Dead short, electrical.

Classic Goldwings

Help Support Classic Goldwings:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ekvh

Well-known member
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2011
Messages
1,626
Reaction score
2
Location
karlstad, mn
I finally got my 764a's to quit leaking, installed, fired it up, let it warm up and began synchronizing the carbs. The bike died. Then it wouldn't start. First clicks from solenoid, not enough to budge the starter. Checked battery voltage, 13.6. Fuses are good. Checked frame ground, good. I grabbed a meter and chased a few wires. I finally checked voltage at solenoid, 13.6 v on battery side. Turn the key to on, not to start yet and voltage dropped to 6v in a short time. Turn the key off and the battery would bounce back to 13v quickly. Screw driver across the solenoid terminals, nothing, same as hitting start button. I took cables and hooked up direct to starter post and the engine spins over easily.

Could I have a bad battery? I have a lithium ion Ballistic brand battery. They are not supposed to be over charged. Wondering if it's overcharged itself. One time I checked it and it was 13.9 v.

I would rather find a silly short somewhere, but I'm afraid it's the battery. Maybe my regulator went and cooked it.

Anyone have any suggestions where to start. I'm leaving tomorrow for the weekend. As always, thanks in advance.
 
Regulator should have kept it from charging over 15 v. I would probably take it and have it load tested to see if it's bottoming out, sounds like it is. Won't they do that for free down at the local auto parts house.?
 
I just went out and fished some more. Starting voltage 13.06v. Turn the ignition on and a big draw on voltage, down to 9 volts in 5 seconds. I started disconnecting fuses to identify the circuit. It was the 15 amp circuit. With that fuse out, the voltage stayed steady. Crazy thing about lithium ion batteries, you use them a bit and the voltage goes up. It was up to 13.6 in a few minutes of testing. I have the headlight unplugged.

So now I have to figure out what's on the 15 amp circuit. My bike is far from traditional. It is a 77 wiring harness, but I have removed a bunch and it's feeding the 1200 engine, Magna controls and who knows what else. I am heading over to the gallery to see what I can learn there.
 
Just walked the 15 amp path. It's connected to a lot, but in particular, the regulator. I have an 85 Mavna regulator rectifier on it. I should be able to unplug the regulator and see if it will start. I also forgot to mention a put a ten amp battery charger on and it still wouldn't start, but rather than clicking at the solenoid it clicked and then buzzed. I wonder if i have an extra solenoid to try.
 
Disconnected regulator,...nothing. Battery drops to 2 volts when start button is pushed or solenoid is shorted across the posts. Sounds like battery. I will bring my other battery back this weekend and check it with that one.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=115201#p115201 said:
ekvh » Thu Apr 17, 2014 12:23 pm[/ Sounds like battery. I will bring my other battery back this weekend and check it with that one.
+1
 
The kicker, as in kick in the head, is that I built the battery box small to fit this battery. It's not even a year old and it's $135. They probably won't warranty it because they say the Goldwing is too big. They advertise it for bikes to 1000cc, but on their webpage it calls for a 16 cell battery. It spins the motor over excellently, and since I bumped the charge rate up, it cranks a long time in cool weather. I am not sure where I am going to put a standard size. The monoshock and swingarm are in the way.
 
just like it goes try to rig some carburation and the powerplant takes a crap ....get anykind of battery and cables and go after it eric ... time for a saddle bag battery holder LOL :Awe: :help: :builder: :thank_you: :hihihi:
 
I stuck the cables on from the car battery to the bike battery and it started just fine. I'll take the battery to load test it, but I think that shows the solenoid works and probably the battery is just too dead to do it. Odd that it can hold it's voltage until a draw is put on it.
 
If your lithium battery has a maximum charge rate of 13.8v you probably have overcharged it if you are cruising at higher revs. The other possibility is that it needs a smart charge ( multi cycle charger that conditions the battery while charging) or as you said maybe it was just too small in capacity and has collapsed. :(
 
I had it being charged through a relay to prevent overcharging it, but it was too slow at charging it that way. It would start at 13+ volts, then run at 12.6 or so. So I swapped the wires on the relay and was happy because it was really starting better, but I fear it cooked it. If this is true, over 13.8, then these wouldn't work on any Goldwing without a different regulator. I know others do it. I wonder why mine doesn't hold up. I'm going to see how HOTT's is holding up.
 
According to Ballistic website, max charge rate is 14.4v. How can that be controlled on our bikes? If I get another, I will have to have some device that would stop charging above 14 volts. It spins it over awesome, and I probably have compression of 10:1 or better with 0.025" shaved from heads.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=115235#p115235:3cq8g0bw said:
ekvh » Thu Apr 17, 2014 8:17 am[/url]":3cq8g0bw]
According to Ballistic website, max charge rate is 14.4v. How can that be controlled on our bikes? If I get another, I will have to have some device that would stop charging above 14 volts. It spins it over awesome, and I probably have compression of 10:1 or better with 0.025" shaved from heads.
I would think you'd need an adjustable regulator or some sort of regulator after the stock regulator.
I'm not much help here, sorry.
 
I think that's what I need, Dan. I am fishing for home remedies. It sounds like I need to split the cells up and charge them on very low amp for a while.
 
Maybe a mechanical regulator like used on old generator systems on old cars could be fitted. They were adjustable.
 
Top