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V7 Charging issues / Dead battery -- PLEASE READ

Bob Ponticelli said:
Bob,
We think Guzzi installed that higher switching voltage regulator/rectifier on purpose. They are all like that. All measure same.

There was no way to expand the alternator size because of the wheel and casting positions so they bumped up the voltage of the zener diode gate switch. Yeah, poor substitute but it was cheap!

You can go back to 14.6VDC reg/rec if you want but in our opinion it doesn’t resolve anything really.
Click to expand...
But they are NOT all the same. And the new V7s perform in a more universally acceptable fashion (nothing approaching 15v) so maybe Moto Guzzi decided it wasn't so good. That forum is scary.
 
pokeyjoe said:
But they are NOT all the same. And the new V7s perform in a more universally acceptable fashion (nothing approaching 15v) so maybe Moto Guzzi decided it wasn't so good. That forum is scary.
Click to expand...
I know, just letting folks know what my dealer mentioned....also said will depend on age of battery etc for some of the fluctuations noted. Mine actually measured okay and I think I am just going to monitor over time.
 
I spoke to an electrical engineer about charging a 12v battery and the v7 situation.
He is very familiar with12v batteries used in computer UPS battery banks.
A charging voltage of15v+ calls for an immediate replacement of the system VR.
He could not suggest a reason for Guzzi's 15+v spec
I replaced the VR on my bike
 
If there is nothing wrong with the VR's why did my shop replace my VR and then the factory request pictures of the damaged wiring on my bike and the list off all electrical performed on my bike?
 
Im just curious to know, has anyone changed or thinking of changing their VR?
 
Thanks for this post, luckily my 2013 Racer is reading 13.6 at idle and 14.4 at 4k rpm. So I think I'm good for now even though my battery did die after 1 year (and not covered under the 2 year warranty)
 
Ok, looks like my recently purchased 15' V7 is in the clear for now. Just tested at the terminals with a multimeter. 12.5v off, 14.1v at idle, 14.3v at 3,000rpm. I'll be keeping an eye on it from time to time.

Good job for those that searched and found solutions for the issue.
 
Today I checked out my charging system by plugging into my Battery Tender lead on the bike.
I had text book conditions in that at idle it was 13.4-13.8v. At 3,000 and 3,400 it was not over 14.4volt.

I assume this is correct and good.

My dealer said he had not found a single machine with this problem here in Illinois and he has sold some V7's and has more on the floor.
I don't know if they checked mine at PDI as they don't remember. I guess they need a better PDI chart they save in the customer file, right?

So, does anyone have a problem with me checking this in this manner?

I didn't want to dig back into the battery.

I have right at 900 miles now on this little Guzzi and did first service at 700 miles from the dealer.

So far, so good. I love the machine. It's what I expected but better and I can highly recommend this brand to others.
 
Ken Cooley said:
Today I checked out my charging system by plugging into my Battery Tender lead on the bike.
I had text book conditions in that at idle it was 13.4-13.8v. At 3,000 and 3,400 it was not over 14.4volt.

I assume this is correct and good.

My dealer said he had not found a single machine with this problem here in Illinois and he has sold some V7's and has more on the floor.
I don't know if they checked mine at PDI as they don't remember. I guess they need a better PDI chart they save in the customer file, right?

So, does anyone have a problem with me checking this in this manner?

I didn't want to dig back into the battery.

I have right at 900 miles now on this little Guzzi and did first service at 700 miles from the dealer.

So far, so good. I love the machine. It's what I expected but better and I can highly recommend this brand to others.
Click to expand...
Did you have the battery fully charged with the battery tender when you checked it?
 
I have been riding the bike and my dealer just did first service on it.

I have no idea if fully charged. I do keep it on a Battery Tender but not every night while riding it.

I can put it on the tender for the next couple of days at home and then check on Friday.
I'm running it back to my shop to install my new center stand on Friday and can check then.
I'll let you know.

Ken
 
Ken Cooley said:
I have been riding the bike and my dealer just did first service on it.

I have no idea if fully charged. I do keep it on a Battery Tender but not every night while riding it.

I can put it on the tender for the next couple of days at home and then check on Friday.
I'm running it back to my shop to install my new center stand on Friday and can check then.
I'll let you know.

Ken
Click to expand...
Ok and my buddy bought his v7 at Rose Farm in Illinois and his vr was reading too high. Was fine first time we checked he checked again and it was high.
 
Wisconsin v7 Racer said:
Ok and my buddy bought his v7 at Rose Farm in Illinois and his vr was reading too high. Was fine first time we checked he checked again and it was high.
Click to expand...
Yup that would be me. After about a 40 min. ride I tested again and it was 15.5V. I think it's about a 50/50 fail rate amongst owners. I don't know that keeping a battery on a tender at all times is necessarily a good idea either. I think they are intended to be used mostly for long term storage.
 
hi all...i still haven t changed mine...last tuesday i did 400kms in sicily ..still no problems..
 
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dabrucru said:
hi all...i still haven t changed mine...last tuesday i did 400kms in sicily ..still no problems...maybe i ll change it...did someone of you dveloped problems by keeping the stock one?
Click to expand...
As stated in first post if yours is faulty pay a little now or a lot later.
Copied from the 1st post...

What this does, is spike the electrical system with those voltages that the system was never designed towithstand. It is impressive that some of the bikes last as long as they do without a major meltdown. If youdon't resolve this issue, first thing it does is kill the battery. If you've replaced your battery in a short timesince new, or more then once, this is likely the problem. Second item thatgoes is the cam sensor. This usuallyappears by strange running at RPM, until the bike literally dies withoutwarning and *will not restart* untilreplaced. On some bikes I'vereplaced the battery, voltageregulator (this is the culprit - don'treplace with a stock version fromthese years), cam sensor, and mostrecently one bike took replacementof the entire ECU/Throttle Body toresolve poor running.

I have documented this on nearly every V7 I've gotten near since 2013 here in Los Angeles, including my own from my RentAGuzzi Fleet.
 
dabrucru said:
hi all...i still haven t changed mine...last tuesday i did 400kms in sicily ..still no problems...maybe i ll change it...did someone of you dveloped problems by keeping the stock one?
Click to expand...
If your VR (Voltage Regulator) over charging the battery it should be replaced. Failure to replace a faulty VR can result in other electronic components failing. If your VR does not over charge the battery you are fine.
 
The problem of course is defining the thresholds of "overcharging" as the OEM, battery manufacturers, and arguably Guzzitech are all not at agreement on this.

Personally I'm glad that I replaced the voltage regulator and see no higher then about 14.3V now, but certainly I've seen evidence that up to 14.8 should be OK. And Piaggio seems to claim that 15.0 is ok.

Certainly 10k miles at 15+ didn't seem to harm anything in 3 years except possibly start to weaken my battery.

Then again, when I started riding in the 90's I never expected to see more than 2 years out of a battery....

<shrugs>
 
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