What a difference and alternator makes!

[bluestratos]

I always kept my 2011 on a high end smart charger. After every ride it would go to "red" indicating it was taking a charge. It would often take several hours of charge before it would be satisfied and go green. I still plug in my new 14 but the battery is full and now goes to green within seconds. Even after turn off with the kill switch and with all the lights on for a good 15 minutes the alternator kept up and the charger topped off in a couple of minutes. I forgot to plug it in since Sunday afternoon and today, it went from red to green in about a minute.

[Cruzr Joe]

I always kept my 2011 on a high end smart charger. After every ride it would go to "red" indicating it was taking a charge. It would often take several hours of charge before it would be satisfied and go green. I still plug in my new 14 but the battery is full and now goes to green within seconds. Even after turn off with the kill switch and with all the lights on for a good 15 minutes the alternator kept up and the charger topped off in a couple of minutes. I forgot to plug it in since Sunday afternoon and today, it went from red to green in about a minute.

Just for for the record, I am not allowed to comment on battery maintainers or chargers, that is all I have to say on this subject.

cruzr joe

[mcaccamise]

Mine takes a bit longer but so what I'll ride in the morning anyway lol.

[jcthorne]

Sorry but all this demonstrates is that the voltage regulator setpoint has been revised upward. Not an indication of the capacity of the alternator. Could also show a mismatch between setpoint on your charger vs setpoint on the bike voltage regulator. Your charger is specifically designed for AGM batteries right?

[Bob Denman]

I think that magnetos need to be spinning at a pretty good clip, to produce a decent supply of power...
Alternators; not so much!
This is good news, and thanks for the report!

[frenchek]

I can,t understand why you have to hook up a battery tender after a ride ? I may be wrong, but I thought that the magneto thing would charge the battery during use, and the battery tender was to be used when the vehicle sat for extended periods.

maybe someone can educate me--thanks

[Bob Denman]

... I think...
If you only are making "short hops" on the bike, or running in stop & go traffic; the magneto may just not be getting spun enough to re-fuel the battery.
Now; I never hooked mine up to the 'Tender, until it was time to put it to bed for the Winter. But my usage is normally out on the open road, and for runs of at least 14 miles or so at a rip...
And I wasn't running any extra lights, I'd shut the foglights off before getting into Town, and the heated grips would also get the same treatment...

[Bob Denman]

...And I will of course; defer to your experience and knowledge...

[Cruzr Joe]

My output from the battery is showing 14.47. 2014 RT-S

Cruzr Joe

[Bob Denman]

Could it just be an, "overachiever"?

[bluestratos]

Let me try to esplane my thinking on this Lucy, lol...

• The alternator does not fill the batter more but it keeps up with the demand at low speed.

• Yes the regulator, which is in my mind is part of the alternator package, must be set to top the battery off better than the magneto as the mag. always left the battery slightly under charged.

• I keep the smart charger on to keep the battery in top condition not because there is a great need. My charger constantly monitors the voltage and charges anytime there is a need. Parasitic loss slowly kills a battery over time as deep cycling a regular battery shortens its life.

• I now have amperage to spare (watts if you prefer). I used to be able to exceed the magnetos ability to keep up with all the lights on and heated clothing. I have a meter I plug in to monitor battery voltage that is just color diodes. With the 2011 it would be orange at idle and go to yellow or even red (12.3 volts) if I had everything on with the engine running. The 2014 is always in the green no matter what, even at an idle.

• When testing with a volt meter, my battery was at 12.5, key off, before hooking up the charger on the 2011, or about 85%. After a long idle the static voltage would be as low as 12.4 (65%). The 2014 is showing 12.6 indicating 100% charged. At 12.1 volts a battery is considered drained as you probably already know so there is a very narrow range to work with.

In 2012 I spoke with a battery tech regarding this very subject and it was his suggestion that using a good trickle charger would keep the battery in peak condition for extended battery life. This was after I drained my battery on the 11 by listening to the radio for a few hours and was trying to find a better battery. He told me that regular battery's have a finite amount of recharge cycles and unlike a deep cycle battery, every time I deep drain the battery by as much as @20% the life of the battery is shortened. It also turned out that the battery I had was as good as it would get with that type of technology.

So, it takes a couple seconds to plug the charger into my trunk outlet after a ride so I make it a habit now.

[jcthorne]

Don't quite know why mine shows so different but....I use the fog lights nearly 100% of the time and use the heated grips quite often. I sit in traffic ALOT. Yet the voltage never drops below 13 volts while the engine is running. Usually 13.5 or 6. At speed it comes up to 14.2 for a while and then settles down to 13.6 or so after a long drive. Now my autometer volt gauge may not be the best in the world but at idle it matches within .1 volt of my Fluke 787.

