battery question
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Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 157
Likes: 5
From: Eastern NC
battery question
Alright mechanics, question time. My battery took a crap yesterday. I'm convinced I got a bad battery. Got a new battery today under the MOCO's warranty which is crap, anyhow. Put the pulse tech diagnostic tool on it and everything came back normal but one thing. It said it has excessive ripple. Now excessive ripple is defined as one or more of the diodes on the stator being bad. But like i said everything checks out. Charging is normal, load on and load off are normal, and stator output is normal. But this excessive ripple has me confused. Can anyone shed a light on this. I'm also worried that i might have a draw somewhere. Any help would be great.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,384
Likes: 251
From: Southern California
Your Alternator puts out Alternating Current (AC) and this needs to be converted to Direct Current (DC) to work on your bike, or in a car for that matter. The way AC is converted to DC is by using what is called a Rectifier Bridge. A Rectifier Bridge is a collection of at least six Diodes. Diodes are made of either Silicon or Germanium. Silicon Diodes take at least 0.5 - 0.7 Volts to "Turn On" and Germanium Diodes take about 03. - 0.5 Volts to "Turn On." Ripple refers to the the voltage needed to turn the Diodes "On."
When a Diode is in the early stages of failure, one indication is that the voltage required to turn it "On" begins to increase. The time to switch from "Off" to "On" also increases but the tester your technician used probably isn't sophisticated enough to measure this.
The "Ripple" voltage is usually measured with the Charging System at it's maximum rated output while at normal operating temperatures. Generally a Ripple over 0.7 Volts is an indication of future trouble even though the present situation may appear otherwise to be normal. You can read this fairly easily by attaching a Digital Voltmeter (DVOM) set to a low AC Volts scale ($5.00 from Radio Shack or Harbor Freight is more than accurate enough) across your Battery with the Engine running at roughly 2,000 RPM and every Light and Accessory you've got on the bike turned on . . . you should not read more than 0.7 volts. This isn't a perfect test, but it's probably close enough to identify most impending failures.
All that said your dead battery is not as a result of a degradation of the Ripple Voltage / Rectifier Bridge. It might be an indication of future problems but is is very unlikely to cause any current problems.
When a Diode is in the early stages of failure, one indication is that the voltage required to turn it "On" begins to increase. The time to switch from "Off" to "On" also increases but the tester your technician used probably isn't sophisticated enough to measure this.
The "Ripple" voltage is usually measured with the Charging System at it's maximum rated output while at normal operating temperatures. Generally a Ripple over 0.7 Volts is an indication of future trouble even though the present situation may appear otherwise to be normal. You can read this fairly easily by attaching a Digital Voltmeter (DVOM) set to a low AC Volts scale ($5.00 from Radio Shack or Harbor Freight is more than accurate enough) across your Battery with the Engine running at roughly 2,000 RPM and every Light and Accessory you've got on the bike turned on . . . you should not read more than 0.7 volts. This isn't a perfect test, but it's probably close enough to identify most impending failures.
All that said your dead battery is not as a result of a degradation of the Ripple Voltage / Rectifier Bridge. It might be an indication of future problems but is is very unlikely to cause any current problems.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 157
Likes: 5
From: Eastern NC
the battery is fine. The way the MOCO's battery warranty works is crap. They told me that i had a year warranty. So i took the old battery in and they said they had to try to recover it first which is understood. But when that didn't work they told me that it wasnt a free replacement that after the first six months that you get a prorated amount towards a new battery. My amount was 13 dollars toward the new battery. So needless to say I wasn't too impressed with their "year" warranty. Why not call it a 6 month free replacement warranty.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 157
Likes: 5
From: Eastern NC
Your Alternator puts out Alternating Current (AC) and this needs to be converted to Direct Current (DC) to work on your bike, or in a car for that matter. The way AC is converted to DC is by using what is called a Rectifier Bridge. A Rectifier Bridge is a collection of at least six Diodes. Diodes are made of either Silicon or Germanium. Silicon Diodes take at least 0.5 - 0.7 Volts to "Turn On" and Germanium Diodes take about 03. - 0.5 Volts to "Turn On." Ripple refers to the the voltage needed to turn the Diodes "On."
When a Diode is in the early stages of failure, one indication is that the voltage required to turn it "On" begins to increase. The time to switch from "Off" to "On" also increases but the tester your technician used probably isn't sophisticated enough to measure this.
The "Ripple" voltage is usually measured with the Charging System at it's maximum rated output while at normal operating temperatures. Generally a Ripple over 0.7 Volts is an indication of future trouble even though the present situation may appear otherwise to be normal. You can read this fairly easily by attaching a Digital Voltmeter (DVOM) set to a low AC Volts scale ($5.00 from Radio Shack or Harbor Freight is more than accurate enough) across your Battery with the Engine running at roughly 2,000 RPM and every Light and Accessory you've got on the bike turned on . . . you should not read more than 0.7 volts. This isn't a perfect test, but it's probably close enough to identify most impending failures.
