zong battery trouble

[zingshoen]

today as i was riding to work i noticed that the indicators weren t working. i stopped and started to smell the foul sulphuric smell of a boiling battery. i turned the ignition and the petcock off, parked it away from everything and stood behind a tree. it smoked a fair while. then i took the seat off, saw the problem, left the bike there by the roadside for now. no cable damage.

the battery is probably at the end of its life, i ve had it for 5 years. however it held the charge and worked without a problem. i did recently fill it up with distilled water and i also added a frame ground cable in addition to the engine ground it had. other than that i did not modify or kink anything.

[SpudRider]

I'm sorry to hear of your battery problems, Zingshoen. However, you did get 5 good years of service from that battery. Now you have a good reason to switch to a maintenance free, AGM battery.

[zingshoen]

just got home pushing the bike uphill and downhill and uphill and...an hour later i m home. it s funny how you notice small differences in the gradient of hills when you push a bike.
yes, the battery is due for an upgrade :-) in the absence of a cable short i m worried the regulator may have given up the ghost, blew the fuse etc. how can i check the regulator without hooking up a good battery first?

[SpudRider]

Jump start your Zong with an automobile battery. After the bike is running, connect a digital multimeter to the battery terminals. When you rev the engine, you should see the voltage increase to about 14V, if the regulator/rectifier (R/R) is working properly. If the voltage doesn't increase while revving the engine, the R/R is probably defective.

[zingshoen]

i felt it was the right time to check all the wiring. mostly using continuity testing i found two faulty items:

the clutch switch, which i removed

the neutral indicator switch which i disabled by disconnecting the light green/red cable under the left cable connection rubber boot.

once i did that i had no continuity across the disconnected battery terminals with the ignition switch on. i then installed my new AGM battery:

http://www.motobattbatteries.com/motobatt-mbtx7u.html

i connected the positive terminal and measured current leakage between the negative cable and the battery with a lamp and with the multimeter on the mA scale: nil
i then connected the neg terminal and started the bike. at a fast idle i read 14V, and if i rev the engine it goes up to 15. with lights this drops to 13.5, with indicators it drops to 12.5.

does this sound like a healthy r/r? any further r/r tests i can do? does anyone know the resistance values for the yamazong 200 r/r?

[SpudRider]

Your R/R appears to be in good condition. I don't remember finding any test readings for the R/R, but you can search the Yamaha TW200 Service Manual, which is available for download in the Zong Sticky.

[cheesy]

I'm going the other way here, Spud.

Zingshoens' R/R is working, but not well. 15v is at the very limit of acceptability at high rpm with no load. That kind of voltage may very well be what caused the battery to commit suicide. 14.5 to 14.7 would be better. 13.5 with the lights on is acceptable, 12.5 with the indicators is telling me the alternator isn't keeping up with the load. Is it not keeping up with the load because the R/R is going south or is the alternator getting ready to pack it in? Good question. I think some more testing may be needed. However, from Zingsheons' last post, I can't tell if the lights and indicator readings are at an idle or rev'd. That may change a few things.

[Weldangrind]

I was thinking the same thing when I saw the 15v comment. RR's are cheap enough to buy another one for comparative testing.

[SpudRider]

I defer to my learned colleagues. It certainly is wise to test with another R/R. Here's a Zongshen R/R for sale at Taboao.



http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=...&id=5087002916

[zingshoen]

cheesy, the lights and indicator readings were at idle speed.

thank you gentlemen, i ll order one and compare results! thank you for the link, spudrider!

i rode 2x15 ks yesterday without problems, but i wouldn t want to risk my new battery. this is where having more than one bike comes in handy!

[Weldangrind]

That's part of my motto. One wife, many motorcycles.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

That's part of my motto. One wife, many motorcycles.

You don't live in Utah.

[cheesy]

Originally Posted by zingshoen

cheesy, the lights and indicator readings were at idle speed.

thank you gentlemen, i ll order one and compare results! thank you for the link, spudrider!

i rode 2x15 ks yesterday without problems, but i wouldn t want to risk my new battery. this is where having more than one bike comes in handy!

Hmmm. A half volt drop at idle when you kick on the lights isn't bad. That extra volt for the indicator is. But, then again, is turning on the lights-headlight(low beam) and taillight(single lamp)?, or headlight, taillight(dual lamp) and running lights? I haven't had a Chinabike for a while and the old grey cells aren't coughing up the info I need. Still, a new R/R can't hurt.

I know this is comparing apples to oranges, but my CX puts out 13.8v at an idle with all 15 of the lights on(No choice. It's running, the lights are on) It will drop to 12.5 at an idle when it gets hot enough to kick on the cooling fan.