'79 FXE: Every few days I find I will need to re-tighten the battery terminals. PO says he always had to do this as well. I've put lock washers on them and I still find they need the occasional wrench time. Is this normal?
Have to say I have never used Locktite on any electrical connections. I do however make sure I use either star washers or lock washers behind the nuts.
On the +side you should have the bus bar connection, the cable coming from solenoid, and the wire from your voltage regulator; on the negative side its just the ground strap to the frame.
Any chance your heavy cable on the + side is to tight because it is too short? On the - side it is a wrapped cable as well; however any mesh ground strap will work as well (and they are a lot more flexible). You can get them at auto parts stores (I have 3 on my 64 El Camino). Wondering if maybe the negative ground might be twisted in a way (because it is too short or not flexible enough) that is causing the nuts to loosen.
I have had this problem with the last couple of batteries I have purchased...problems with melting terminals too.
I have come to the conclusion that they have either changed the "formula" that they make the lead terminals out of...or they have been recycled so many times they have a lower melting point...which is what makes them get loose so easy.
I just ordered a new Odyssey battery that has copper terminals just for this reason...in the pic it looks like I will be able to add a lock nut on the backside to help keep it tight...just ordered today...so I don't know if it will be an improvement.
Both battery cables were replaced by PO for the reasons mentioned by Panz4ever. Extra slack too. I did find a bad crimp on Neg. cable at battery this morning. Replaced corroded aluminum connector with copper and the bike fired right up. So i went for scheduled ride with friends and lost my charging system. Photo below. This makes #6.
Like Panz mentioned thin star washers on the battery connections and get in the habit of checking them regular, vibration gets to everything and skip the loctite you do not want anything that could interfere with a good clean connection.
Plugged battery into tender Saturday night. This morning I disconnected tender and battery said 13.3 volts, (Sunday) started her up and got her to operating temp so she would idle, then checked voltage. At idle i watched as the battery dropped 0.1 volt every couple seconds. Voltage did not go up until rpm was a fair bit higher than normal cruising speed, and max voltage topped out at 14.2. As i don't have a tach, I would guess the rpm to be about 1500-2000 rpm before charging would stop the battery from draining. When i get time this week I'm planning to check ohms at the stator.
Note: Been careful with the Loctite (blue). Making sure it only goes on the threads of bolts and studs, not on connector surfaces.
If you find out that your stator or voltage reg are the problem, do yourself a big favor and install a CycleElectirc setup.
Great company, American made, and they stand behind their product.
And NO I am not associated any way with the company but I firmly believe in supproting American made products that fulfill the needs of the M/C community.
05-20-2017, 09:19 AM
