Wires on / installing the battery

Energy One
G

Gas Man

Cool isn't cheap
Calendar Participant
House had said that he heard from a member here that there is a order in which to wire your connections to the battery. That the said member almost had a fried VR & EHC denied due to it.

I had not heard that it was in the service manual. Further, I had it completely opposite and was told opposite (by my old dealership) to what they recommend in the service manual.

I also was told to keep the large wire going to the starter closest to the battery post. That is wrong :confused:

So I scanned in and underlined the pages from service manual. Also circled a few of the pics showing how they explain it.






So if this is the 100% truth, I'm betting many of our bikes are wrong. Mine has always been wrong from day one. Makes you wonder...
 
N8KAM

N8KAM

Well-Known Member
I think the main reason for not having the smaller terminals on top is that they have a tendency to rotate when you tighten them down.. that being said you will find people will not tighten the bolt enough because the wire terminal begins to twist.... thus leaving a loose connection.... that has resistance..... that gets hot..... that causes higher resistance .........= all sorts of problems.
 
G

Gas Man

Cool isn't cheap
Calendar Participant
Yeah but I know I have to always hold the big wire to keep it from twisting as well. But I did think about that as well.
 
bdmridgeback

bdmridgeback

Low Down Chop Shop
That was I!
House called me today and I had told him that there was an order that the service manual showed they had to be placed in. I remembered something funny about it not being the way I thought it should have been. He was having issues with loosing some electrical power at high RPM's close to redline and I was telling him to check all battery connections for starters.

I had my dealer up in Michigan point out that when I installed my LED accent lights on my previous Ridgeback that I had the battery connection all on the battery wrong and that it could cause EHC issues, so they fixed it. I didn't believe them until I looked it up in my service manual when I got home.

Thanks Gas for posting that up!!
 
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G

Gas Man

Cool isn't cheap
Calendar Participant
Jake... I didn't want to out you but glad you voiced up...

irish... I think there will be alot of people going outside to check.
 
V

Vegas

Well-Known Member
Not buying the EHC problems from the order they are connected. It's all about achieving the proper torque on the battery cable without the wires turning. Now the connection coming loose because the cerrated bolt in cutting into the terminals versus the cable end, now I buy that.
 
Raywood

Raywood

The Pirate
Staff member
Calendar Participant
Troop Supporter
I will submit (from experience) that if you have the battery lugs on the top of the battery then you should protect the smaller wires by putting the large battery cables on top.

Pull your seat and see if those two bolts make an imprint on the bottom of your seat pan. Mine did and the up and down movement of sitting on the bike will push on the smaller wires till they break. Happened to me several times.

Now I just use the side posts after my dealer in San Diego changed to a few years ago. Dealer here uses them and doesn't say not to. Ohmster replaced my dead battery in Daytona this year and replaced the wires on the side terminals.

Seems to me if you just keep them tight (check them weekly) then you won't have any problems.

My 2 cents!

:cheers: :2thumbs: :D
 
Infinitro

Infinitro

Thread Killer
My 25 years of experience working on cars tells me I want the main (large)cable to have as much surface area contacting the battery main post as I can get. If proper attention is paid to cabling orientation in regards to twist once the proper torque has been obtained i see no problem with the smaller terminals being under the bolt first. That being said I still see "Experienced" techs over torquing everything. If you squeeze the terminals until they spread out and get pinched out from under the bolt, then you have a problem. This is in regards to a side mount battery. Like Ray stated above, this particular application of the top mount battery cables and seat interference requires adjustment to that thinking. My adjustment would be to convert to sidemount. :) Why did they go to a top mount anyway? Is there no room for side mount? Or was it an economical descision......hmmmmm......Just my $.02
 
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lee

lee

Well-Known Member
I noticed that when I picked my bike up from the rewire, he has used both the side mounts and the top mounts.
 
scott70d

scott70d

Member
I have not obtained my service manual yet ,its on the way.
I have a 07 bulldog and the batt. is mounted sideways ( not the best way )and uses side terminals only. this may be do to fitments. the ground ( neg ) came lose a few times letting the battery get low charge. Causing all kinds of trouble. such as no start, lose of speedo, etc.
These EFI bikes cant afford any electrical issues
 
Infinitro

Infinitro

Thread Killer
You know.....I makes sense that with a 90 degree cable attached to the top of the battery, it can only twist loose a certain amount. Maybe that was the intent of the switch over to top mount only.
 
P

Pir8Jack

Member
Ok three people mention to torque battery bolt correctly but no one states what it should be. After looking at the torque chart I copied from here and hung on my wall I do not see a spec for the battery conection so would someone please tell me correct torque for my battery connection. Right now I just jiggle the wires to see if they move on my pre ride check if they move i tighten them if they dont I do not.
 
LDO

LDO

The Cleaner
Troop Supporter
Slow Vince said:
07 K9 after I installed the Battery Tender wires...

Click to expand...

Slow,
I see some 'red stuff' on your posts and terminals. I assume this is some type of anti-corrosion treatment as I've seen and used it on aircraft before. It was purple in color though and we just called it PCP (purple colored protectant). do you (or anyone else) have any info on this stuff?

Is this only for the 05+ bikes? My 03 doesn't have 90 degree terminals on it....:confused: :confused:
 
avdhunter

avdhunter

Active Member
LDO .... You can get the stuff in the battery section at Autozone or somewhere like that. Or you can get this from Graingerhttp://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/2F134.
 
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V

Vegas

Well-Known Member
Pir8Jack said:
Ok three people mention to torque battery bolt correctly but no one states what it should be. After looking at the torque chart I copied from here and hung on my wall I do not see a spec for the battery conection so would someone please tell me correct torque for my battery connection. Right now I just jiggle the wires to see if they move on my pre ride check if they move i tighten them if they dont I do not.
Click to expand...
They need to be tight. From seating maybe a 1/8 turn. I have never had a battery connection come loose on any bike.
 
stlmikie

stlmikie

I wish I had more money.
Hey Ldo. I have a 90 degree terminal. I wonder what the diff. is?




LDO said:
Slow,
I see some 'red stuff' on your posts and terminals. I assume this is some type of anti-corrosion treatment as I've seen and used it on aircraft before. It was purple in color though and we just called it PCP (purple colored protectant). do you (or anyone else) have any info on this stuff?

Is this only for the 05+ bikes? My 03 doesn't have 90 degree terminals on it....:confused: :confused:
Click to expand...
 
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