Starter, headlight question

[mralex714]

I have a 4 brush starter installed. It has been rebuilt once and during the last few months it would crank slow (cold or hot) and sometimes not at all (smoking ground wire at the battery). I took the bike to Auto Zone to check the battery. The battery and charging system were fine. As I pulled up to the store I noticed my headlight was out (Opt 7 HID conversion). Long story shot the ballast was bad and I had one from a car setup I bought by mistake. After this I had a good headlight and haven't had a starting issue since. So my question was a bad HID ballast causing my stater issues or should I still be looking at a starter issue?

[snyper316]

What exactly does a ballast do? Sounds like someone better get Yamagrl's cables before she has none!!! I have a set and let me tell you I am very impressed by them and I still have a 2 brush starter on mine rebuilt about a year ago. It is spinning over like a top seems as no effort is being used at all. I also have one of them AGM batteries in my bike too. But it isn't hard to pull off the side cover and run a voltage test on the stator to make sure its charging like it should and there is write ups on how to check them.

[Marcarl]

If you let he smoke out of the wire, then you have troubles.

The first place I would look for an issue is where the smoke originated. The wire got hot for some reason and heat is created by resistance, a poor connection, too small wire size or such. This could do damage to the starter and could let the smoke out as well. The starter is designed to run at 12.6 volts or better, and at that voltage it draws a certain amount of amps. As the voltage goes down the amps go up, creating heat, and too much heat creates smoke and if you let the smoke out, the wire starts to get burnt, which creates more resistance and more heat.

[Karaboo]

http://www.reuk.co.uk/OtherImages/ohms-law.gif

Current (amps) is Voltage divided by resistance. So current will go down if voltage goes down. Current will go up if resistance goes down.

[mralex714]

If you let he smoke out of the wire, then you have troubles.

The first place I would look for an issue is where the smoke originated. The wire got hot for some reason and heat is created by resistance, a poor connection, too small wire size or such. This could do damage to the starter and could let the smoke out as well. The starter is designed to run at 12.6 volts or better, and at that voltage it draws a certain amount of amps. As the voltage goes down the amps go up, creating heat, and too much heat creates smoke and if you let the smoke out, the wire starts to get burnt, which creates more resistance and more heat.

 

The smoke came from the ground wire at the battery.

[Marcarl]

The smoke came from the ground wire at the battery.

 

So that would indicate a high resistance at that point. That could consist of a loose battery clamp, a loose cable attached to the clamp, or dirty, or both. Resistance is something stopping the flow od current through the wire and respective connectors. Each wire and each connector has a resistance, but should be low enough to accommodate the required current flow. When something goes wrong, the resistance goes up, generating heat, and that heat, if it gets hot enough, could create smoke. So your point of interest should be the battery terminal.

Also, a full battery is 12.6v, not as some would think 12v. If you check your battery and it shows only 12v, then it either has gone flat and needs a charge or it's toast, could be either. To crank a starter with only 12v in the battery will cause excessive amps to be used by the starter and cause it to over heat.

[mralex714]

So that would indicate a high resistance at that point. That could consist of a loose battery clamp, a loose cable attached to the clamp, or dirty, or both. Resistance is something stopping the flow od current through the wire and respective connectors. Each wire and each connector has a resistance, but should be low enough to accommodate the required current flow. When something goes wrong, the resistance goes up, generating heat, and that heat, if it gets hot enough, could create smoke. So your point of interest should be the battery terminal.

Also, a full battery is 12.6v, not as some would think 12v. If you check your battery and it shows only 12v, then it either has gone flat and needs a charge or it's toast, could be either. To crank a starter with only 12v in the battery will cause excessive amps to be used by the starter and cause it to over heat.

 

I had the battery and charging system check and all was fine and I haven't had a single issue since I replaced the headlight ballast.