For those complaining of low voltage

[Sasquatch]

I found the solution.  My 01 955i has always seemed to charge at a lower voltage than what I am comfortable with.  I have a Volt meter on My GPS and constantly watch it.  With no accessories on it would charge around 13.5 volts.  It has done this for the last 25k miles, since new.



Yesterday morning was the straw that broke the camels back.  It was cold, about 35 degrees F, and I have  a long ride in.  I had the grips on high and my Gerbing full jacket liner on about 3/4ths on the temptroller.  My cruise voltage never exceeded 13.1 volts and at idle it was 12.0-12.1vdc.



I pulled it into the shop last night, hooked all my heated clothing to it, took the seat of and with my Fluke DMM, started tracking voltage with the bike running at 2500rpm.  I was loosing 1.2 volts between the battery and the regulator.  The fix was so simple, everyone should do it if they have a problem or not.



I unplugged the charge side of the regulator from the chassis harness.  In that connection there are 2 red and 2 black wires.  Power and ground.  I re routed the wire around the side of the regulator so the connector was sitting by the positive battery terminal.  I picked up 2 inline blade style fuse holders, waterproof, from NAPA auto parts.  Keeping the wires short, I put female spade connectors on one end of the fuses and plugged them into the two red wires at the connector.  The other ends of the fuse wires I joined into one ring terminal and attached it to the positive battery post.  



I installed 2 20amp fuses into the holders.  I will update the group on the fuse ratings, I need to talk to our electrical engineer about that.  I dont know if I need 2 20's in parallel or 2 40's to get the proper fuse connection.  Then remove the 30 amp fuse from the fuse block, number 2 I think it is.  That will kill power going down to the loose connector now hanging in your engine bay.



The grounds I did the same, but with no fuse holders.  I just ran 2 10" pieces of 12awg wire from the connector to one ring terminal at the battery.



Huge, HUGE difference.  This morning, it was 31 degrees F when I rode in.  Gerbing liner on roast, heated grips on High, high beams (100w x 2) on most of the way and the cruise voltage hovered between 14.2-14.4 vdc.  At idle it never dropped below 12.5v at full load.  The lights were brighter, my heaters were warmer and warmed up much faster.  The engine seemed crisper, but that could be in my mind.



Do it guys.  I will have photos when we do my fathers Tiger in a week or so.

[Stretch]

I will have photos when we do my fathers Tiger in a week or so.

Thank you!

[cbxtc6]

I think I had similar problems with my '03.  I fried a couple stators, and a regulator, and THEN re-wired my regulator.  I did it slightly different, as I ran a new ground to the engine ground, not the battery.  Same results though - better charging.  I'd like to know what in the wiring harness is draining the voltage from the regulator???

 :smt102

[aussietiggar]

This is a good solution, when I was looking at my problem I found a small voltdrop through the harness around the instruments and lights. I had connected my small dash voltmeter into the dash harness and found it was reading 1 volt less than across the battery I have since moved the connection.

While the bike is under warrenty I am not going to start pulling things to bits.

In respect to the fusing, the cables size governs the fuse size if you have run 40 amp cable you can use 40 amp fuses if you have run 20amp cable the max fuse is 20amps for both fuses, 12awg in meteric speak is 3.3mm which would be about the minium size you could use on a 20 amp fuse



I still stand by my theory the charger has problems sharging a flat battery but is fine keeping the already charged battery topped up.

[Bear]

I still stand by my theory the charger has problems sharging a flat battery but is fine keeping the already charged battery topped up.

So are you suggesting charging the bat every month or so, just to get it back full charge??

[aussietiggar]

Bear.

I had not been for a ride on my bike for 2 months when the thing broke down.

Sadly I still only ride it a couple of times a month, but I have not had a problem since I fully charged the battery after the failure, I would suggest may be if the bike has been left for over a month or so give the battery a quick charge, it would not hurt anyway just be careful not to over charge!!!

[Bob Tosi]

is this the voltage drop mod that had been posted a while ago with the good pics of everything?  Cold you post the pics again ?  I want to make this mod to my steamer.

[outrunner]

This will be what you want then!  <!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->   Andy.

DEAD LINK REMOVED. IF ANYONE STUMBLES ACROSS THE PHOTOS TO GO WITH THIS THREAD, PLEASE LET MUSTANG OR BIXXER BOB KNOW SO WE CAN FIX IT