Suppose the difference is your heated clothing draining the available power.

[bluestratos]

Yes, I had a lot of electrical options running, still do. Radar, third break light, fender lights, accent lights, fog lights, heated clothing, cb radio and more. I bought a $200 precision voltmeter gauge to keep an eye on the voltage and it would often drop below 12.6 while running at 2500 RPM or less. After 3K it would level out then start to climb higher. I would shut things down starting with the fog lights(20 amps) followed by the clothing and the battery would come back up.

[Dan McNally]

Just for for the record, I am not allowed to comment on battery maintainers or chargers, that is all I have to say on this subject.

cruzr joe

Officially, that is a comment on battery maintainers and chargers . . . where are the Komment Kops when you need them ?

[NancysToy]

My output from the battery is showing 14.47. 2014 RT-S

Cruzr Joe

Since I heard of yours, I have had several reports of this. Didn't Lamont confirm that this was correct for the ACE?

[jcthorne]

Yes, I had a lot of electrical options running, still do. Radar, third break light, fender lights, accent lights, fog lights, heated clothing, cb radio and more. I bought a $200 precision voltmeter gauge to keep an eye on the voltage and it would often drop below 12.6 while running at 2500 RPM or less. After 3K it would level out then start to climb higher. I would shut things down starting with the fog lights(20 amps) followed by the clothing and the battery would come back up.

Why were you driving at 2500 RPM? Unless I am sitting still in traffic, I am never that low. Anytime above 10 MPH the engine is above 3500 and stays there.

[bluestratos]

Stop and go traffic mostly or sitting at lights. Other wise I always kept her above 3K in town and 4-5K on highways. I may have had an issue as Roger said, I had every other known plaque with the 11 so what else would be new, lol. So glad to be rid of that ^&(&(^^((%*%&()*&! , lol.

[Bob Denman]

What he said...

[bluestratos]

That about sums it up Roger

Magnetos adequate.
Alternators better.

got it.

[jcthorne]

That about sums it up Roger

Yep. Got er done

[Ronbo]

Let me try to esplane my thinking on this Lucy, lol...

• The alternator does not fill the batter more but it keeps up with the demand at low speed.

• Yes the regulator, which is in my mind is part of the alternator package, must be set to top the battery off better than the magneto as the mag. always left the battery slightly under charged.

• I keep the smart charger on to keep the battery in top condition not because there is a great need. My charger constantly monitors the voltage and charges anytime there is a need. Parasitic loss slowly kills a battery over time as deep cycling a regular battery shortens its life.

• I now have amperage to spare (watts if you prefer). I used to be able to exceed the magnetos ability to keep up with all the lights on and heated clothing. I have a meter I plug in to monitor battery voltage that is just color diodes. With the 2011 it would be orange at idle and go to yellow or even red (12.3 volts) if I had everything on with the engine running. The 2014 is always in the green no matter what, even at an idle.

• When testing with a volt meter, my battery was at 12.5, key off, before hooking up the charger on the 2011, or about 85%. After a long idle the static voltage would be as low as 12.4 (65%). The 2014 is showing 12.6 indicating 100% charged. At 12.1 volts a battery is considered drained as you probably already know so there is a very narrow range to work with.

In 2012 I spoke with a battery tech regarding this very subject and it was his suggestion that using a good trickle charger would keep the battery in peak condition for extended battery life. This was after I drained my battery on the 11 by listening to the radio for a few hours and was trying to find a better battery. He told me that regular battery's have a finite amount of recharge cycles and unlike a deep cycle battery, every time I deep drain the battery by as much as @20% the life of the battery is shortened. It also turned out that the battery I had was as good as it would get with that type of technology.

So, it takes a couple seconds to plug the charger into my trunk outlet after a ride so I make it a habit now.

Wish I'd said that.

Ron

[SteveMac]

My output from the battery is showing 14.47. 2014 RT-S

Cruzr Joe

Hey. HEY!!

This, sir, is your second comment on this subject. You know the rules...

[Bob Denman]

He can't talk about Battery Maintainer systems at all; and is limited to one post per alternator thread?
You're gonna make him feel unwanted!
Can we turn him loose on the Subject of SpyderFest?

[SteveMac]

Oh, I suppose we could allow Joe that much. But the rules committee may veto it.

[Bob Denman]

Good enough!
Does he need to appear in the Federal Courthouse personally for this ruling?

And if he needs "Character Witnesses"; I'd be willing to testify that he's a real character!