Vtwinrider

Hi everyone, Bought my Superhawk a couple weeks ago and Have had In mind to change out the R/R and the upgrade the CCTs. Well of course It was 100* while I was riding and all the Electricity went out, I knew instantly it was something to do with the R/R.
Thanks to Tweety's the why's and how's of Mofset and scooter72's info on his zx6 R/R - https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...looking-27218/
I made the decision to buy a FH016aa, and wired it up this morning, I also went and got the battery load tested and charged- it was all good, I also noticed the main Fuse 30A was blown so I changed it (I figured it blew when the old R/R went, the old R/R had a black burn mark on one of the connectors)
So the bike starts rite up and drives good for about 10 minutes as I take it around the block a couple times then dies on me while riding, I push it back and check the 30A fuse and its blown.
I cleaned the connector on the fuse hoping that's all it is, but I plan on getting a multimeter out and seeing if I can find a short somewhere? Is there a better plan or something I can check first, Could I Have done something stupid like wired the R/R backwards (I did blue strip to red for positive and white strip to green for ground), could it be a bad used Mofset unit, what should I be looking for with my mulitmeter?
I Will be taking it to my father in laws later and hes pretty good with electrical work but I figured Id post here to see if anyone had any good suggestions or input, so far the ppl on this forum have helped me immensely and the info on here is priceless (or at least worth the cost of a mechanic lol) Thanks!

CrankenFine

Before a job like this you really want to have a multimeter in hand and at least take some electrical specification notes from the shop manual so you can check and verify your work as you go. After installing you need to use the meter to see if you are charging at the correct voltage per the shop manual - roughly 15 volts positive at about 5,000RPM. Without knowing the results of that test it could be anything. It's possibly a bad MOSFET R/R but I think that would be a first here. More likely a wiring or connector issue, but hopefully your father in law can help you through that.

Vtwinrider

Well now the fuse blows with the ignition off as soon as I plug the main fuse plug in so something is off, I hit the connections with an electric connection cleaner but I still think it may be something in the plug? I got the mulitmeter out and will take some reading soon

7moore7

Try it with the R/R unplugged to see if it's the unit. I bet you just have a short somewhere else though...

thetophatflash

Dead short.

SIRR1

Looking back at your original post I am thinking the problem was not the VR but a short on a wire somewhere near where the stator plugs into the main wire harness taking out the 30 amp fuse twice leaving the bike dead both times.


Check for melted wire connections under the seat battery area on the main wire harness or bare wires rubbing on the frame, some things not right when you blow your 30 amp fuse twice!


SIRR1

Vtwinrider

Thanks for the input, I got the mulitmeter out and turns out my old R/R was not bad (although still needed an upgrade so its not a total loss) tomorrow I plan on disconnecting the newer R/R and testing it out even though I don't think this is the problem, I think I am then going to test the stator for a ground, my Father in law thinks this is most likely my problem, hind sight I wish I tested all this earlier but hey that's life.
Interestingly I though it had to have been the R/R when I originally pulled it off due to the fact the plug had a black burn mark and a connection in the R/R is black, upon further inspection it turn out it is a stator wire- could this point to a ground in the stator?

7moore7

I bet your old R/R was still bad... there's only so much a static test can tell you (I'm assuming this is what you did), unless you plug it in and test while the bike is running you don't really know...

If the stator wire or one of your other R/R wires is exposed and touching the frame, that could be the culprit

