stator or battery or both?

[anth_85]

I noticed the voltage on my battery has been a bit low recently. Often sitting about 11.8V when I get off the bike. My voltmeter is under the seat so I cant check it during a ride, the only thing I can see is the battery saver led on my heated grips flashing sometimes and not others.

So I ordered a new battery from Tayna and somehow ordered the wrong one. It's 20mm too tall. Ive no idea how I've done it but I'm going to sort out a replacement that fits today for delivery tomorrow. I had to use my bike for work today so I put the old battery back on the bike, put the charger on over night and it took it 14.8v on charge which dropped to 12.8v when the charger was taken off. It then stayed at 12.8v for about 5mins before I had to leave. Which got me thinking the battery might actually be ok and it might be the stator, because if the battery was dead it would have dropped lower.

I've got off the bike at work just now and it's at 11.7v with ignition on, it recovers to 12.2 with everything off. So I started the bike back up again and reved the engine which brought it upto 11.8v. So now I'm looking at replacing both.

Can anyone give any advice?

It's a vfr800, not that it should matter.

[Westbeef]

It's more than likely a buggered battery, the voltage shouldn't drop so much that quickly. If you get a new battery and it's still giving you issues then I'd look at the Reg/Rec before the stator. You can check both a R/R and stators health on the connection pins for each of those components quite easily with a multimeter. I can find you a couple of videos if you wanted to check to reassure yourself. A quick check for the R/R is obviously the charging rate when you have it running with a known healthy battery.

[Stu]

its a honda! check your reg/rec

[Westbeef]

its a honda! check your reg/rec

 

I think his is a 2003, which should have a mofset from factory. Mine did anyway, however that did also give out this year .

[Stu]

its a honda! check your reg/rec

 

I think his is a 2003, which should have a mofset from factory. Mine did anyway, however that did also give out this year .

 

I stand by my first post

[anth_85]

I think his is a 2003, which should have a mofset from factory. Mine did anyway, however that did also give out this year .

 

yup 2003

 

its a honda! check your reg/rec

 

how do you go about that? This company supposedly makes their own replacements, maybe they are better than stock?

https://www.electrexworld.co.uk/acatalog/RR53.html

[Stu]

have you got a multimeter?

although your voltmeter is doing some of the work for you already as when its running its not showing the bike as charging at the right voltage ie 11.8v where as with everything off it was showing a steady 12.2v this suggests you are not getting charge to the battery

it could either be the reg/rec or the stator my money is on the reg/rec but before spending any money you need to do some tests!

it could be something simple as a lose/corroded wire

[anth_85]

have you got a multimeter?

although your voltmeter is doing some of the work for you already as when its running its not showing the bike as charging at the right voltage ie 11.8v where as with everything off it was showing a steady 12.2v this suggests you are not getting charge to the battery

it could either be the reg/rec or the stator my money is on the reg/rec but before spending any money you need to do some tests!

it could be something simple as a lose/corroded wire

 

I can get a hold of one. My usual one is in my caravan in storage for the winter. What test should I be doing?

[Stu]

you need to test the output of the reg/rec and also the input to the reg/rec

the output needs to be tested at the closest point to the reg/rec at 20v DC on the meter and you should be getting around 14 volts out

the input needs to be tested at AC and you will get around 70 volts in so use an appropriate setting on the meter

if you have a google there is loads of info on how to test the input and output

[Westbeef]

have you got a multimeter?

although your voltmeter is doing some of the work for you already as when its running its not showing the bike as charging at the right voltage ie 11.8v where as with everything off it was showing a steady 12.2v this suggests you are not getting charge to the battery

it could either be the reg/rec or the stator my money is on the reg/rec but before spending any money you need to do some tests!

it could be something simple as a lose/corroded wire

 

I can get a hold of one. My usual one is in my caravan in storage for the winter. What test should I be doing?

 

There's a few ways to test the reg/rec to give you an idea of what's going on.

You can test the charge rate which you've already done, it needs to be done on a battery fully charged then - Idle rpm should see 13V+ and then holding at 3000RPM should increase to 14Vish and no more than 15V.

To test for diode faults;

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Then the stator;

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[anth_85]

The question is, where the hell is the R/R on the 6th gen VFR. Everything I can find online is for the 5th. I have a haynes manual at home so I'm sure it's in there. But I'd like to know what I'm dealing with.

[Stu]

Reg/Rec is front right side of the frame near the headstock

bit boring but some good info here about the electrics on these! your problem could be even bigger

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[anth_85]

ah yea, id watched that video before and considered fitting a vfrness. Typically now I might actually do it and I cant find one for sale in the uk.

[Stu]

I still think you need to do further investigation before you spend money

[dern]

Based on recent experiences with a blackbird the first thing you should do is ensure all your earths are good including and most importantly the earth block in the loom. Do not ignore the earth block if you can't find it, do a search on google as corrosion builds up in it and causes all sorts of issues. You can fix these things for free. Only once you've done that should you start spending money on other components.

[anth_85]

ok so ive jumped the gun a little I know. New R/R is here and it turns out ive ordered the wrong one. Its for the 5th gen vfr by the looks of the connectors. However now i have it apart the one for the 6th gen looks nothing like what I have in front of me. What I have is the 3 yellow wires, thats the same. but for the other connector mine has 2x red, 2x green and 1x black. The new one has the same minus the black wire. Looking at the photos of the 6th gen it doesnt have a second set, it has a red and black cable direct to the battery. So ive no idea what I have??

this is what ive got in front of me from the bike

https://www.vfrdiscussion.com/index.php?/forums/topic/88385-battery-or-stator-or-both/&tab=comments#comment-1090604

this is what ive ordered and has arrived

https://www.electrexworld.co.uk/acatalog/RR53.html

this is what the website says i need

https://www.electrexworld.co.uk/acatalog/RR881-Regulator-Rectifier-CBR600-VFR800-CB900F-CBR900RR.html

[anth_85]

ding ding ding we have a winner

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nojnips7acnts97/Photo%2030-11-2018%2C%2021%2007%2000.jpg?dl=0

[Stu]

That looks a bit fried!

personally I would also replace the R/R too as that could have fried the R/R

[anth_85]

That looks a bit fried!

personally I would also replace the R/R too as that could have fried the R/R

 

That's my plan. Just need to find the right part!

[anth_85]

Update on this. Due to working full time and being a part-time matched better getting it sorted has been in bits and pieces. The new stator is in place, I couldn't find a proper gasket so had to use instant gasket which leaked oil all over the floor, so it all had to come back off and be re-applied. This time leaving it 24 hours before firing up and it seems fine. Test fires with the R/R hanging loose showed a much healthier voltage so I know all is working correctly. Last night I fitted the new R/R to the bike, took a lot longer than I'd like because my soldering iron tip is busted so joining the 3 wires from the stator took longer and resulted in a messier job than I'm happy with. I then found the R/R cables to the battery are about a foot too short and I wasn't fighting with the soldering iron anymore so I went and watched the football. New more powerful soldering iron getting picked up today and I should be done tonight.

I know the 6th gen R/R is better than the 5th but I have fitted a fan to it too. I figured I have it all apart, it is not going to do any harm and I already have many spare computer fans so at worst it's a waste of 10mins, at best it extends the R/R's life.

[anth_85]

Success, back on the road tomorrow