electrical problem

[fishfreak]

hey, i have a triumph tt600 and i have a problem.

the first time i noticed a problem was when the digital speedometer display was flickering, it was lighting up all the digital lights, going totally blank, then it was fine. it was doing this all the way home.

then the next day it would not start. i got it goin with a little bump start but the speedo display was still not working propperly.

then it would not start again when i was about to come home from work. i luckly park in a multistory car park so i managed to bump start it on a ramp.

the next day i had to jump start it from my car battery. i drove for about an hour (my journey to work is only about 20mins) and the speedo was fine.

i got a mate to look at it with an electric meter and he said my battery reading was off. it was not stable and only sometimes got a reading saying my alternator was charging. so his thinking ws that an alternator should fix it, or each week recharge my battery (trickle charge)

all the time i was at my mates house the speedo was fine, but all the way home it was playing up again.

this morning i still had to jump start it off my car and the speedo is still flickerine etc. what i have noticed tho is that if i keep the revs at 4-5k and keep it constant the speedo display is fine, does that then mean if i drive tike that the altinator is charging?

it means that my ride isn't as fun, but atleast it get me from A to B.

do you think a new altinatorn (battery charge each week) will fix the problem or do you think its something else?

Al

[fishfreak]

just another thing,

there were some cables that come from the speedo exposed. they were not tucked in behind the faring. could the connectors have got wet and causing this problem? i have now put them back to where thay should be.

al

[fishfreak]

just remembered another thing to add, my engine management waring light is now on!

[Guest akey]

Could be any number of things, but most likely to be the reg/rectifier.

I would get it to a garage to find the fault (with engine light on) then you can either do the work yourself or get the garage to do it.

Without seeing what the meter was reading with the bike running its a bit difficult to diagnose properly - sorry.

[fishfreak]

the reading was fluctuating from 13.4 to 16 if thats any help.

my mate said the bttery was charging but the reading was ot steady, it was jumping all over the place.

also another thing i have noticed is that if i have my lights on, indicators, brake lights ect the speedo goes funny, so basically anything other than driving constanlty at 4-5k revs its a problem

al

[Pete]

Like akey said mate it could be any number of things. That it's going up to 16V is bad and my guess is that THAT problem would be the reg/rec (letting too much charge get to the battery). The problem about everything going totally off then everything on then normal sounds like when you first go to a bike and turn the ignition on, so THAT problem sounds like a loose connection to the dash somewhere (?), and with the speedo dying with lots of stuff going like the lights it sounds like something could be earthing or drawing too much power (my horn stopped working a while back because the lights were drawing too much).

Electrical problems are a pain because it can be any one of a number of things (more than I've put here ) and unless you know what you're doing (not you personally, anyone really) it's best to get it to someone who can atleast diagnose it so you can fix it quickly (without spending days on it and getting nowhere).

[fishfreak]

hey, just an update. i got a battery charger and i leave it on all the time so my battery is always fully charged. my alarm does drain the battery abit if i dont ride it for a while. this charger is degigned to support alarms etc so it does not over charge. it also does battery diagnostics. now when i first ride my bike (after its been charging) it all works fine. i can ride with my lights on, i can indecate, and i can even use the brakes... lol the speedo also works as it should. but after awhile (about 30min) of riding it starts to play up again. so i think its a dead cell in my battery. my battery did die over the winter so i bought a new one in january (must admit it was a cheap one from e-bay) so i'm thinking i just need a new battery and all will be good. fingers crossed. till then i can still use my bike as work is only 10 mins away so all is good for now.

[Pete]

Good move getting a battery charger. If the battery is charging OK off the charger, then working OK for half an hour and then stuff starts to die it sounds to me like the alternator just isn't keeping the charge up. I'd get the alternator out for testing, also check your reg/rec to see if that's playing up.