nnjhawk02

I'm thinking it's a short somewhere and/or check wiring harnesses.
Good luck

Vtwinrider

Well so I go out this morning and put a new fuse in, It didn't blow so I then checked the battery with the multimeter and got a reading of 14.66v, it then started rite up. I took another reading on the battery of 15v and revved it up to about 5k and still looked like it was charging good. I wanted to test the stator wires with the multimeter as well but the fuse popped. My hopes and dreams died lol. Ok so I gather the battery is tested good, my stator is working and sending a charge to the R/R and back to the battery for a Volt increase.
I decided to be thorough and continue testing the charging system, I un wrap all the tape and cut off all the shrink wrap to see if in fact somehow a lose wire could be grounding out, but I didn't find anything that would lead me to believe a wire was touching something it shouldn't. From here I take off the Mosfet an test it out with the multimeter using Roadstercycle Mosfet Install Videos as a guide. I also found his video on youtube for testing a stator and did that as well, the multimeter indicates all good and no short.- I have numbers written down if needed.
Now I just went through the bike to find any connectors I could and hit them with the electrical connector cleaning spray, (lots had gunk on them) and I will wait till its dry to try another fuse.
Have I done sufficient testing to rule out the charging system?
I will continue to search for a short somewhere as well as lose wires somewhere.
Thank you all for the input its is helping me a lot, not only understanding but experience as well.

CrankenFine

Did the previous owner mention any prior electrical difficulties? From what you're saying it sounds like an electrical problem might have pre-dated the RR change.

The charging numbers and measured battery voltage sound good. But for the main fuse to blow when the individual fuses are not failing sounds like more than one load circuit is drawing near max current.

I think if it was mine I'd next carefully scrutinize every part of the wiring harness that passes near the frame looking for worn or nicked insulation. Pay very close attention to the positive lead from the battery to the starter solenoid. Also I'd use my nose. Anything repeatedly taking out a 30A fuse could be giving off a little tell-tale odor. The clues are there, it's just finding them. Good luck.

thetophatflash

Try to isolate it at fuse box by taking circuits out of the equation by removing all fuses that are not needed for running the engine. You may get lucky. If the problem goes away, start adding the fuses back one at a time. if the problem reappears after reintroduction of the removed fuse you'll know which circuit to investigate. If it occurs when the fuses are pulled, you'll at least have eliminated potential circuits that might have the short.

Vtwinrider

First off thanks to everyone who gave me valuable input!
Turns out it was a short going to the ignition. After spending all winter pissed off And contemplating sellingthe bike I decided to tear off the ignition. I was fully ready to just put a toggle switch in place of a key. So I took off the faring, unbolted the ignition, and unplugged the connector to the harness. As I looked at the connection I realized that the solid red power wire was cut n half and close to the metal bracket that holds it! I took out the spades, cut the wire about an inch and soldered back the spades and into the plug leaving only clean protected wiring. Plunged it back in and BAM I believe I will now not have to worry about being stranded on the side of the road with blown main fuses.
Thanks again everyone I can now enjoy my super hawk again!

CrankenFine

Awesome!

You've been suffering with this since last August??
You get the medal for persistence in the face of frustration.

skokievtr

After doing everything ***-backwards at least you found your unrelated blunder, and you also finally spelled mosfet correctly. However 14.5+ battery voltage is waaay too high. A good charging system after a ride will leave a good battery with up to 13.5 volts given the VTR alternator is only 280; i.e., 280w / 13v = 21.5a - running load at 5k of 13.5a = available 8a. Output to the battery min/max is 13.5/15.5v but the battery should not receive more than 14.2v sustained without load (running).

It was not clear whether you were reusing the burned OEM connector or soldered direct to the OEM wires. If you connected the new vrr hot out to the OEM red/white and ground to green that was not the best solution. Running 14 ga wire from the vrr through a 30a main fuse direct to the + batt terminal and 14 ga ground direct to the batt neg is the best set up. The OEM main fuse socket can be retained and the red/white and green wires can be used to power an auxiliary circuit with an appropriate sized fuse.

Vtwinrider

Yeah it did take a while but remember
Hind sight is 20/20, well from what I remember I put new connectors on my Mosfet (I did misspell in the original post my bad I thought I spelled it correctly since then) I will have to take another look at the way I wired it, up do you have a diagram or pics of the way you did it to help me visualize it? What's the benefits to wiring it up different? Thnaks