So I wanted to go ride my Hawk '88 650 GT and went to start it. The engine barely turned over a couple of times and stopped. It was warm out and so I knew that the battery had discharged a bunch and needed recharging. This did not surprise me since my solar charger has been giving me some fits recently. Diagnosis: discharged battery.
I could have taken the battery completely out and used an external charger, but I wanted to ride that day, so I decided to jump start it. Not an unreasonable choice. Done all the time.
I had a fully charged 12V battery in my shop for such things, and I recently used it on my BMW F-800 (also discharged due to the same solar charger issue). So I attached the cables and...BANG, sparks everywhere! WTF just happened?
Well, t turns out that the BMW mounts their battery backwards compared to the Honda. Since I had used the jump start battery recently on the BMW I inadvertently hooked it up the same way; the poles were reversed.
I took the battery out and trickle charged it. It appears to be fine. However, upon reinstallation on the bike the bike is dead.No dash lights, nothing.
I looked t the schematic and I don't see what would happen if a reverse polarity event occurred. Yes, current would be pushed into the frame but there are lot of pathways back to the positive terminal. Many have large diodes and/or full mechanical switches...which are had to break if the switch is open.
Where do I start? Any thoughts?
I could have taken the battery completely out and used an external charger, but I wanted to ride that day, so I decided to jump start it. Not an unreasonable choice. Done all the time.
I had a fully charged 12V battery in my shop for such things, and I recently used it on my BMW F-800 (also discharged due to the same solar charger issue). So I attached the cables and...BANG, sparks everywhere! WTF just happened?
Well, t turns out that the BMW mounts their battery backwards compared to the Honda. Since I had used the jump start battery recently on the BMW I inadvertently hooked it up the same way; the poles were reversed.
I took the battery out and trickle charged it. It appears to be fine. However, upon reinstallation on the bike the bike is dead.No dash lights, nothing.
I looked t the schematic and I don't see what would happen if a reverse polarity event occurred. Yes, current would be pushed into the frame but there are lot of pathways back to the positive terminal. Many have large diodes and/or full mechanical switches...which are had to break if the switch is open.
Where do I start? Any thoughts?
Comment