over in the morning plus the carb heaters will be pulling power, im changing it for a newer one anyway just as i need the reliability to go to work

if the battery is getting a bit old then the extra cold can be making it harder to turn over the bike

so nothing is realy wrong with the battery its just not 100%, checking voltage on a battery which is low when the bike is running will usualy give you a low reading as the battery is sucking up the power to charge itself up

ps. This wiring mod, who told you bout it, its not somthing that peeps seem to do on SVs.

Never thought it would be the alarm, just thought it was worth a mention to eliminate variables/possibilities. As for battery life, see post 5, the battery is only 4/5 months old..

For wiring mod see here : http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=103259
and here : http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=103954
I have also found it being done in the states (svrider.com), but i cant find the links right now.