Alternator problem ???

Forum rules
Please can you post items for sale or wanted in the correct For Sale section. Items / bikes for sale here will be removed without warning. Reasons for this are in the FAQ. Thanks
Post Reply
richiefoz
Settled in member
Posts: 5
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2013 10:24 pm

Alternator problem ???

Post by richiefoz » Tue Dec 02, 2014 4:24 pm

Hi,
I have an Rvf 400 95 plate. Bike runs fine but when i come back form a ride and plug the charger back in it has used half the battery power according to the charger. The battery is only 1 year old so i guess its the Alternator ???? Any usual problems i should know about. Thanks guys.

magg
Senior Member
Posts: 1912
Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:55 pm
Bike owned: VFR400
Location: Blue Mountain NSW Australia

Re: Alternator problem ???

Post by magg » Wed Dec 03, 2014 8:39 am

If you PM me with your e-mail address I will send you a copy of my check sheet or you can use the one in the Document Library on this site.

manicguitarist
NWAA Supporter
NWAA Supporter
Posts: 353
Joined: Mon Oct 06, 2014 11:39 am
Bike owned: RVF400 (NC35)
Location: Rossendale, Lancashire

Re: Alternator problem ???

Post by manicguitarist » Wed Dec 03, 2014 9:36 am

For what it is worth, all the battery conditioners take a while to go from "checking & charging" to "fully charged".

User avatar
speedy231278
NWAA Supporter
NWAA Supporter
Posts: 1549
Joined: Tue Jul 03, 2012 11:58 am
Bike owned: RVF400, TZR125, ZXR750R

Re: Alternator problem ???

Post by speedy231278 » Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:52 am

Measure the voltage using a multimeter. Also, it will depend on how long you ride the bike for, and how. If you start the bike then spend ages sat in traffic with it ticking over, the battery will not be getting charged much, if at all. Due to the always on lights on the RVF, they pretty much run at a loss unless you are pulling a good few thousand revs or more, especially when the charging system starts to suffer from iffy connections as most do over time.

Take the seat off and stick a mutlimeter across the battery terminals. If you don't see at least 13.5V with the engine spinning at 5000rpm the charging system is weak and could do with improving. There are many reasons for this, but the most common and most simple to fix are corrosion in the connectors between the alternator and the loom, and the reg/rec and the loom.
Image

Post Reply