81 GL 1100 Battery not charging

[56michael]

I’ve been riding the 81 every couple days now everything seems to be working well, got a few hundred miles on it. Yesterday when I started it the battery seemed a little weak and today almost dead.
New battery last fall and always on a tender.
The bIke sat for 7 years inside, 19,000 miles, I got the bike last fall and rebuilt the carbs, replaced the head gaskets, rebuilt all the brake calipers and both master cylinders, new fork seals and a few other things. Nice clean bike.
I did some research and looks like I need to test the sator and the regulator rectifier.
With only 19,000 miles I hope it’s not the sator? Pull the engine right?.

thoughts?

 

[julimike54]

I would suggest running through the trouble shooting list on the website....

https://classicgoldwings.com/media/gl1100-80-83-service-manual-page-16-3.11731/
One common problem seems to be the lack of proper voltage on the regulator sense wire, but that is just a guess. Follow the test procedures and see if you can find the real cause.

 

[56michael]

Thanks, I’ll check it out.

 

[mcgovern61]

Several things cause the battery not to charge on 1100's. First, check to be sure your stator connector hasn't melted:

Next, pull the connector out of the regulator/rectifier and clean the connection. This connection often fails due to water and moisture getting in.

Also, check the ground wire connection from the battery to the frame.

You can also check the stator by putting a voltmeter on the battery with the bike off, get a voltage, start the bike, speed up above 2000 RPM and see if the voltage is increasing. My bet is that it is just the stator wire connector is dirty or melted.

 

[56michael]

Thanks for all you help. I’m going to start checking and figure this out.

 

[56michael]

Tested the fully charged battery with multimeter bike off 12.6 bolts. Bike on 4000rpm 13.5 volts. Pulled apart the sator connection and melted. What’s the best way to repair connector?
Do you even need the connector?

 

[56michael]

What causes the connector to get hot and melt?

 

[56michael]

I found Dan Filipi’s post on cutting the plug and soldering the wires. That's next!!

 

[mcgovern61]

I always replaced the connector. The reason is that if (when) you need to pull the engine, it is a lot easier to pull a connector apart rather than de-soldering or cutting wires. The reason the connector fails is poor design. It is not watertight and moisture causes the spades to corrode which then causes resistance. Increased resistance means increase in heat which in turn causes the plastic connector to melt. New connector with new spades and dielectric grease and good to go! Whether you decide to solder or replace the connector, be sure to cut back the wire to clean wire. You will notice the first few sections of wire will be green with corrosion.

 

[Denver]

The voltage regulator's on all three of my 1200's.
Were letting too much voltage through to the battery, I M H O
15.1 volts getting to the battery from all three.
An issue handled on all three, with new after market regulators.
13.9 with 14.5 being is as high as things go now

 

[TMF]

I just had this issue on my 2000 Triumph TT600. I couldn't find a suitable 3 prong male/female connector (easily or on hand) so even though it might be a hassle later I cut out the plastic connector and soldered the 3 wires together. It seems there's enough current going through those plastic connectors that melting a common problem and hits many different brands. I run voltmeters in all my bikes and the TT600 is 13.7 volts at speed so the charging system was healthy and the connector melted anyway. I went a different route a few months back on my Honda ST1100 and did the famous "red wire fix" for that bike which involves essentially replumbing a heavy load wire directly to the battery.

 

[56michael]

I just finished removing the plug and soldering the wires.
Battery is a 12.6v at idle and over 14v at 4000 rpm.
The yellow wires are each over 6v at 4000 rpm.
Thanks again