Holy Smokes batman! Battery on fire!
 

Well it wasnt quite on fire, but it was smoking. SO yeah, i just had the most awesome ride with bump_evl. We went up a super awesome mountain pass and back. Well i just rolled home and i heard this bad high pitched sound, i was like what the heck. I first thought it was something next door, but i walked around my bike and it was my bike. Well i took a series of videos. I found out it was under the seat and then i found out it was the battery and so i carefully opened the compartment with a screwdriver and the battery was smoking and spewing a bit of clear liquid! Very very bad. Well let me know what you guys think. Thanks!

vid 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfF6KoC5PxU

vid 2, seat off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_DaXJ53iQM

vid 3, smoking, hard to see
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvXS7As-TY4

vid 4, battery disconnected and still making noise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U0unGdrcXE

Needless to say your battery is toast (singing toast at that!).

It could be the battery just went bad or, more likely, your R/R went bad and began massively overcharging the battery. Did it smell like rotten eggs too?
I had this happen but it didn't sing quite as pretty as yours, more a like an evil hiss. R/R was putting out 18V at idle.

Just saw you other thread about your headlight problem which muddies the waters but overcharging does blow headlights.

total rotten eggs!!!yeah, i just went back out and it still smelled like it:( DAMN!! So any other ideas? what causes this? Is the liquid bad, like for paint or is it just water? Thanks!

Someone please tell me what the R/R is? I am really feeling silly asking, but i need to know if i need to replace it. Thanks!

Regulator/rectifier. Takes the AC voltage that the stator puts out and turns it into DC for charging the battery etc.

That is exactly what mine did when it died. One aftermarket R/R later and I was good to go. BTW I am 90% sure this one would be a drop in replacement: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GUARA...QQcmdZViewItem

Or you can do the popular Yamaha mod and change to one from a R1, but that requires rewiring it.

The r/r is the regulator/rectifier in the bikes electrical system. It acts as sort of a traffic cop. If the battery/system needs more juice, it sends it. If not, it burns it off through heat.

They fail by either under or over charging the system. Your ailments sound just like mine did (massive overcharging). The r/r is under the right side of the subframe, remove the entire rear cowl. Make sure and check the connector for any burning or serious corrosion. It should put out 13.5-15.5 volts at 5k rpm when measured at the battery.

Do a search here for regulator rectifier not r/r as that term won't work.

thanks guys!!!

damn!!! THese are expensive!!!

ANyone else know if that cbr one will work?
Thanks!

Ok, this is how i pieced it out in my head, tell me if this sounds right. I bought a set of new 100w h4 bulbs, which caused the regulator/rectifier to die and then kill my battery. So because i got cool bulbs, it is going to cost me like 100 bucks! Is that right, i am very bummed. I ordered a new set of 60w ones also over the weekend. I am not going to ever put those 100w back into my bike!

just double checking, the battery wont work now, right? WHat caused the smell?

The battery was singing because it was rapidly discharging, probably due to an internal short, also causing the heat. A lead acid battery has sulfuric acid which reacts with the lead/lead oxide plates to move electrons, thus DC electricity. The egg smell was the sulfur in the acid as a rapid reaction took place. Lots of hydrogen is also released and many batteries have a relief valve that will lift to prevent excessive internal pressure. That was probably the "singing". The cause of the battery failure may NOT be from a failed reg/rect. It could be due to vibration or just crappy manufacturing. I suggest you buy a new battery, fill it and charge it per the instructions and hook it back up to the bike. Then do a series of tests on your charging system to troubleshoot the cause. We've had a battery at my work (Navy) recently that was essentially glowing from an internal short. That was pretty cool. Had one actually catch fire last year.

:flamethrower: Probably the only emoticon that describes this situation. :mrgreen:

Oh, one more thing - get a hose on the bike ASAP before that sulfuric acid starts eating through stuff. THOROUGHLY rinse down the whole area and underneath the battery tray.

The liquid in batteries is about 10% sulfuric acid, 90% water. It will eat through paint, corode wires, etc. As for the egg smell, yes its the sulfur. The R/R has many posts about it. You can get finned versions through suppliers like dennis kirk. You can also upgrade like some have done here, going to a vfr model or a list of many other non standard setups.

