Erratic voltage

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gortnipper

gortnipper

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In the last two days my Goffy BSM has been fluctuating red/amber for the first time ever.

To from work I have been lane splitting solid with the indicator and headlight for the best part of half an hour.

Yesterday after coming home from work, it measured 13.2v at the battery with and without light on at 3k but right at the end the BSM went green.

Today, amber at start and red all the way in. Home, all green and then flickering red green. 15.2v at the battery 3k rpm with the lights on, and the same with the motor off.

Now, my Shorai is way past old enough to be end of its useful life, and I plan on replacing it before I leave on 2500km road trip in a couple weeks. Probably with a Motobatt AGM.

I have a 3 phase Lucas alternator and a Podtronics.

Would a dying Shorai result in the weird voltage swings, or is it likely the Pod is dying too?
 
Hard to tell what's wrong. What is battery voltage at least one hour after engine cut off?
The question is if the BSM red light is indicating over or under voltage. Could be both.
A bad connection somewhere could be the problem. Or the BSM, the Podtronic or the battery.
 
Yeah I was going to check in the morning, but since I just bolted the side panels on the Duc after a shiftspringectomy, it reads 14.0v. Four hours later. Ill see if it keeps falling in the am.

Would a bad Shorai over volt like that?
 
Bernhard said:
It will if the battery will not hold a charge!!
Click to expand...
No, the regulator should not allow 15.2 volts even without a battery. Ignition and headlamp should be enough of a load to keep the Podtronics in regulation.
Also be aware that 15.2 volts is rather dangerous for a LiFe battery.
 
After running a while, feel the fuse. If it is warm, the fuse holder has a bad connection. I had two bikes last year with that problem and the voltages were different depending on where I checked - battery low, other side of fuse high. If using a digital meter - quit and get an analog meter - the spikes coming from the PODtronics can confuse things, especially if made in the last couples of years.
 
Battery at 13.8v overnight.

I replaced the battery earlier than I had thought, right when I brought the bike out of a deep sleep 6 years ago! Not after my rebuild which finished a few years ago.

A new battery on its way. Will monitor the fuse holder.
 
Yeah, I am worried about the Pod. The Lion battery needs replacing anyway I think after 6 years and as I am going on a long trip. I will get it in over the next couple days and check the fuse connections.

if things are still flaky I will pull the wiring on the Pod and test that and the stator. Bithe the stator and pod are about 5yrs.
 
My Guzzi was acting strange like that. I got really nervous when the voltage showed 18v... New regulator fixed everything.
 
gortnipper said:
Yeah, I am worried about the Pod. The Lion battery needs replacing anyway I think after 6 years and as I am going on a long trip. I will get it in over the next couple days and check the fuse connections.

if things are still flaky I will pull the wiring on the Pod and test that and the stator. Bithe the stator and pod are about 5yrs.
Click to expand...
If you need a new regulator, I highly recommend the Tri-Spark MOSFET. The current PODtronics causes a lot of electrical noise and can cause a problems with electronic ignitions.
 
marshg246 said:
If you need a new regulator, I highly recommend the Tri-Spark MOSFET. The current PODtronics causes a lot of electrical noise and can cause a problems with electronic ignitions.
Click to expand...
I did a disturbing amount of research into regulators and concur that a MOSFET is greatly preferred. The TriSpark is probably the most plug and play but there are different options out there. Be aware of the cheap ones, there are a lot of those on the market and some of them are highly suspect. The most popular brand is Shindengen but the more shady sellers (I don't need to tell you where they are from) will call their junk Shindengen so only buy from more reputable places.
 
13.8V is good for overnight. More than 14.4V during charging is a little rough on a Lithium Ion according to the docs that came with my Antigravity battery. They recommend a regulator rectifier designed for Lithium Ion battery use. I have a PODtronics in mine, and I'm going to give it a shot with the smallest battery Antigravity makes.

I don't know who is shady. I just assume everyone is. Ricksmotorsportelectrics is supposed to have a reg/rect (#14-509) that works on a Norton with Lithium Ion batteries.
 
Schwany said:
13.8V is good for overnight. More than 14.4V during charging is a little rough on a Lithium Ion according to the docs that came with my Antigravity battery. They recommend a regulator rectifier designed for Lithium Ion battery use. I have a PODtronics in mine, and I'm going to give it a shot with the smallest battery Antigravity makes.

I don't know who is shady. I just assume everyone is. Ricksmotorsportelectrics is supposed to have a reg/rect (#14-509) that works on a Norton with Lithium Ion batteries.
Click to expand...
Lithium Ion is not a great idea for a old motorcycle - Lithium Iron is a better idea - less chance of fire where you REALLY don't want it and Lithium Iron lasts longer.
 
Schwany said:
13.8V is good for overnight. More than 14.4V during charging is a little rough on a Lithium Ion according to the docs that came with my Antigravity battery. They recommend a regulator rectifier designed for Lithium Ion battery use. I have a PODtronics in mine, and I'm going to give it a shot with the smallest battery Antigravity makes.

I don't know who is shady. I just assume everyone is. Ricksmotorsportelectrics is supposed to have a reg/rect (#14-509) that works on a Norton with Lithium Ion batteries.
Click to expand...
An example of shady would be random eBay sellers.
 
swooshdave said:
An example of shady would be random eBay sellers.
Click to expand...
The Shindengen regulators have been cloned and the shady vendors even show up on Amazon. This guy has a great web site describing how to tell a genuine from a fake:
https://www.roadstercycle.com/

I have one of the FH020AA MOSFET r/r on my bike and I'll say it's "beefy". Came with 10 gauge wires and a 30 amp breaker. Kinda large though.
 
marshg246 said:
If you need a new regulator, I highly recommend the Tri-Spark MOSFET. The current PODtronics causes a lot of electrical noise and can cause a problems with electronic ignitions.
Click to expand...

I went to buy one @ AU$181.50, imagine my surprise when I saw the same TriSpark unit for AU$131.32 at Rexs-speedshop in the UK (and it had to be posted from AU to the UK)
Pays to shop around it seems.

Edit.
Thanks for the message GT and technical information.
 
Last edited:
I leave for the South Island in four weeks. I will likely be stuck getting whatever is in country, unless mail from AUS has drastically sped up. It took about that long to get a $10 shifter spring that paralyzed the Duc in Jan.
 
I know they make at least two different Pods, because I made the mistake of ordering the wrong one and it wasn't long for this world. A Mk III charging system will fry a Pod made for older Lucas setups. Perhaps the 3-phase, combined with the small Li-battery fried the Pod? Is there a 3rd level Podtronics regulator?
 
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