Anyone electrically inclined?

[Guest]

I think I have a short somewhere, because when I take my volt meter, and set it to ohm's to check continuity between the positive battery terminal to ground, I'm getting continuity, is this right?

[Black_peter]

No..

Next question!!

[pmkls1]

the main question to ask you is why do you ask, is your battery going dead ? also to check for a battery draw set your meter to amps and place it BETWEEN the positive battery cable and the terminal with the cable disconnected but leave the negative cable connected to the battery, if you have more than just a few milliamps like 10 or so then you have a short somewhere

[Guest]

Well I ask because my alternator went dead, I got one from the bike wreckers, it was for an 86 gsxr, it fits right, but when I started the bike, the alternator wire where it connects to the bike harness gets hot, to the point of light smoke being seen. Now accross the battery i'm getting 14 volts. I quickly shut the bike off. Just wondering if alternator have different amperages. Cause their all 12 volts right?

[pmkls1]

well they are 12 volt systems but the alternator will put out more than 12. you definately have something going on if your alternator wire is getting that hot. it does sound like you have something shorted there and that is probably what fried your last alternator. the alternators probably do have different amperage ratings but i dont see there being that much of a difference to cause the wire to get that hot. you just need to start eliminating circuits until the short goes away then you will know where to begin looking for the short

[The CyberPoet]

If the charging system is working correctly, it will put out 13.8 to 14.7 volts while running (measured between the battery terminals), and if the battery is good, the battery will read 12.7 or higher with the engine off.

For more help diagnoising your charging system and possible electrical wiring issues, see:
CyberPoet's "Electrical Charging System Diagnostics and Troubleshooting" at motorcycleanchor.com, makers of the world's best security ground anchors for motorcycles!
And possibly
[iCyberPoet's "Headlight Electrical Diagnostics and Troubleshooting" at motorcycleanchor.com, makers of the world's best engineered secure ground anchors for motorcycles![/i]

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet