LED Battery Gauge

[rich]

My bike came with a dead charging system (rotor and stator both bad). I don't know about the earlier SOHCs but the 79 and up DOHCs are notorious for charging system problems especially as they are now 30 or more years old. I ordered this battery gauge for a little piece of mind. It's a little pricy at $35 but it's made for a bike and to be out in the weather unlike a analog volt meeter made for a car.



KURYAKYN LED Battery Gauge (#90374) at CycleGear.com

The Kuryakyn L.E.D. Battery Gauge is an array of L.E.D.'s indicating the operating voltage of the bike's electrical system. Green L.E.D.'s represent the normal operating range of your charging system, 12.5v to 14.5v. Amber L.E.D.'s warn the rider that the bike is not charging. If the reading drops below 10v or exceeds 15v, a flashing red L.E.D. will alert the rider of an impending stall or the possibility of damage to the battery and/or sensitive electronic components on the motorcycle.

Simple two-wire connection and a compact size (about 2" x 3/4" x 3/16") make installation a breeze. A daylight sensor automatically adjusts the brightness of the L.E.D.'s.

It was easy to install. I found a switched hot wire and a ground wire in the headlight bucket, I'm not sure what they were for, maybe some kind of accessory from Honda. Anyway, I had a couple bullet connectors that fit and spliced them onto the gauge wires.

I just mounted it to the fuse cover with the double sided tape they supplied.

It's pretty bright. I'm not sure if it'll be a problem at night but you can see it clearly in the sunlight. The description does say that it has a sensor to adjust brightness.

[shinyribs]

I'm a sucker for gadgets.  Very cool  Thx for the info

[sgtslag]

I went through two dead batteries, on two older bikes ('79 Honda 750, and an '83 Kawasaki 440), both left me sitting (lead-acid batteries died, not the charging systems).  I researched the idea of using a Volt Meter (VM), to warn me before it was too late, as well.

Your unit gets pretty decent reviews, but the light sensor, and its auto-dimming, were not the best per others' comments, but YMMV.  Having said that, be aware that by connecting it to an Accessory wire, you may get a lower reading than what is actually present at the battery.  It may only be 1-2 Volts lower, but I recommend you check the difference:  anything less then 13 Volts, at the battery, while running 3k RPM, or higher, means you have a charging system issue; any resting voltage (bike off, for more than one hour) below 12.6 Volts, means your battery is likely dying (assuming your charging system works properly), and won't last much longer...  So, your readings from the Accessory wire may give you a false reading.  Verify the voltage differences, if any, so that you know what is a valid failure indication, and what is not.

[TOOLS1]

Reminds me of Kitt on Knight Rider. Does the lights move when it talks?
TOOLS

[rich]

No but it does light up the entire row of LEDs left to right and right to left when you first hit the key.

TOOLS1 wrote

Reminds me of Kitt on Knight Rider. Does the lights move when it talks?
TOOLS

 The accessory connection does read about 1 volt lower than the battery. But it's enough to show me a green LED when I'm up around 3K RPM so I think it'll be a reliable indicator of the alternator function.

Batteries can just give up the ghost with no warning. I was in a drive-through at a bank (in my car) one time, I went to start the car and nothing - just dead. I was too close to the teller's window and couldn't get out of the car, had to have the security guard come out and give me push. Lucky for me it was downhill and I was able to bump start the car. Drove right to an auto parts store and got a new battery.  I guess you can load test them and check the fully charged voltage from time to time. I wonder if the newer gel-cel batteries are any more reliable?

[sgtslag]

The Gel Cells are much more reliable:  they don't rely on lead-acid electrolyte, but a gel chemical, so they can be used in any position; sealed, no maintenance; can sit for months, without discharging -- very little internal leakage current.

Another battery to check into, is the AGM -- Absorbed Glass Material:  similar to the Gel Cell, can be used in any postion; no liquid electrolyte; very low leakage current, can be left for months without a trickle charger (assuming very low drainage from accessories); and can last 5+ years!

Do some research on the Internet on Gel Cells and AGM Batteries.  I think you will find it very interesting.  I found one motorcycle enthusiast who tested, I think, five different batteries, to determine which gave the best performance.  The winner was a brand called MotoBatt, available on e-Bay, for a very good price, when compared to lead-acid batteries, as well as Gel Cells.

