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3 times battery failure

pharrell

New Member
I have a 2001 custom chopper that I have built and installed a 2001 Dyna twin cam motor in it. I removed all components except what I need to make it run. 3 times I have rode the bike at highway speed for abut 100 - 150 miles then the bike quits running. when I check the battery it shows 11.3v and will not take a charge and is trash. In my garage I have checked the stator and all is good, I have checked the Voltage Regulator and it puts out the proper voltage, I have checked the diodes in the voltage regulator and they check good, I have checked all grounds and they are good, it does not blow fuses and there are no burned wires indicating a direct short. What am I missing? could the VR be shutting down when hot or the diodes break down when hot?
THanks
Paul
 
I have a 2001 custom chopper that I have built and installed a 2001 Dyna twin cam motor in it. I removed all components except what I need to make it run. 3 times I have rode the bike at highway speed for abut 100 - 150 miles then the bike quits running. when I check the battery it shows 11.3v and will not take a charge and is trash. In my garage I have checked the stator and all is good, I have checked the Voltage Regulator and it puts out the proper voltage, I have checked the diodes in the voltage regulator and they check good, I have checked all grounds and they are good, it does not blow fuses and there are no burned wires indicating a direct short. What am I missing? could the VR be shutting down when hot or the diodes break down when hot?
THanks
Paul

Welcome to The Forum, have you load tested the battery? http://www.hdtimeline.com/archive/t-47714.html have you done this step by step? check the wires at the stator for oil and loose?
 
You didn't say if you converted to 3 phase.. Checking the diodes with a meter is not a proof positive test. You can have a bad diode and the meter won't show it. If you know the batteries your buying are good quality (you did not mention brand, size or type), my 1st guess would be some stator AC is getting past the voltage regulator. That would kill batteries in a hurry.
 
You didn't say if you converted to 3 phase.. Checking the diodes with a meter is not a proof positive test. You can have a bad diode and the meter won't show it. If you know the batteries your buying are good quality (you did not mention brand, size or type), my 1st guess would be some stator AC is getting past the voltage regulator. That would kill batteries in a hurry.

Very good Question Hoople, I would also like to know what the primary drive is belt or chain and is the rotor spaced or not? Reason I ask this is I have seen spacers not put back in and BIG troubles with Alternators
 
Harley Davidson batteries.

What you have is possible but very strange. For several new batteries to really be toast after just 100-150 miles, they would have to be mighty warm, even hot to the touch after the 2 1/2 hour test ride. Are they exceptionally hot after just a 25 mile ride on the highway?

Pounding a battery with AC will kill it in a hurry, but it will fight back with a lot of heat.

Just running a battery down flat is not good for it, but it will usually take it and bounce back. Your sure these new batteries won't take a charge, and it's not a problem with your house/garage charger?

BTW,, If the stator has two output wires, it is single phase. If there are 3 output wires, it is 3 phase.
 
THe stator has 2 wires. I thought the same thing about the battery charger and took it to battery outfitters to charge and check then bought a new charger, still the batteries will not take a charge. I have never felt the battery to see if it was hot, I will do that on my next test ride. The battery box I built has a very tight fit and I wonder if the positive lead could be bouncing off of the powder coated battery box and arching, however I see no signs of it.
 
So you are:
1) single phase
2) your home/garage charger is good
3) your using HD AGM (non flooded) batteries
4) and in a short period of time, new batteries will not take a charge and remain in the 11 volt range after charging.

The only way I could see that happening is if one of the regulator diodes was leaking and allowing AC (reversed charging polarity) from the stator to get to the battery. I don't know what meter steps you took to check the regulator but you can easily get mislead by those service manual tests. They only use the battery in the meter (tops 9 volts) to apply reverse bias to the diodes which is nowhere the same stress the diodes see from the stator.

Based on the above, I would say the regulator is bad.

**Make sure you do something about the battery terminals possibly touching the battery case. Should that ever happen, a new regulator will become toast in less time than it takes to blow a fuse**
This is when a semi-conductor blows in order to save the fuse.:)
 
What Alternator and regulator are you running? Is the regulator the correct one for this system? Is the Alternator spacer in place? If not the stator will be ruined, open up the primary and smell the fluid is it burned?
 
I used a multimeter in the diode function to check them and they bench check ok. if I hook a cheap analog volt meter like in a car to the battery and run the bike will I see a the needle jump around if the diode is bad?
 
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