All that said your dead battery is not as a result of a degradation of the Ripple Voltage / Rectifier Bridge. It might be an indication of future problems but is is very unlikely to cause any current problems.
When a Diode is in the early stages of failure, one indication is that the voltage required to turn it "On" begins to increase. The time to switch from "Off" to "On" also increases but the tester your technician used probably isn't sophisticated enough to measure this.
The "Ripple" voltage is usually measured with the Charging System at it's maximum rated output while at normal operating temperatures. Generally a Ripple over 0.7 Volts is an indication of future trouble even though the present situation may appear otherwise to be normal. You can read this fairly easily by attaching a Digital Voltmeter (DVOM) set to a low AC Volts scale ($5.00 from Radio Shack or Harbor Freight is more than accurate enough) across your Battery with the Engine running at roughly 2,000 RPM and every Light and Accessory you've got on the bike turned on . . . you should not read more than 0.7 volts. This isn't a perfect test, but it's probably close enough to identify most impending failures.
All that said your dead battery is not as a result of a degradation of the Ripple Voltage / Rectifier Bridge. It might be an indication of future problems but is is very unlikely to cause any current problems.
Warranty on an 11 yr old bike that replaced the battery,,??
Club Member
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 145,895
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From: 40 miles Northeast of Indy..
Your Alternator puts out Alternating Current (AC) and this needs to be converted to Direct Current (DC) to work on your bike, or in a car for that matter. The way AC is converted to DC is by using what is called a Rectifier Bridge. A Rectifier Bridge is a collection of at least six Diodes. Diodes are made of either Silicon or Germanium. Silicon Diodes take at least 0.5 - 0.7 Volts to "Turn On" and Germanium Diodes take about 03. - 0.5 Volts to "Turn On." Ripple refers to the the voltage needed to turn the Diodes "On."
When a Diode is in the early stages of failure, one indication is that the voltage required to turn it "On" begins to increase. The time to switch from "Off" to "On" also increases but the tester your technician used probably isn't sophisticated enough to measure this.
The "Ripple" voltage is usually measured with the Charging System at it's maximum rated output while at normal operating temperatures. Generally a Ripple over 0.7 Volts is an indication of future trouble even though the present situation may appear otherwise to be normal. You can read this fairly easily by attaching a Digital Voltmeter (DVOM) set to a low AC Volts scale ($5.00 from Radio Shack or Harbor Freight is more than accurate enough) across your Battery with the Engine running at roughly 2,000 RPM and every Light and Accessory you've got on the bike turned on . . . you should not read more than 0.7 volts. This isn't a perfect test, but it's probably close enough to identify most impending failures.
All that said your dead battery is not as a result of a degradation of the Ripple Voltage / Rectifier Bridge. It might be an indication of future problems but is is very unlikely to cause any current problems.
When a Diode is in the early stages of failure, one indication is that the voltage required to turn it "On" begins to increase. The time to switch from "Off" to "On" also increases but the tester your technician used probably isn't sophisticated enough to measure this.
The "Ripple" voltage is usually measured with the Charging System at it's maximum rated output while at normal operating temperatures. Generally a Ripple over 0.7 Volts is an indication of future trouble even though the present situation may appear otherwise to be normal. You can read this fairly easily by attaching a Digital Voltmeter (DVOM) set to a low AC Volts scale ($5.00 from Radio Shack or Harbor Freight is more than accurate enough) across your Battery with the Engine running at roughly 2,000 RPM and every Light and Accessory you've got on the bike turned on . . . you should not read more than 0.7 volts. This isn't a perfect test, but it's probably close enough to identify most impending failures.
All that said your dead battery is not as a result of a degradation of the Ripple Voltage / Rectifier Bridge. It might be an indication of future problems but is is very unlikely to cause any current problems.
Good explaining Blue...Could not have said it better,, matter of fact I could not have said that at all....
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Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2011
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From: San Diego, CA
Even if you buy a battery from an auto dealer for your car and it says it has a 60 month warranty does not mean they will replace it for free if it fails anytime before the 60 months. They too only do a free replacement for a shorter amount of time and then prorated it from then on. I do not know of anyone that sells a battery whether it be a MOCO or even a manufacturer of batteries for bike or cars that will give you a free replacement for the entire warranty period.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 4,109
Likes: 9
From: Connecticut
the battery is fine. The way the MOCO's battery warranty works is crap. They told me that i had a year warranty. So i took the old battery in and they said they had to try to recover it first which is understood. But when that didn't work they told me that it wasnt a free replacement that after the first six months that you get a prorated amount towards a new battery. My amount was 13 dollars toward the new battery. So needless to say I wasn't too impressed with their "year" warranty. Why not call it a 6 month free replacement warranty.
