1997 (2001 registered) Cali 1100i.
Fitted a new Lion Battery - seems very good although I am still dubious about the recommended capacity selection.
However, I cannot get the charging volts up to 14.2; which Guzziology reckons it should do. 13.7V maximum.
I have some work to do in ensuring proper grounding of the regulator/rectifier and renewing the two-wire generator bullet connectors with something better.
Has anyone any experience of this?
How accurate is your Voltmeter / multimeter? 14.2 — 13.7 would be a 4% error.
I expect better than 1%; it is a good meter and not a fleabay cheapie. I have checked the leads which are pretty new and they give good low resistance. Also checked against my “spare” meter with consistent results.
As a comparison I also checked the voltage on the same battery make & type on my aprilia which has a retrofit Shingdengen rectifier/regulator. The Aprilia gets up to 14.2v after I serviced the wiring and ground points.
Back to how I improve the old guzzi voltage performance. Once the charge rate drops as the battery gains charge then I expect the voltage to rise unless the regulator is falling short.
Not criticizing, just making sure, you wouldn’t believe how many times a question has been asked then we find out later that some vital bit of information was omitted.
“I expect better than 1%”, no doubt, but what do its specifications say?
“DC Volts:
4V to 40V
+/- 0.8% of reading
+/- 3 in Last Digit”
So according to specification it should be alright. However, with a meter of this vintage I always do a comparison if in doubt and have a corroborating meter and voltage source. Usual problems arise not with the meter, but with test leads and connectors.
The conundrum is that there is no draining of the battery when the bike is not running. The regulator rectifier remains in-circuit and grounded.
Having failed to identify a problem with the regulator/rectifier I will do my wiring and grounding maintenance and re-test.
Last resort is to fit a modern regulator/rectifier.
OK then! Thanks. 