What next! Did my Alt fail?

[IpswichST]

I hopped on my bike to head out to the supermarket. Got maybe 2-3 miles from home and the bike started to die. Eventually totally did and when I tried to start her up there was no juice to turn the starter. ALL my dash lights were on and getting dimmer. I called my son who came and with a friend we pushed (dang heavy bike) her up onto a trailer and I puller her home.

At home I tried again... she tried but there was no "umph" to make her start. Now, I know that an engine does not run off the battery. The Alt provides the electricity to run the systems. I figured if it was a part like a relay or fuse or link that failed then the bike would have stopped immediately. Im guessing the Alt because Im thinking she rode for as long as she could off of the battery and then slowly ceased to run.

The battery is charging as we speak (my charger said it was less than 10%, dont know the volts cause I couldnt check with my multi-meter, and thats another story) and when its done Ill pop it in and see if she starts. THEN I will see if the alt is putting out anything. Hope it is... but if it's not, where do I purchase the new alt? Ive read to not rebuild and to upgrade to the 40 amp. I just cant find a good source.

thanks!

 

[st1300r]

When the battery is charged and hooked up, start the bike.
Check the voltage as you increase the RPMs at say 5000.
Should climb to maybe 14.4 or so.

iirc 11s have an issue with a burnt connector at the regulator?
Some 1100 owners will chime in with better info.

 

[IpswichST]

I went home for lunch.. found this ! I am at work so I dont have my manual. Im guessing this is my issue.... yes?



BUT.. why would it melt?

 

[Mark]

Looks like you found your current )) issue and on a side note you already have a 40amp alt as your bike was made after '95.

 

[IpswichST]

and on a side note you already have a 40amp alt as your bike was made after '95

1994 bike.. or can you tell if it was upgraded from that pic? Bike is new to me this year so I am learning more and more about the bike as I fix it.

 

[sennister]

I think you might have to pull the lower plastic. The light grey stuff not the black and look at the alternator up by the oil filter. The 28 is oil cooled so it has a solid housing. The 40 amp is air cooled so has lots of vent holes in the casing. I am sure there are other things to look at like how they modified the wire harness but this is a sure fire way to know. Not sure if you can see it with all the plastic though.

 

[st1300r]

Looks like you found your current )) issue

LOL.

As to why it would melt...
Any dirty or loose connection, corrosion, broken wire strands etc. creates a higher resistance.
Current thru that resistance can only turn into heat further degrading the connection.

TMI;
Watts = amps x amps x ohms
"I squared R losses"

 

[IpswichST]

so I should clean up that plug the best I can. I hope it isnt melted beyond repair!

 

[Mark]

Missed that it was a '94. My wife has a black '99.
(and '91 had both silver and black; so I really jumped to the '99 conclusion!)

Especially as it says '94 in your sig!!!

 

[IpswichST]

I wish it was a '99... would save me the 28/40 amp conversion and expense (eventually). Im not a hard core farkle guy. My goal is to have driving lights but as for a ton of other gadgets I dont see it happening (but then Im pretty green at this type of bike... a touring bike. Who knows with time!).

Thanks for everyone's help. Later I will repair the wire and add the freshly charged battery and crank her up. Hopefully my multi-meter will read some good charging amps and Ill be back on the road with a smile on my face.

BTW.. what is that that melted? Like I said, I dont have my manual here at work.... Just curious.

 

[st1300r]

so I should clean up that plug the best I can. I hope it isnt melted beyond repair!

The 1100 guys might have a better solution but can you extract the terminal out of that connector?
You may be able to crimp one on a fresh pc of that wire and reinsert it but the shell is pretty toasted.

 

[Mark]

Hope this link helps...

 

[IpswichST]

The RWB (red wire bypass). As I have said, this bike is new to me as of Jan 2013. The previous owner before me mentioned to me that he performed the RWB already. I will certainly print up that thread and look to see if I need to perform bypass surgery again. Maybe the previous surgeon was a fraud and I should sue for malpractice (JK.. Im sure he did a fine job... maybe his RWB was a different procedure?)

On a side comment, as I was proof reading my post I noticed that I described the RWB as a "red wife bypass" Should I take my typo to mean something? Maybe my wife is fed up with me tinkering and is red with fury? If that was the case then I would def need to perform the "red wife bypass"!

 

[Mark]

Howe,

You might point out to the 'red wife' that while the bike is in the garage being fixed you're at home...

 

[st1300r]

A wife bypass can be VERY spendy.
Hopefully there's no Freudian slip with the tupo.
tupo, finnish for incomes policy which would certainly change with a wife bypass procedure.
hmmm rut ro...

 

[sirepair]

Best to repair the "red wife bypass" quickly, before any additional issues arise!

You can chuck the molded plastic wire end if you use some solder or crimp on ends and put the insulator sleeves on the ends.

 

[IpswichST]

tupo.

I hate typo's .. but you caught me before I could edit my post. I also hate that my eyesight is going as well! I have so many dime-store readers floating around I think all I need to do is fumble around on a table and Ill find a pair.

You can chuck the molded plastic wire end if you use some solder or crimp on ends and put the insulator sleeves on the ends.

so are you saying chuck the red plug all together and just put some rubber insulating sleeves around the connectors and plug then in directly? I dont think that's what you mean.

 

[sirepair]

so are you saying chuck the red plug all together and just put some rubber insulating sleeves around the connectors and plug then in directly? I dont think that's what you mean.

Yep, that's what I mean. The connector has three purposes; keep wires together, properly pinned out, and insulated between. No reason that, properly insulated, you can't do away with the plug.

 

[st1300r]

Don't sweat it.
What I think and what I type grow further apart as time goes on.
Sometimes I'll take a photo of something zoom in on the screen to read a part number etc.

But...Given the choice of getting old or getting dead, old don't look so bad LOL.

 

[IpswichST]

The connector has three purposes; keep wires together, properly pinned out, and insulated between

I like those 3 purposes. Especially properly pinned. When I get home and check it all out I hope I can insulate the plug and salvage it. Of course if I have no choice Ill have to dispose of the plug.