'09 M696 Charging problem

Started by Mastercraft, November 07, 2012, 07:19:08 AM

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Mastercraft

#15
That's pretty much what I thought also.  My VW tdi lost the bearing out of the alternator pulley once and I drove for several hours and only lost about 1.2 volts off the battery.  I just turned off the radio and anything else that would drain the battery and kept driving.

After putting the brand new Shorai battery in and having problems continue led me to look at things other than the battery.  My new mosfet R/R will be here today, we'll see if that makes a difference.

I have a battery from a friend's bike that I know is good that I may try and figure a way to hook it up just to test.  It's too big to fit in my bike.

Howie

Fuel pump and computer will drain the battery pretty quick in a bike.  If you have a 12 amp hour battery OEM in the 696)  that means a 12 amp draw for 1 hour will discharge the battery to 10.5 volt reading.  You used a whole bunch of amps starting the bike, up to about 80 amps, depending on engine condition and temperature for however long it took the bike to start.  The bike is now running.  Figure 4.5 amps just to run the headlight.  Another amp or so for other lighting.  5 amps for the fuel pump.  A few more for the computer.  As voltage goes down amps go up.  You wont go too far for too long.  OK, the Shorai battery has a higher amp hour rating, depending on model, but not that much more.  Oh, at 13.3 volts a Shorai battery is already 10% discharged.

TDI?  I'm not sure, but I think 70+ amp hours.  Also, how long did you drive before the alternator finally failed?

Your battery might pretty well be toast but proper diagnosis is how you find out.  Same with the regulator.  Guess a part can be quite costly and time consuming.  When you are done you might either find the problem was merely high resistance in a connection or never know because the connection was inadvertently fixed while replacing the not needed part.

Mastercraft

#17
Got the new R/R in today and it worked.  As soon as I started it with the new regulator it showed about 14.0 volts while running.  Took it for a ride and every time  I stopped at an intersection I checked the voltmeter and it showed 14.4-14.5.  So needless to say I'm pretty excited about getting it fixed.   [drink]

I first tested the new regulator with my friend's battery that I knew was good.  Had to prop up the gas tank and hold everything because the battery is too big to fit in my bike.  After that I tried my Shorai battery and it worked, so I proceeded to put it all back together.

On my TDI when the bearing went on the alternator pulley, the pulley spun off right away and the serpentine belt became dis-engaged.  Think I could have just replaced the bearing and pulley and kept using the alternator.  But I replaced the alternator so I could make the drive home.  This happened when I was on the way to see the first Moto GP at Indy in '08.

Thanks to everyone for the help with my problem.  I really appreciate it.

Howie

Great to hear you got the bike going [thumbsup]  Please keep us updated about the battery.