Wondering if.......

[gearheadfla]

I'm wondering if the fact that my battery was dry if that could have been the death of my alternator? Hadn't checked it because it was put in new about 2 months ago. You can bet I will check it every Saturday now.

[Rhinestone Kawboy]

Hmm, that depends. Although it is not common, the rectifier in the alternator could have went bad and boiled the battery dry because of too much charging.

I think it might also be possible that if your battery went dry, it was not holding much of a charge, therefore was working the alternator overtime to charge a battery that wouldn't take or hold enough of a charge.

[gearheadfla]

That's what I was thinking Kaw, that maybe the alt. started overcharging and cooked the battery and then itself, I did take the old one apart the other day it was a crispy critter inside, the battery itself I refilled with new acid and it seems to be fine now. I guess it is really important to get a voltmeter on the bike asap, it wouldn't have saved me from breaking down but at least I would know better what happen. I have found no signs of a battery leak anywhere on the bike so it must have boiled and evaporated. It started fine and about 10 or so miles later it wouldn't restart after we stopped at a store. BTW one clue as I look back on it is with a low battery the turn signals don't self cancel.

[Mr Jensee]

I know from experience that if you wind up changing an alternator, change out the battery too. I went through 3 alternators years ago on a blasted Chevy Corsica, a b*tch to change out, the reason was it had damaged the battery and it in turn ruined the new alternators. Just a thought...

[ekap1200]

Just my opinion, but that's why I have been pushing adding a voltmeter to all the touring bikes I work on. And also I keep a few hydrometers in stock to sell my customers. Nothing worse than being away from home with a dead batt. The meters I have been recommending are from Digitalmeter.com ...And there have been numerous posts on methods of installation locations for this particular meter. Gene Kap.