Battery not charging properly

[JRS81]

Last night, at the last Poole Quay bike night of the year, I had to bump start my bike as the battery seemed to be dead. Just had it checked and the battery shop said the battery seems OK, but it's not charging properly so there's something else wrong with the stator/reg/rec. I have no idea how to check any of these so is it an easy job or one I should just get a garage to look at? Anyone know what the most likely fault is as I'm completely clueless when it comes to these things!

[greywolf]

By far the most typical charging problem is burned out stator windings. The insulating coating gets overcome by heat and wires contact each other or the stator frame. Sometimes, magnets on the rotor break the glue bond and become unevenly distributed around the rotor. Any other problem besides those two is rare.

[kwackboy]

Hi , if you are not very confident I would get a garage to check it in order to get a proper diagnosis but let's hope it's not your stator, many £'s will exit your wallet ...
As a bet I would say the regulator but you never know.

[Gassoon]

You don't sound very confident of the shop diagnosis of your battery with 'seems OK' !? Get a second opinion?

Do you have a decent charger, to make sure your battery is taking and holding a charge?

If you have a pal with a similar strom (or many other bikes use the same battery) try swapping over batteries, see how it charges? After that experiment its easy to swap over the Reg-Rectifier as well, just a couple of bolts and a plug or two usually, its the metal thing with lots of fins on it on the right side, just under the edge of the tank.

Just the easiest things to try before contemplating stator failure

[greywolf]

I don't think I've seen more than one report of a bad regulator but over a hundred bad stators. http://www.stromtrooper.com/information ... -bike.html

Check the resistance between any two of the three yellow or black wires from the stator. All should be 0.2-0.7 Ohms between any two and infinite between any wire and earth.

[JRS81]

Well I'm no longer confident about the diagnosis. When I measured the voltage on the battery at lunchtime today it was down at 11.94 but having taken the bike out for a spin, it's up to 12.3. Someone correct me if I'm being an idiot, but that implies to me that it's charging OK! I have no clue about electrics, but I guess this means that my battery is draining whilst the bike is not running. I'll check the voltage again tomorrow evening, but beyond that, what should I check next?

[greywolf]

You need to look at the battery voltage with the engine running at 3000rpm or a bit higher. If you don't get over 13.5V, the charging system is not working.

[medic5]

stator cost me £150 to be re wired when the battery would not charge....

[Stromivarius]

I had this very same problem on my other bike and a friend advised me to check the rectifier.

I took the connector off to give it a clean and stick a bit of dielectric grease on it. It was very dirty and corroded and one of the spade connectors had snapped off completely. I changed the Rectifier and it's been fine since

[greywolf]

Was that bike a V-Strom? It's a very unusual situation if it was. Triumphs are much more likely to have R/R problems for example.

[kwackboy]

Of the 10 years or so working as a motorcycle mechanic I have changed more regulators than stators and just today I changed a triumph stator. On some very rare occasions I've had to change both and they have been Suzuki and triumph , it's real hard to call .

[greywolf]

I'm going by a collection of V-Strom only reports over 8 years of problem reports including a poll of Stromtrooper members of well over 100 failed charging systems. Other brands are outside the data pool. V-Stroms with charging problems primarily have stator problems, secondarily have loose magnet problems and rarely have regulator/rectifier problems.

That all should be moot anyway. Test the parts to determine the culprit(s) and replace the parts that fail. Do not spend money replacing parts just because of model history.

[JRS81]

Thanks for all the help so far! It's much appreciated and there's even a chance that I'm learning something here!

I'm hoping that my latest test is good news (relatively)! I've just checked the voltage again after the bike has been sat for 24 hours and it's dropped back down to 11.96 volts. Again, please correct me if I'm being an idiot, but this implies to me that the battery can no longer hold a charge. Given that immediately after a ride yesterday evening it was up to 12.4 I'd say it is charging OK (I will double check at the weekend) and given that being sat idle it's dropped again, it must be the battery! I have nothing else other than the clock drawing current. Should I just ignore the battery shop diagnosis and buy a new one and hope for the best?

[Oop North John]

Battery voltage will drop in the minutes after a run, as just after switch-off you're almost measuring the charging systems effectivity.

You need to measure the voltage before starting, during cranking, after start and after running a few minutes, then we'll be able to give you our best guess.

One point, are you doing lots of short runs on the bike?

[shaboy]

sounds like the battery is on the way out mate.a battery reading 12.3 or 4 after a rideout is not a healthy battery.a healthy battery should be reading 12.75 or 12.8v when idle and over 13.5 when the engine is running.hope this helps mate.

[kwackboy]

Hi , from what you are saying it sounds like the battery is on its way out . I would try a new battery .   . Charging with a new battery should be between 13.5v -14.5v @ around 3000 rpm .

[Jacko]

How old is the battery?

[obalanga]

u may not be confident but you are asking the right questions just like I did a couple of months ago. Rectifiers, stators, charging systems cost!! cost!! cost!! Some of the contributors above have nailed all. I'd say invest in a simple voltmeter. It is really simple. My battery was falling to 11.87 v and but whilst charging it was 14.49v so luckily you may just have to replace your battery. All the best and update us on how you go

[JRS81]

Quick update. When I went to test the voltage on the bike at the weekend I couldn't start it as the battery was completely dead. I've now bought a new battery, fitted it and tested the voltage with the engine running. At 3000+ rpm it's putting out 14.58 volts. This sounds about right to me so I'm reasonably confident that it was just the battery in the end. I'll keep an eye on it over the next few weeks but hopefully it's all sorted now!

Thanks for all your help!  

[greywolf]

That does indicate the charging system is working and the new battery is probably all you needed.