Howdy all,

After the recent changes on my 2010 Ultra Classic (replacing my RF TM400x4ad with a SoundStream PN4.1000d) I decided to do a test to see how the charging system would hold up under load since the system now can play much louder and warmer sounding than it did. To really get a feel for things I set my heated grips on number two (Harley says at max heat they only draw 2.8 amps) and headed off down the road. I should also mention that I always leave my spotlights on.

I got to cranking it pretty loud, only a tiny bit louder than I would usually listen to it and after a minute or so the Check Engine Light came on and I noticed the voltage gauge was down around 12v. I lowered the volume about three notches and after a few seconds the CEL went off and the volt meter went back up to about 14v. When I got back to the house and plugged up my Schumacher battery tender it said that the battery was at 65% charge. I seem to recall when I had the RF amp in the bag it would usually say it was at about 85% capacity after a ride.

At this time I am running the Arc Moto 600.4 under the fairing and the PN4.1000d in the clutch side bag. The 6x9s on one set of channels of the PN4.1000d are 2.7 ohm impedance so they are probably causing the amp to push about 200 watts each, so I guess total wattage dissipated would easily be around 1300.

Given this information are there any upgrades that can be made to the charging system on these older bikes? I have Googled around but not found much. On the other side of the coin are there any known current hogs that can be tweaked? I really don't want to get into LED headlights because they tend to scramble FM reception. If anyone knows otherwise I'm open to ideas, but if I remember correctly the halogen bulb I have now only draws 4.5 amps.

I also don't want to get into a second battery situation, it's just not worth that much trouble to me. Maybe in the future if money gets better would a more efficient amp for the rear be of some help? Could it be that the SS amp is not as efficient as others? I am very pleased with the SS amp and its performance so if replacing it wouldn't help I'd just as soon leave it there. I seem to recall Soundigital bragging that their amps don't draw as much current as others but to my little monkey brain that implies that they don't obey Ohm's law.

Any info or shared experiences would be appreciated.

 

Might want to check into a high output charging system for your bike.

https://www.harley-davidson.com/stor...harging-system

How old is your battery? If it is on its way out, it might not be up to charging correctly and handling the load you have on your system.

Have you calculated how many amps you are using total and how many amps your charging system is putting out?

 

I believe the CVOs for that year had heavy duty charging system, heated seats wetweree on the CVOs. Might be worth checking

 

All keys to draw are age of battery, headlight, driving lights and tail light. Changing over to all LED's reduces a lot of stress off of the charging system. Hoyt what are you running?

 

Coolbreeze I had looked at that kit but it leaves out the 2010 Ultra Classic. For 2010 they only list CVO and trike models. Battery is only about a year old. It is hard to tell the current draw because the stereo amp draw varies with the music type and volume.

Jack at the moment I am not running any LED lights because the LED headlights create a lot of RF interference which scrambles FM radio reception. I live in a remote rural area which makes it hard to pick up radio stations in the best of conditions. Are you aware of any LED lights which do not cause RF interference?