Hello from belgium- charging problems

[Wouter]

Hello,

I'm wouter and live in belgium.
3 years ago I bougt a great looking 2004 tiger.   Since then i looked this forum once in a while and found good info.



I've ridden kawasaki vulcan 800A , suzuki SV650N, suzuki gsxr750 (srad), street triple and now the tiger.
From all the bikes i like the tiger the most.

So far the good stuff. 

The things i don't like to talk about.

The tiger uses some oil, it has 60k km.  I know it now, i check and fill so for me that is not an issue.
The problem for me is the charging circuit.
2 years ago I had to change the connector between the stator and the RR.  It was melted.  I did the voltage fix at the same time.
This was the only problem I had.

Yesterday I was on a driving course making 8 figures around cones.  After about 1 hour the tiger died and it was not possible to start again.  All the symptomes of a dead battery.  (this one is changed only a month ago after winter)

We pushed the bike and it started.  I drove home without problems.
I did some measurements.
STator and RR values were ok.
13.5V at idle at the battery
At a sudden moment i saw the voltage at the battery go to 20V.  Thas was when the fan was working.
I left the bike and did some other stuff (go to the opendoor at the local triumph dealer, talked to the mechanic, let them make price for a new 800 tiger,....)

This morning when i am calm again,  I realized i don't want an 800 I want to fix the Tiger.
So i started all over again.
Measure Stator, RR all ok.
MEasru at battery 13.5V at idle
Put on heated grips still 13.5V put back of
LEt het motor warm, fan kicks in stil 13.5V at idle put heated grips on same value.
fan stops, put heated grips off, still the same value. (some minor changes)
Play a little with the throttle some minor changes but all between 13 and 14.5
Fan kicks in 13.5 at idle.
Go to 4000rpm, 20V at the battery. let it idle still 20V
fan stops 13.5V at the battery.

It looks like there is a problem when things warm up.

The questions:
Does the fan have 2 speeds?  I see  2 wires coming from the ecu.  (maybe i get 20V only on the high speed)
the RR feels hot i suppose that is normal.
How come the bike died/flat battery when it looks like it is overcharging?
I put my money on the RR any other toughts?

[HockleyBoy]

First of all welcome aboard.

Lots of info on this board about charging problems, yours sounds like mine a while back. start the bike up and all seems fine so you carry on riding it and then sometime later a flat battery again. With mine the RegRec had failed but it was only a problem when the bike was hot.

[metalguru]

Hi Wouter and welcommen to the madhouse.

I do hope that the dealer open door was not the door of dealer in Geel, I spend much time in Belgium and have had bad experience with this guy, may be ok for new bike he doesn't work with!!

Sounds like the Regulater contained in the RR has gone wrong.
Replace with MOSFET type and carry out Sasquatch mod to cableing. This is the type to fit http://roadstercycle.com/index.htm

Check the main fuse for corrosion and all earth connections to frame.

At this time of year where we are is bad news for bikes with all the salt that is used for the roads in Winter.   

[Wouter]

If the sasquatch mod is the same as the voltage fix then it is already installed.
I checked the earth connenctions and didn't find corrosion.  The bike is never ridden in salt.  That helps.
There is no corrosion on the main fuse.

Most of the time I'm not a big dealer fan.  But the dealer in Assenede is close to me and always helpfull.
Last time he gave a scale speed triple to my son.  When my daughter was born she got a nice triumph T-shirt.  There is always coffee...
And i have no complaints about the work they do.

I'm a bit affraid something broke the RR.  If i just replace it how can i be sure this is the root cause...?

[metalguru]

It is good to hear of another Triumph Dealer in Belgium that is recommended, this is useful info for others in Be.

http://bmc-triumph.be/nl-be/home/

I would still want to check all earth connections even if bike is not used in Winter.
Has the bike have fitted with a lead acid type battery or sealed gel type?
The RR will get quite hot in normal operation, if it gets very hot like too hot to touch then it can be notice of the RR having a fault.
It sounds more like a bad electrical connection. A cable may look connected and clean but with careful exam it may have bad electrical connection. Separate the main loom connectors and look for bad connections, in particular the feed to the main key switch.
If all checks are ok then fault the RR. Replace with MOSFET.

[Wouter]

Here we go again.
I did not trust my old cheap multimeter.  SO i bought a good one.
I removed the voltage fix.
Checked the eart points, checked the main switch and found no problems.
With the new meter I remeasured everything and found no problems.  Al measurements were ok.

I checked the connections in the voltage fix and tada.  One of the legs of the fuse and the fuse holder looks not ok.


For the moment I made the wires again as original and have a little less V at the battery.

So I'm back on the road.
Thanks for all the input.

[metalguru]

Good to see you found the fault and you are back on the road again..
Reuse voltage fix as this will save problems in the future..   

[Bixxer Bob]

And if you read carefully elsewhere, you'll learn you need an 80 amp fuseholder with a 30 amp fuse. The 30 amp holder isn't man enough and leads to the problem you just had.

[Marc]

It is good to hear of another Triumph Dealer in Belgium that is recommended, this is useful info for others in Be.

http://bmc-triumph.be/nl-be/home/

a reliable dealer indeed 

[Wouter]

And if you read carefully elsewhere, you'll learn you need an 80 amp fuseholder with a 30 amp fuse. The 30 amp holder isn't man enough and leads to the problem you just had.

I'll keep that in mind.  Hopefully my problem helps other riders to pick the 80 amp fuseholder the firts time. 
(edit: should have read the complete voltage fix instead of just the opening post  )

As this is the second time the tiger let me down with charging problems.   I was thinking of fitting somekind of Voltage indicator.
What do you think about this led type?

[blacktiger]

And if you read carefully elsewhere, you'll learn you need an 80 amp fuseholder with a 30 amp fuse. The 30 amp holder isn't man enough and leads to the problem you just had.

Might be known as a "Maxi" fuse.

I've met and ridden with Christian Moran in Ath. Decent bloke and seems to have a good following in that area as a dealer.
MOURIN & CIE
Chaussee de Mons, 410
ATH Belgium 0032 (0) 6828 1512

[Wouter]

The tiger is spinning like a kitten now.
I would like to add a voltage monitor system. 

what do you think about this led voltage monitor?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200843083721

[Bixxer Bob]

Looks good.

I have something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vehicle-Digital-Alarm-Clock-LCD-Thermometer-Battery-Volt-Meter-Out-In-Temp-UK-/230954294536?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35c5f2dd08

Not waterproof though..... although 2 yrs on it still works 

[blacktiger]

Looks good.

I have something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vehicle-Digital-Alarm-Clock-LCD-Thermometer-Battery-Volt-Meter-Out-In-Temp-UK-/230954294536?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item35c5f2dd08

Not waterproof though..... although 2 yrs on it still works 

Where have you mounted that? It looks quite big.

[Bixxer Bob]

Mine is similar, not the same.  It's on top of the dash, mounted with some thick double sided sticky rubber whatsits...