RX-1 Charging Problem?????????

[deagan]

Has anyone had problems with there rx-1 not charging the battery??? went for two rides this year and battery dies every time. brand new battery.

 

[Len Todd]

Did you have the new battery fully charged before you took off? The sled can maintain a charged battery. It can not charge a new battery that has not been fully charged.

You may want to get an Optimate III charger also. These batteries take a bit of unique charging to last a long time. The Optimate can recondition what appears to be a bad battery. It also keeps the new batteries from going bad.

Click here for more information on Optimate III

To check your charging, place a volt meter across the battery terminals. With the sled reving at 3000 RPM you should see > 12.2 volts DC. You do have to rev the sled a bit to see the voltage at 12.2 volts. Also, you need a charged battery to see this.

To check your battery, after a full charge and letting it set for a couple hours, you should see 12 Volts DC across its terminals. If you see the 12 VDC and it still still won't crank good, you can also have the battery load tested. Take it to the battery dealer to do this. They do it for free.

 

[BlgsRX-1mtn]

To check your charging, place a volt meter across the battery terminals. With the sled reving at 3000 RPM you should see > 12.2 volts DC. You do have to rev the sled a bit to see the voltage at 12.2 volts. Also, you need a charged battery to see this.

To check your battery, after a full charge and letting it set for a couple hours, you should see 12 Volts DC across its terminals. If you see the 12 VDC and it still still won't crank good, you can also have the battery load tested. Take it to the battery dealer to do this. They do it for free.[/color][/size]

Actually, the voltage at idle on my sled is between 13.6 and 14 volts at idle. In the picture attached below you can view my digital Daytona Multifunction Meter. This is with the grip and thumb heaters on low. I also have the tail lights and headlamps functioning to prevent frying the charging system since it isn't designed to run without the extra current draw from these.

Deagan I don't know if this is your issue or not but, another thing to make a mental note of is; when you shut the sled down use the key and remove it to make sure the ignition is off. I have read some reports of guys using the kill switch on the bars and leaving the key in the sled having a battery drain issue. It seems there is still something internally that causes a slight current draw.

Jim

 

[deagan]

I will try to trouble shoot my problem. I think it may be the voltage regulator/rectifier. checked all the fuses. in the manual it states that @ 5000 rpm i should have 14 volts charging, but in my case the higher the rpm the lower the voltage. I checked the wiring. after that I am going into the stator checks.

 

[Len Todd]

I used 12.2 VDC as a minimum. If you have got 13-14 VDC, it is charging. Also, if it stays above 12.2 and less than 14.2 VDC when you rev it, it is still most likely NOT your voltage regulator.

That takes us back to the battery. With your battery fully charged & disconnected, does it read 12 VDC? If it does, you may want to have a load test done. Then you know for sure it is not the battery.

But, again these batteries need a full charge before you install them. The machine can not charge a new battery that has not been fully charged prior to use. The machine can maintain it. But it can not do the initial charge.

What exactly are you using for a charger?

The positive part is; I’ll bet you’re getting real familiar with that electrical circuit by now.

 

[Sled Dog]

They would charge if a switch was installed to shut off the power to the head lights and the hand/thumb warmers turned off. Same with a motorcycle if you could turn the headlights off while idling it would charge the battery.

 

[Bob Miller]

Here is some testing I did FYI:

Here is a test I did on my 04 Warrior when I was looking for the same answer I would imagine the Apex to be the same, but I have not tested one of them 8)

For all that are interested! After waking up the Warrior I had an opportunity to monitor the charging system with a Multimeter.
Voltage at idle and at higher revs remains constant about 14.40 volts DC
When cold( while carb heaters are on ) I turned on the Gerbings electric jacket to full power (77 watts) Voltage dropped to 12.80 volts
I turned the jacket off and voltage came back up to 14.40 volts.
I tried again a minute later ( apparently the carb heaters turned off)
The voltage now only dropped off from 14.40 to 14.28 volts. It does not look like there will be any problem with this, and that jacket is NICE

 

[Snomad]

I just fired up the RX-1 this past weekend; or at least tried to. Very dead battery. This with it on an Optimate charger/maintainer since July. I jump started the sled but the speedo assy would keep going off and then powering up. I also had the Caution and Engine symbols flashing the two flashes then off for 3.5 seconds and repeat. Usually even a dead battery will charge up enough to restart the machine after about ten minutes running, especially if you ride and get the rpm's up. Not this time. I guess the battery was just toast. New one is on order.
By the way, if you leave the key on and turn the machine off with the kill switch the carb heaters are what stay on and drain the battery. This is a useful thing in really cold weather. For the first stat of the day you can turn your key to the first position for a couple of minutes to warm up the carbs (and gas) and then crank it over. Should start easier on those cold days.