Waddaya call em and wheredaya get em?

skyripper

skyripper

skyripper

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19 Jul 2011
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I'm going to restore/refresh my bike and am slowly getting tools and supplies before I start the job in anger.

I've had an issue with the engine not charging the battery and the problem according to various forums and my local ducati dealer is almost certainly the corrosion and crud in the connectors from the alternator thru to the regulator/rectifier - it lives behind the battery snuggled up close to the engine so the heat and crud tends to kill them.

I've sprayed electrical contact cleaner in there and tried (and failed) to get the pins out of the plastic blocks holding them (I've done PC PSUs and Molex's but I couldnt get these buggers out at all).

So I'd be happy to chop and recrimp on some nice clean spades etc, but what do you call the plastic box thingys they live in? I know electrically the bike won't care but I'd like to keep all the connections as vanilla as possible (including later fixing the bodge I found on the aftermarket indicators etc.) - so waddaya call em? and wheredaya get em?

Tried online at ebay, that holiday-camp electrical place, and an electrical wholesaler but I dont know what I'm looking for.

Thanks.
 
Ok, so, it's a Ducati, what Ducati?

If it's a 748-916 you need to find out what phase alternator it is, single or triple. Plastic box thingies you are on about could be a number of things. But mainly you will have a wad of box fuses on the LH side of the battery (if again, it's a 748-916). 1 yellow capped one and 2 black ones, this is held on by a rubber mount. Your best bet here is to soak them in WD40 and leave over night, try again the next day.

Just let me know the model of Ducati mate as I have a very good understanding of the old Italian girls.
 
996. Three phase. The big chunky fuse on the battery side is fine, as are all the little ones in the main fuse holder.

Battery is good, done the tests from the haynes manual, and the volts coming back from the alternator at 3000 and 6000 revs are about half what they should be at the connector end. (my neighbours bloody loved that on a saturday morning). But the amount of splurge in the connectors leads me to believe they're one cause of the issue - its also what Snells told me I should check first before spending out on alternator or rectifier.

I think I may have found a supplier of the plastic boxes.. I searched for a long while before posting, then found a supplier within 5 mins after posting... sods law!??!?

I'll try soaking the big fuse holder (which is electrically between the alternator and the rectifier?) in some contact cleaner as well, but that'll have to wait til the weekend before I can test it.
 
996 is very similar, very little difference in terms of loom and layout.

If you spoke to Chris at Snells, he is bang on the money 99% of the time.

Take a picture of what you mean tonight, and I will try help a bit more.

If you want, I will unearth my 748 and grab a few pics of the main culprits which cause dodgy connections as well and you can just clean those.

And what is the batteries reading with the ignition on but the engine not ticking over, should be about 12.1v.

Where abouts are you located mate? If you are near'ish Reading, I don't mind popping round to give a hand.

Other than the charging issue, what else is wrong with the bike?
 
Battery itself was 12 - 12.5V I think (I checked that a few weeks before xmas) with ignition on, no lights, no engine running. The current drain was minimal and the battery is holding its charge fine while sat in the garage. In fact its still good now.

My problem was the battery drained last time I took it out - 30 miles away from home it refused to start after a stall. Even after jump-starting it wouldnt stay started. Trailered it home. Battery on charge, and started first time every time since then, but cant risk a long run on it.

My other problem is I bought a ducati and need to relearn how to ride... But no haynes manual is going to fix that.

As for what else is wrong with it - not much. Corrosion and rust mostly. Braided oil lines look pretty gross, exhaust where it goes under the engine looks like crap, fair number of the bolts are corroded etc. But nothing I can't sort with time and effort and the help of a local sprayshop.

Reckon the bike has had a good life judging by the service receipts and some of the bling still attached, I've just set myself a project of making it look gorgeous again instead of its current state - never having done this before.

Anyhow, cheers for the offer, I'm in Crowthorne - if you felt like doing a flypast to laugh at me and my italian electrical jigsaw :)
 
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Ah, does sound like you say, alternator failing.

When you tried to start it after the stall, was you getting a very quick continuous clicking noise (starter solonoid) whilst you held the start button in? Or was it doing nothing then priming the fuel once you took your finger off the starter button? Or was it simply just not doing anything other that priming, powering lights then nothing happening when you click the starter button?

