aidan46
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posted on 15/7/12 at 10:17 PM |
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Alternator Charging
Hi, I have an 1989 zx10 Kawasaki bike engine. the querie i have is that it doesn't seem to be charging my battery? on my megasquirt gauge the
voltage reading its about 11.5 volts.....which seems low....however when i connect or disconnect the connections at the battery coming from alternator
you can hear the engine come under slight load as if it was charging?.........any thoughts??????
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owelly
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posted on 15/7/12 at 11:53 PM |
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Check the voltage of the battery and then again with the engine running.
You should see about 14volts with the engine running.
Does it start OK? It could be a duff battery.
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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coyoteboy
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posted on 15/7/12 at 11:54 PM |
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Measure your voltages with, without alt and at higherbrevs. At 11.5 you could have a cell down in the battery.
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aidan46
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posted on 16/7/12 at 09:29 AM |
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Tried it on a few batteries still seems to be the same?
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aidan46
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posted on 17/7/12 at 09:56 AM |
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Any other thoughts on this one?
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owelly
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posted on 17/7/12 at 11:11 AM |
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That would depend on your feedback from the suggestions already. What are the voltages across the battery with and without the engine running?
http://www.ppcmag.co.uk
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aidan46
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posted on 17/7/12 at 11:18 AM |
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Only about .3 of a volt in the difference?
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coyoteboy
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posted on 17/7/12 at 12:42 PM |
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Sounds like you either have a dodgy connection between the alt and the battery or your regulator is on it's way out. If you leave it running for
a few minutes you should see 14v+ with the engine on and maybe 12.6ish with it off. If you've tried other (charged) batteries and still get the
same I'd be looking at switching the alt regulator out.
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aidan46
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posted on 17/7/12 at 12:56 PM |
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Right, is that difficult to do? What dose the regulator look like?
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daviep
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posted on 17/7/12 at 01:48 PM |
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The ZX10 engine doesn't have an external regulator.
Are you sure that you have the alternator wired correctly?
The black wire which is the output should be direct to the battery
The brown should go to a switched positive with a load (bulb or resistor) wired in parallel.
I can't honestly remember if I wired in a load or not if I'm honest.
“A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.”
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aidan46
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posted on 17/7/12 at 02:24 PM |
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No I havnt got it wired like that..... So the load can just be a bulb like an oil pressure light say for example? Cheers
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daviep
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posted on 17/7/12 at 02:42 PM |
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I'm working abroad at the moment so I don't have a manual or my wiring diagram at the moment, I know that I have a charging light on the
dash (3w same as oil pressure) but I can't remember how I wired it in.
Cheers
Davie
“A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.”
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daviep
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posted on 17/7/12 at 02:43 PM |
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How do you currently have it wired?
“A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.”
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aidan46
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posted on 17/7/12 at 02:45 PM |
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I just have the white and brown from the alt on to the positive and negative of the battery terminal.
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daviep
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posted on 17/7/12 at 08:40 PM |
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^^^^That definately ain't going to work.
Try just wiring them both to positive, I'm guessing that the "load" is just to allow the voltage to dissipate when the ignition is
switched off
Cheers
(smashed) Davie
“A truly great library contains something in it to offend everyone.”
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aidan46
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posted on 17/7/12 at 09:11 PM |
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Cheers will give that a go!
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