What's your battery voltage while on the move?

I just installed a voltmeter today... thinking that it would a good way to monitor my battery

While on the move, I noticed a steady voltage of 14V...

Is that normal/good/bad?

14-14.5 is normal

less or more is not so good

That's about normal. If it goes over 15v I would be worried. What is it reading at idle? Got any pics of your install? What kind of meter did you get and where did you connect it?

I bought this



Let me take some picture and note down the voltage at idle tomorrow..

What's the lowest acceptable voltage reading without turning on the motor?

No specs for that in the manual but I would guess you should see a little over 12v with just the key on (motor not running). Probably about 12.5v or so. It really depends on the state of your battery at the time. If you just ran the engine, the meter might show around 13v, but if the bike has been sitting for a while it will probably be closer to 12-12.5v. The only spec in the book is the check for charging which is 14v at 5000 RPM. Looks like a tiny little meter. Very nice. What does the black box do? Does it beep for low voltage or something? Any other features?

What's up with the new avatar?

mwakey wrote:

No specs for that in the manual but I would guess you should see a little over 12v with just the key on (motor not running). Probably about 12.5v or so. It really depends on the state of your battery at the time. If you just ran the engine, the meter might show around 13v, but if the bike has been sitting for a while it will probably be closer to 12-12.5v. The only spec in the book is the check for charging which is 14v at 5000 RPM. Looks like a tiny little meter. Very nice. What does the black box do? Does it beep for low voltage or something? Any other features?

What's up with the new avatar?

The black box is... a black box

I have no idea what it does.... but it tugs nicely under the meter and out of the way

I doubt it has any other features than showing the battery voltage... before the fuel pump kicks in, it will show about 12.5v... and once the pump starts to..ermm.. pump, the voltage drops about 0.3v to 12.2v

avatar? she's cute

mtb wrote:

The black box is... a black box

Thanks for that highly technical explanation.

About the fuel pump... so you are saying the pump goes on and off while the engine is running? What kind of cycle time is there between on and off? I know on some outboard motors the EFI pump cycles on and off to maintain pressure at low engine speeds, but at higher RPMs the pump runs continuously. Is this how it is on the WR too?

mwakey wrote:

Thanks for that highly technical explanation.

About the fuel pump... so you are saying the pump goes on and off while the engine is running? What kind of cycle time is there between on and off? I know on some outboard motors the EFI pump cycles on and off to maintain pressure at low engine speeds, but at higher RPMs the pump runs continuously. Is this how it is on the WR too?

Anytime dude

No no no... I was just referring to the very first cycle when you turn on your key switch... sorry for the confusion here... but anyway I will try to see whether it does what you described tomorrow

Those MF batteries are different from regular ones, they used to be 2.2v per cel and there are 6 cell's, the new battery's use more concentrated electrolite so it actually makes more v per cel, you might find some info direct from the battery manufacturer, maybe Google it
Measuring standing voltage is the new way to test those battery's but measuring battery voltage while in use is kind of the hard way but
Measure your standing voltage with the key off and make note of it (just make sure it's at a full state of charge), then you have to remember that number because anything less than that will be discharging
So, 12.5 volt's while running is actually draining the battery
The easiest way is an ammeter, if you are making 1 amp you are charging and it's that simple, voltage does not matter

Good info 0007.

Hey MTB, do they make an ammeter like that too? I can't even find the voltmeter you got online.

Thanks agent 0007

Right now the meter is hooked to the battery directly and with a simple on/off switch which I turn off when the bike is parked (I want to prevent battery drain )

Sunday I didn't go anywhere, so the bike was parked (DUH)... and this morning before I turned on the key, I switched on the voltmeter first... and the reading was 12.5v

Then I turned the key to on...fuel pump started and the meter read 12.3v... and then I cranked the bike... the voltage dropped until 11v

after the bike was started, the voltage kept climbing... when the bike was warmed up pretty good, it read 14v-14.1v... then I moved..stopped...cornered... the meter gave steady readings between 13.9v-14.1v

So I guess it does not cycle the pump like what Mark described...

Do you guys think it's a better idea to hook up the voltmeter to the ignition switch instead of running it directly from the battery?

and Mark... I have no idea where the guy got the meter from... can't really help you out there

I didn't figure the pump cycles on and off. Just thought I'd ask since you were watching the volts. You can't hear the pump running when the engine is running so I wasn't sure. Thanks. That's one more thing I know about this bike now.

Your voltage readings sound normal to me. I would leave it connected directly to the battery for a more true reading. But instead of an on/off switch you could just connect that wire to the igniton key-on power (brown wire). Then the voltmeter would come on and off with the key. Engine off, meter off, no drain on battery.

Do you mean ground to battery and live to ignition?

No.

You say you have it direct to the battery now with a switch to turn it on. What I meant was leave it connected to the battery and run the positive wire from your switch to the ignition positive. You can leave the ground where it is.

It's hard to say how to do it without seeing what you have now. Did you add the switch or did it come with one? I assume by looking at that black box pic that those two heavy leads (red & black) go to the battery and the smaller group of wires go to the meter. Is one of those smaller wires the one you have connected to your switch?

This is what I have now

WOW! More highly technical stuff.

Just giving you a hard time dude...

It looks like you have the main feed connected to the switch. This would work just fine, but I imagine there is another set of + and - wires going to the meter itself from the black box. I was thinking you should put the switch on that positive lead so you can turn the meter on and off with the key. But maybe you better leave it like you have it, since it's hard to say if that black box draws any power when the meter is off. Do you have the positive lead to the battery fused? It might be a good idea to add a fuse to protect the black box and meter.

I am SO used to it...

The display is purely connected to the black box with that rainbow wires... nothing more...

Yes I do have a little fuse, just in case

So you think I should just leave it in the highly technically drawn layout?

This is how it looks

That's a cute little meter. Very nice. Smaller than I thought it would be. I would leave it the way you have it. You shouldn't have any problems. Where did you mount the switch?

Oh ya, and get some fuel in that thing. You're running low.

Just a little one on the fuel pump
It will cycle on to pressurize the rail when the key is switched on, but if the engine is not started it will shut off
The pump has a fuel pressure regulator built into it so it just put's the rest back into the tank but it run's constantly to keep pressure in the rail when the bike is running

mtb, where did you get that voltmeter, one of the Singapore electronics markets or online? Thx.

I got it from a local forum mass order...

Let me check with the guy where he got it from

These guys sell something similar.

http://www.digitalmeter.com/

I have one on my KLR.

excellent, thanks!