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Post by pinkscoot on Jun 5, 2018 11:52:51 GMT -5
I went out this morning and without turning the key arced across the starter relay posts and the battery was barely turning the engine over. I'll grab the battery from the BV250 tomorrow and give it a try to rule out the starter circuit.
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Post by greginisn on Jun 5, 2018 21:05:08 GMT -5
With the ignition key off disconnect your battery's positive cable and insert your ammeter between the battery and and the cable to check for a current leakage. Start with your highest amp range and work your way down until you get some kind of reading. If you see that the leakage is excessive start disconnecting things or segments of things until the current flow lessens and you will have begun to localize the problem. You could have a wire leakage to ground or even wire to wire leakage as well as a failing component. You won't know until you find it.
Good luck and remember anything can fail.
Greg
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Post by tocoo on Jun 6, 2018 7:37:22 GMT -5
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Post by pinkscoot on Jun 6, 2018 9:15:16 GMT -5
Greg, I did that and got nothing, no leak anywhere.
Tocoo, Thanks for the link. I have a clamp amp meter and I'll try that when I get a good battery in it.
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Post by FrankenMech on Jun 6, 2018 11:05:40 GMT -5
A clamp-on meter will not read DC current.
If there is no current leakage it sounds like a charging problem of some sort. I admit I haven't read all of your posts though.
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Post by tocoo on Jun 6, 2018 23:46:07 GMT -5
Yes the some clamps can only read AC current. mine does AC and DC. I just checked very quickly on my scooter I put the clamp around the green= negative wire and I I turn the key ON. I get around 1 amp when dim light is ON [automatically ON because there is a law for this] and with blinkers ON. When I put the full bright light ON+blinker, I get around 3--4A.
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Post by pinkscoot on Jun 7, 2018 10:08:13 GMT -5
I have a new battery on order and when I get it I'll see if my clamp on will work with DC power.
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Post by FrankenMech on Jun 8, 2018 23:30:51 GMT -5
The varying waveforms will get a reaction on an inductive clamp meter but not a true reading. Meters LIE!
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Post by pinkscoot on Jun 20, 2018 12:12:53 GMT -5
Found the problem. I installed the new battery and it was still slow cranking. I pulled the starter motor and hooked it to the battery and it spun but got hot fast. The battery dropped to 7.4 volts. I opened the starter up and found a cracked magnet and scarring on the armature:
That would do it. Fortunately these Rotax engines were used by Bombardier so parts aren't hard to find. I got one off Ebay brand new perfect match $51. maybe next week I can actually ride it.
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Post by FrankenMech on Jun 20, 2018 15:14:19 GMT -5
Hopefully your 'problem' will disappear.
Your starter relay may also have cooked contacts from the large load.
Measuring large DC currents can be done with a device called a current shunt. They are a metal bar with a known resistance mounted on an insulator. When a current is passed through them a voltmeter is used to measure the voltage drop and the current is calculated. They are usually calibrated to read as X milivolts per X amps. They can be picked up on eBay sometimes.
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