Update...broke down yet again

[ruzzle]

..... anyone heard from EasTex lately?

Yeah, me. He just posted the shortest-lived post in history.......

One minute. A new record?

 

[Gregger]

The resting voltage seems a bit low for a good battery, should be around 12.9 to 13.4v. These new R3s are very voltage sensitive they even put it in the owners manual. They put such a tiny battery to save a couple pounds to reduce weight. The next time try hooking it to a full size car battery with jumper/booster cables and look at voltages. Another thing is the vibration tends to shake the terminals loose. Look for any corrosion/arcing signs is a sure sign something isn't tight enough. Good luck getting it back fixed.

You saw that too... I wondered if that was with the key on and lights shining because the starting voltage drop was only 10.2 volts. I still would have liked to see what the voltage drop would have been with a carbon pile hooked up... I'm old school.

 

[Planet3]

You saw that too... I wondered if that was with the key on and lights shining because the starting voltage drop was only 10.2 volts. I still would have liked to see what the voltage drop would have been with a carbon pile hooked up... I'm old school.

12.2v all electrics off.
10.2v cranking.
14.2v running.
Just spoke to dealer.
Bike started fine Wednesday morning (typical) then they restarted 10 minutes later, no start, sparking and arcing from negative cable connection. He stated he could see various weld spots or something like that around negative terminal. Both connections were tight.
Battery is now junk and a new one will be put in and I'm assuming some new wiring that go to the battery that may have been damaged. They know it's possible it's not just the battery and the search and testing will begin next week. Could be a while before I get it back...
For a 30G, 18 month old bike with 7k on it, I'm not impressed.
Not the dealers fault but Triumph for skimping on quality...

 

[TURBO200R4]

12.2v all electrics off.
10.2v cranking.
14.2v running.
Just spoke to dealer.
Bike started fine Wednesday morning (typical) then they restarted 10 minutes later, no start, sparking and arcing from negative cable connection. He stated he could see various weld spots or something like that around negative terminal. Both connections were tight.
Battery is now junk and a new one will be put in and I'm assuming some new wiring that go to the battery that may have been damaged. They know it's possible it's not just the battery and the search and testing will begin next week. Could be a while before I get it back...
For a 30G, 18 month old bike with 7k on it, I'm not impressed.
Not the dealers fault but Triumph for skimping on quality...

if there was a gap it will spark
if they were clean (terminals) and tight they would not spark.
also if they are not tight then it may not take a charge (for example if you can not get the voltage out to start the bike it may not be able to put the voltage in to maintain a full charge so low voltage)
now as a business owner i am not against them selling you a new battery but i would say i am replacing bat just in case it is defective.
not this thing is bad (with out reason) and needs a new one.
i guess i have said enough most business don't operate the way i do.

 

[Planet3]

if there was a gap it will spark
if they were clean (terminals) and tight they would not spark.
also if they are not tight then it may not take a charge (for example if you can not get the voltage out to start the bike it may not be able to put the voltage in to maintain a full charge so low voltage)
now as a business owner i am not against them selling you a new battery but i would say i am replacing bat just in case it is defective.
not this thing is bad (with out reason) and needs a new one.
i guess i have said enough most business don't operate the way i do.

Understandable...
One thing not certain at the moment is did the battery fail first causing the sparking or did something else cause the negative lead to fail which in turn damaged the battery.
Whatever the outcome, it will leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth. A 30G bike with 7k on it, 18 months old should not be prone to the issues that not just me, but several have endured since it's release.

 

[Gregger]

Ok. I can see a bad crimp on a battery cable causing some high resistance and possible sparking but why change the battery then??? I have also seen battery terminals melt/burn due to a failed internal weld inside the battery which also melted the battery cable terminal end. Maybe this is what happened to you. Would really like to see a picture of the defective terminal. A picture tells a 1000 words...

Anyway, it looks like the source of the sparking is coming from the negative side of the battery and cable end and it looks like the dealer isn't going to take any chances and replace both. If I was paying, I'd test the battery (like I've already mentioned) and replace the neg cable end only if the cable is long enough. Cable ends are repairable.

 

[Planet3]

Ok. I can see a bad crimp on a battery cable causing some high resistance and possible sparking but why change the battery then??? I have also seen battery terminals melt/burn due to a failed internal weld inside the battery which also melted the battery cable terminal end. Maybe this is what happened to you. Would really like to see a picture of the defective terminal. A picture tells a 1000 words...

Anyway, it looks like the source of the sparking is coming from the negative side of the battery and cable end and it looks like the dealer isn't going to take any chances and replace both. If I was paying, I'd test the battery (like I've already mentioned) and replace the neg cable end only if the cable is long enough. Cable ends are repairable.

I see where they're coming from now that the battery is basically dead, by getting a new one they at least eliminate 1 possible cause. In the meantime they can inspect other possible cabling and wiring for imperfections.
I spoke with the tech guy this morning and with loose connections a common thing with the new rockets, it's possible they may have already been loose before my big ride on Monday. Long Ks and bumpy roads cause interruptions with the terminal and that may have flawed the battery. He also learnt that it only sparks and carries on when it's hot. Leave the bike 24 hours and it will start. Try to start it 5 minutes after turning it off and it goes haywire with all lights and dash flashing while sparking. This was witnessed by 2 others. One was the head mechanic. I asked him did I contribute to this. He said none of this is my fault. Just 1 of those things unfortunately

 

[stingray]

I'd di-electric grease the terminals on reassembly insides and all between the connections. Tighten an extra half turn. Recheck the next day and tighten another half turn if it moves any. These little batteries are giving it their all and any little resistance in the connection causes massive voltage loss. corrosion and arcing melting the metals. Definitely one of the new Rockets weaknesses.

 

[TURBO200R4]

Nice to talk to the tech.
You have learned a lot from everyone.
I have never worked on the new rocket batteries/terminals so going to go out on a limb and say because of the troubles guys have had i think that the terminals have the capabilities to to crush down so you tighten down and afterr a while due to cooling and heating they become loose and need to be retighten untill u reach the final crush point.
Just my opinion

 

[STR4ng3r]

I don't get how someone can possibly highlight the new Rocket in the terms of quality (seen and been in quite a few conversations/arguments on this topic at several online platforms), when you see the amount of issues ppl have with this bike, myself included. OP is quite lucky though, at least his dealer is willing to work on the issue, not like in my case and also in some other ones.
Fingers crossed m8, I hope you'll get the issue solved the normal way, not like I'm forced to try.