Just using a smart, trickle charger, like the BatteryTender Jr., after every ride, can double the life of a regular, lead-acid battery.  The trick, though, is to always connect it to the smart charger, after every ride:  it tops off the charge on the battery, maintains it auto-magically, and thereby prevents sulfation, which shorts the plates, internally.  Cheers!

[EdmundBuffey]

he LM3914 chip has 10 steps and a 10k ohm divider built in to it. it can be current programmed easily, and you do not need a resistor on each LED. you can also hook 2 of them together to make a 20 seg display. with just a few external parts (maybe 4 resistors) you can make an accurate display that will of any voltage range from .5v-32v (adjustable to anything in-between, i.e. 3 volt steps or .0005v steps)
if you want to do it by hand, check out the internal schematic from the data sheet and basically copy it. i recommend that you get the chip though, they will mail you 5 for free if you fill out the sample request.
//theshadow LED Flood Light
flexible led strip lighting
led flood lights
EDIT: it is also my recommendation that if this is for a 24 volt system, that you make 5 steps under and 5 steps over nominal. That is, no LEDs on at 22 volts, and 10 LEDs on at 26 volts. This will give you a good indication of normal range operation.
EDIT2: another usful feature of the LM3914 is bar/dot mode, i.e. you can switch between one led (at current voltage) that goes up and down per say, or a bar that gets bigger and smaller. You can also tie the 26v led and the 22v led to a 555 timer hooked up to the bar/dot pin – this would create a high/low voltage alarm that would normally be in dot mode, but when a warning condition was generated the whole display would blink.

[MarkPBG]

I've been checking out these alternate battery types, but one thing, what I've been reading all seems to agree that AGM is generally considered to stand for Absorbed Glass Mat. Yes, I am going to upgrade to one of them, they do seem to be proving far superior to lead-electrolyte batteries.

I also love the lithium batteries, though I'm not sure the reliability and safety are where they should be quite yet. For their size though, I have found some with the required AH rating for my bike that are literally less than half the size of the original. I could actually put two of them in the battery well and just move the cables over to the good battery if one died on a trip!  Hmmmm.

[rrgunslinger]

I have an AMG in my bike.

Harvey
On May 17, 2012 2:27 PM, "MarkPBG [via Honda CB750&apos;S]" <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> I've been checking out these alternate battery types, but one thing, what I've been reading all seems to agree that AGM is generally considered to stand for Absorbed Glass Mat. Yes, I am going to upgrade to one of them, they do seem to be proving far superior to lead-electrolyte batteries.
>
> I also love the lithium batteries, though I'm not sure the reliability and safety are where they should be quite yet. For their size though, I have found some with the required AH rating for my bike that are literally less than half the size of the original. I could actually put two of them in the battery well and just move the cables over to the good battery if one died on a trip!  Hmmmm.
> Mark Davis
> Palm Beach Gardens, FL
> amateur photographer, hot rodder, motorcyclist, adventurer
> "Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul."
>
>
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[MarkPBG]

rrgunslinger wrote

I have an AMG in my bike.

Cool! Which one?
This one?


or this one?



or this one?




Wow, sometimes being a smart ass is hard work...looking up these links and posting them. LOL

[sgtslag]

Good catch -- corrected my error.  Cheers!

[rrgunslinger]

[Piute]

                                    Well didn't get the L-ittle E-lectric D-ot type ,
                                                                 



                           Yeh it's H.D.but NEW 30 bucks

[sgtslag]

Nice.  The color coding takes the guesswork out of it -- easy-peasy.  Be sure to wire it directly to the battery, not through a lot of indirect wires running all throughout the bike's wiring.  Cheers!

[shinyribs]

The fancy LED gauges are cool,but I love good ol' sweep analog meters. I personally dont think its a gauge without a needle! No offense LED guys! I think you did well on your choice

[Piute]

                                                        TANKS

                                             My thoughts also Ribs   ,  
                           And will be straight to from ground on batt(srg), There's a prob.
                           with my charging and will be finding it this long week end,
                           Work before and havn't done much but new tail-lights ,Did pull cover
                           were wires feed to stator , will be checked 1st ,
                            along with new concectors  / plug and covers.
                                         Will still need a good mont / area to attach