My guess would be, and this is from experience with cars, that the battery goes like this when massively overcharged. Take a look at your r/r and check for cracks, and a burnt/stinky model train electric like smell. If you smell this, junk it.

Oh yeah, and neutralize the battery acid. If you rinse it down, it is still battery acid. Use some baking soda ( a base) to neutralize the acid. It will foam until it is neutral. After that is done, rinse like crazy.

Well the one I purchased (for $75 from local shop, found receipt.. OEM would have been $110) cross referenced to almost all the CBRs and VFRs out there.

What I found online (in a forum, can't find a good cross reference database) is that all of these are the same R/R:

VFR 01-05
F4i 01-05
600RR
1000RR
954rr
VTR1000 01-05

Here is one on EBAY that says it is for the VTR, but it is unfinned and will die again eventually. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-V...QQcmdZViewItem
Here is a $70 finned one that says it is for the VTR: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda...QQcmdZViewItem

Looks a lot like the $40 one.

But I can't guarantee it is the same.

hehe, thanks, arent the "fins" just heat sinks? So i could theretically just go and grab a computer heat sink and paste it on with some sort of thermo componund and it would be about the same? Let me know. I will go wash it off in a few, the 29 dollar one sounds really nice right now. Thanks!

do the fins really help cooling on these?

Yep, just heat sinks, and the ones with them tend to last longer.. If that is just because of heat, or if the newer ones are actually built differently I don't know.

I am happy, i found a new battery for 52 bucks at my local shop. I was calling around and i got prices around 67 bucks and then the most expensive shop gave me a price of 52, i was totally shocked! But i am very happy :) Well, i am going to pick up a new battery probably tomorrow after class.

Just read this post, happened in my old HawkGT. It was the R/R, be careful not to stare at the battery when it's hissing, that stuff can blind you if it explodes! Good Luck

I ordered a new R/R today. I hope it gets here by friday, but i dont have too much hope. :( I hope this fixes my old issue with the lights always dim. I posted that a long time ago.

R1 R/R mod
 

Here's another alternative:

http://vtr1000f.wickidnet.com/

Hey thanks! I just bought a r6 one. It looks like the 2000 r1 and the 1999-current r6 are the same. I got one off of a 03. I dont want to kill another battery and i really would like to run some cool blue leds sometime, so having a good regulator would rock! :) Greg, do you have any comments on this mod? I really wish i had heard about this 40 minutes earlier, i just bought the other one off of ebay. :(

Its all good, i think they will just cancel the order.

Hehe, i just found this!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda...spagenameZWD1V

It looks just like the r1/r6 ones, just with the SF connector :)

I've heard of the mod but not done it. I've been really lucky so far and in 9 years and 40k miles I've never had any problems with my charging system. Hell, I had the original battery up until last year! (knock on wood (loudly))

Hehe, wow, well after i have thought about it a lot, i have found out that i had tons of notice that this was going to happen, i just didnt understand the severity of what was happening.

You can use any regulator rectifier you want as long as it has the correct number of phases (three for the superhawk) and the donor bike's electrical load is the same or greater than the SH stocker. Almost anything will work except for a single phase unit (two ac wires vs three on a triple phase).

Thanks again mike! We definately will need to go for a ride when you drop in town :)

I don't know when I'll be down again but I'll let you know. I've already have a bike lined up.

cool, charlie said you were dropping in some time this summer. It would be cool to get the 3 spokane superhawks together :) What is that other cool bike u own?

I got my R/R yesterday morning, the awesome guy sent it 2 day air, so i get to ride this weekend!!! yay!!! WHoo hoo.

Also, i went to battieries plus and the new batttery was 59.99. I was like, oh:( I told the salesman that my buddy got one for 49.99 for his busa. He was like, oh, ok, i will match that. Then when he rang it up, he rang it for 46.99!!! HELL YEAH!!! It was awesome. Well i just got up early to go and put the bike back together with the new R/R. :)
TTFN. I will let you guys know how the mod does:)