If it's the last, try swapping over the 2 fuse boxes under the seat. Nope, doesn't matter which way they go round, sometimes simply swapping them over fixes it! Very odd I know.

But yea, answer the above and I will rack my noggin even more :D
 
Fuel pump would prime, starter would crank, but with not enough oomphf to start - I managed to flatten it with attempts - when we later got the fairing off and a car battery jumped on, it would crank and fire up first time but then I would stall again down the road, and again it wouldnt crank properly to restart. After going thru that rubbish 3 times and light failing, I rang for recovery.

Its been starting sweet since then but until I know the battery is charging while riding I'm stuck to short trips out.
 
Speak to Richard at Louigi Moto in Bristol, he specialises in scrapping Ducati's and will prob sell you a 3 phas alternator for pennies. It's the 1 phase that's expensive.

Are you mechanically minded enough to swap it over? If not I will do it for the price of a beer or 2 once I am back from India at the start of March. Its a 1-2 hour job but very straight forward.
 
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P1020583.jpg

These jobbies here - blade terminal connectors apparently.

I've cleaned them up best I can, but unless I can get the spades out and wire brush them, there is going to still be crap inside the connectors.

I'll give it a short ride at the weekend and check the before and after amps/volts etc. after 10 miles.

bloodiedathame - The link above points to blocks like these being pretty bad at surviving corrosion due to the heat/current, so I may change them for something cleaner and more durable. Cheers for links .

Agnes - if it comes to needing a new alternator, I'll give it a go - I'm planning to strip the engine out from the frame anyhow soon to get stuff off for painting and so I can give everything a clean. In the meantime - enjoy India!

EDIT: Oh and thanks!
 
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Ah, that connector! Ohhhhhhh! Yea, replace it mate, by the looks of the blades they are in a **** state. I smothered mine in grease after cleaning it up.

Good luck :) And thanks! Will do :)
 
Bit of a thread revival here, but anyhow..

Weather was good this weekend, so I got round to replacing those corroded connectors for both the Alternator and the Regulator/Recifier with these. 4 connectors for 14 cables, job took about an hour or so. Probably take a decent electrician way less time... :)

Ordered from these guys as the packs contained everything needed - connectors, crimp-on pins, weather seals etc.

Took the bike for a 10 mile ride and the amps/volts on the battery before and after the ride were close enough as made no difference. So think I've solved that problem. I can now increase the range of my test rides until I'm sure its not going to leave me stranded again.

My only question now is... do I put vaseline inside, or do I leave it dry... !
 
skyripper said:
Bit of a thread revival here, but anyhow..

Weather was good this weekend, so I got round to replacing those corroded connectors for both the Alternator and the Regulator/Recifier with these. 4 connectors for 14 cables, job took about an hour or so. Probably take a decent electrician way less time... :)

Ordered from these guys as the packs contained everything needed - connectors, crimp-on pins, weather seals etc.

Took the bike for a 10 mile ride and the amps/volts on the battery before and after the ride were close enough as made no difference. So think I've solved that problem. I can now increase the range of my test rides until I'm sure its not going to leave me stranded again.

My only question now is... do I put vaseline inside, or do I leave it dry... !
Click to expand...

Grease, a teaspoon of grease, never hurts :)
 
Those are good quality automotive connectors, but the 14 Amps current rating is well under what the Ducati generator can supply. Keep an eye on them for overheating.

They are sealed connectors, so you shouldn't need grease but it won't hurt. This is the stuff I use on connectors, I've put it in every connector on both of my bikes to ward off corrosion.
 
Guess what. You were right :)

Bike made a 35 mile journey to work without issue, battery stayed charged the whole time.

On the way back however, before I'd gone a mile down the road, noticed a bit of a smell, stopped at the traffic lights and theres a puff of smoke in front of the headlights.

Switched off, pulled over, removed the fairing (thank you Dzus!) and those connectors were distinctly smelly.

As such, I'll ring around some dealers tomorrow, cut those connectors off and redo them with something more appropriate. It was a good experiment mind you.

So the alternator is good, the regulator/rectifier is good, just my repair used badly chosen parts.
 
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