Yes, as 2M points out, there will always be a voltage drop from the battery to the various loads on the bike. What is important, is reading the voltage that the loads actually use. I have my permanent voltmeter connected to the brown wire that is downstream of the Signals fuse. With it wired that way, if any large voltage drop occurs across the main 20 amp fuse, ignition switch or the associated wiring, I will see that on the voltmeter. I typically read 14.1 or 14.2 volts, so that means my battery is being charged at 14.3 or 14 .4 volts.
Scott's quote;
"Gotta say, that is the general rule but regulators can have a lower set point and still function just as well. Same for the rotor test, rotors can function well and only have a reading of just over 3 ohm's."
Scott, both those statements are wrong. You mentioned using a regulator that only charges at 13.5 volts. Your battery will never be fully charged at that voltage. You are getting only partial charging. There seems to be a general thinking on this and other motorcycle web sites, that if they get some where in the 13 volt range, that their battery is being charged just fine. Well that's just not true.
I drove a motorcycle back in the 1970's and 1980's (Yamaha XS500C) and then had a large absence, until I started riding again in 2007. As soon as I started riding and joined an XS650 web site in around 2007, I kept hearing about lads using battery tenders. I didn't even know what a battery tender was! Why would you need such as device??
I asked why they needed a battery tender.........................they said it was the only way to keep their batteries charged. Most of them did not understand that 13 to 13.5 volts was not charging their batteries, and so they had to plug in an external charger to make up for the lack of charging from their bikes onboard charging system. Over my 25 years of riding motorcycles, I have never used an external battery charger (tender?) during riding season. My onboard charging system has always kept my battery fully charged.
A rotor with only 3 ohms resistance, means that 30% to 40 % of the windings do not carry any current and therefore do not produce any magnetic flux. This results in a weak magnetic field, and a charging voltage from the stator that is below the normal 14.1 to 14.5 volts.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,maybe 13.5 volts???
Another thing that I found strange when I started riding again in 2007, was that many lads said the starter motor was weak and they had to kick start the engine in the morning, and only use the starter motor for later starts. That did not make sense to me. They blamed thick oil or a weak starter motor etc. The real cause was just batteries that were never being fully charged. My bike always starts instantly using the starter motor, and I have never had to use the kick starter.
Scott's quote;
"Gotta say, that is the general rule but regulators can have a lower set point and still function just as well. Same for the rotor test, rotors can function well and only have a reading of just over 3 ohm's."
Scott, both those statements are wrong. You mentioned using a regulator that only charges at 13.5 volts. Your battery will never be fully charged at that voltage. You are getting only partial charging. There seems to be a general thinking on this and other motorcycle web sites, that if they get some where in the 13 volt range, that their battery is being charged just fine. Well that's just not true.
I drove a motorcycle back in the 1970's and 1980's (Yamaha XS500C) and then had a large absence, until I started riding again in 2007. As soon as I started riding and joined an XS650 web site in around 2007, I kept hearing about lads using battery tenders. I didn't even know what a battery tender was! Why would you need such as device??
I asked why they needed a battery tender.........................they said it was the only way to keep their batteries charged. Most of them did not understand that 13 to 13.5 volts was not charging their batteries, and so they had to plug in an external charger to make up for the lack of charging from their bikes onboard charging system. Over my 25 years of riding motorcycles, I have never used an external battery charger (tender?) during riding season. My onboard charging system has always kept my battery fully charged.
A rotor with only 3 ohms resistance, means that 30% to 40 % of the windings do not carry any current and therefore do not produce any magnetic flux. This results in a weak magnetic field, and a charging voltage from the stator that is below the normal 14.1 to 14.5 volts.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,maybe 13.5 volts???
Another thing that I found strange when I started riding again in 2007, was that many lads said the starter motor was weak and they had to kick start the engine in the morning, and only use the starter motor for later starts. That did not make sense to me. They blamed thick oil or a weak starter motor etc. The real cause was just batteries that were never being fully charged. My bike always starts instantly using the starter motor, and I have never had to use the kick starter.
..........................14.1 volts will make your bike happy!
