Overcharging?

[bbroj]

I have a Kuryakyn digital voltmeter on my bike and have recently noticed the amber light at 14 volts flickering on somewhat regularly. I installed the meter along with several electrical farkles to be sure I wasn't draining the battery, but now am questioning if the meter itself is working correctly. I have not had the opportunity to put a digital volt meter (hand held) on the battery while this is happening, it's usually during a ride.  I have had issues with this meter since I installed it, mostly of my own making, but thought I had them resolved (it's controlled by a relay, which I had mounted with the connections facing up. The relay and connections got wet and the meter was pretty useless. The relay is now mounted connections down and seemingly dry). Does anyone else use this meter, and if so, is it common to see the amber 14v light? I know 14 volts is not out of range for the charging system, but it had previously stayed solidly in the "green".

[GeeBeav]

I have no personal experience with the Kuryakyn, but some of the reviews aren't very good (inaccurate, not waterproof, etc). Probably be best to check your batt with a meter to see if you really have a problem.

Your batt could very well drop below 14 at idle, depending on load, but that's not necessarily a problem.

[timsatx]

If it is in the 14v range while you are driving I would say it is okay. If you see it getting 16-17v then you would definitely have a problem. At idle and low rpm's you should have a lower voltage, somewhere in the range of 12v.

[SteveJ.]

With the exception of one time when my battery went TU, I've never seen the high side amber light up. Are you sure that the amber signifies 14v? The only real way to tell is to compare with a meter. Even if the amber is not lighting up, you can still compare numbers.

[bbroj]

Are you sure that the amber signifies 14v?

That's just my best guess by the way the meter is set up and it's range.

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 8   9  10   11  12  13  14  15  16  voltage range

[CRocker]

Pretty sure my '88 goes to 14.2 or so right above idle...and it has for the year/9000 miles I've spent with it...

It seemed high to me...but, after reading stories on the old forum from a dozen other riders...I think you're ok...

Best of luck!

[bbroj]

Thanks, it doesn't seem like a problem, it's just different from what I'm used to. Earlier in the season, it stayed in the green lights all the time. The flickering of the amber caught my attention so I thought I'd post the question. Today on the way home, it was just green lights. I'll keep an eye on it and if it gets worse I'll set up a way to compare it to a quality digital meter.

[Outback_Jon]

I don't know for sure how accurate it is, but I got a reading of 14.4v tonight after parking my bike, with it idling.  My ham radio has a voltage display when you turn it on, and that's what it read.  I'll have to put a meter on it and see how accurate it is one of these days.  It read 12.8v this afternoon before I started the bike up.

[timsatx]

With the exception of one time when my battery went TU, I've never seen the high side amber light up. Are you sure that the amber signifies 14v? The only real way to tell is to compare with a meter. Even if the amber is not lighting up, you can still compare numbers.

That's why I don't like display type meters. I want something that shows me numbers.

[GeeBeav]

That's why I don't like display type meters. I want something that shows me numbers.

Exactly. No guessing, easy to see a trend.

[bbroj]

I wanted a simple analog meter, but couldn't find one that I liked. I was looking for a rectangular display to compliment the clock on the opposite side (I put the voltmeter on the left). I also looked at the digital display meters, but again wanted backlit LCD to match the clock. I could not find that in a watrerproof gauge.

[T Cro ®]

Charging system is rated at 14 VDC at 6,000 RPM and 13.5 VDC at 4,000 RPM...

At good 12 VDC battery at rest should read around 13.2 VDC

I've gone to a standard automotive type dial gauge as used on the Concours over a digital display or any type of colored or increasing quantity of LED as with tired eyesight I am no longer able to clearly see these types of display.

[bbroj]

I just took some readings, the mounted meter vs a Fluke DMM.  Bike off, the DMM read 12.05v and the meter showed 11v, amber light. Engine running about 1400 rpm (slight choke) the DMM showed 14.25 and the bike meter showed 13v, 2 green LED's. Engine running at 3k was almost the same, the DMM showed 14.4v. Engine running at 12k with high beam, grip heaters (on High) and aux LED lighting all on, the DMM read 13.5 and the bike meter showed 13v, 2 green LED's. All of this seems perfectly normal to me, the only issue is that the 14v amber light on the bike meter never flickered so I could compare readings at that point in time. This all leads me to believe the Kuryakyn meter, or my relay, are at fault. As I mentioned earlier, the relay did get wet in the past and the Kuryakyn meter does still perform an occasional random restart as if it lost all power in the middle of a ride. The relay is next to get replaced. In the meantime, I don't believe I have any REAL charging issues or cause for alarm. Thanks all.

[bbroj]

That's just my best guess by the way the meter is set up and it's range.

 1   2   3    4    5    6   7   8    9   meter LED's
 8   9  10   11  12  13  14  15  16  voltage range

I found this on the Kuryakyn site. It doesn't make sence to me, given that the stated range and number of LED's is 1:1, but I didn't design the thing!

Our L.E.D. Battery Gauge is an array of L.E.D.’s indicating the operating voltage of the bike’s electrical system.
Green L.E.D.’s represent the normal operating range of your charging system, 12.5v to 14.5v. Amber L.E.D.’s warn the rider that the bike is not charging. If the reading drops below 10v or exceeds 15v, a flashing red L.E.D. will alert
the rider of an impending stall or the possibility of damage to the battery &/or sensitive electronic components on the motorcycle.

[GeeBeav]

Can you replace the idiot light with your DMM?

Secure the DMM and go for a ride to get some real numbers.

Or just replace the idiot light - http://www.bikemeters.com/cgi-bin/webshop.cgi?config=ent-datel

[timsatx]

I found this on the Kuryakyn site. It doesn't make sence to me, given that the stated range and number of LED's is 1:1, but I didn't design the thing!

Our L.E.D. Battery Gauge is an array of L.E.D.’s indicating the operating voltage of the bike’s electrical system.
Green L.E.D.’s represent the normal operating range of your charging system, 12.5v to 14.5v. Amber L.E.D.’s warn the rider that the bike is not charging. If the reading drops below 10v or exceeds 15v, a flashing red L.E.D. will alert
the rider of an impending stall or the possibility of damage to the battery &/or sensitive electronic components on the motorcycle.

Then that doesn't make sense since 14.5 volts is considered normal yet the light color say it is in the danger zone.

[bbroj]

According to what Kuryakyn's site says, 14.5 is green on their meter. It seems the scale is not 1:1 as I thought. The high end amber light flickering on mine has me a bit puzzled, but it's not the first time I have questioned the accuracy of this particular meter. (The colored LED vs voltage post above is what I ASSumed the readings to indicate, Kuryakyn states otherwise.)