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999 Vbat Lo 999

Discussion in '749 / 999' started by imperiumdx, Apr 8, 2015.

  1. While I would love to buy motolectric I always found their prices outlandish. Also with regards to researching best materials, how good is good enough? Let's say if for 40 bucks you can have a product that works as well as the motolectric one, and does the same job why not? Also which time frame do you have in mind for whipping up your own cables?

    [​IMG]
     
  2. I understand your point - but usually the cost of better cable in the overall scheme of the full assembly isn't massive. Also one could argue that just an additional earth lead will suffice and not a full set of 3 cables - I may offer both to cover this off.
    What I don't want is just a cheap looking automotive course cable in black shrink wrap, I want something which looks the part too as well as being functional too.
    Not sure on time scales yet as I have just started looking in to it, but I have a few 'leads' to start to progress a solution ;)
     
  3. Get on with your work, Elise. People are waiting.
     
    • Drama Queen Drama Queen x 1
    • Agree Agree x 1
  4. Maybe you could find something in Leeds??
     
  5. Or Blackpool, contact through work :)
     
  6. I was think in terms of finding leads on leads in Leeds.... ;)
     
  7. Yes, but Blackpool rhymed better :D
     
  8. Gold anodised earth cable anyone? I reckon they`d sell like hot cakes. :upyeah:
     
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    • Face Palm Face Palm x 1
  9. I have learnt a lot about cables over the last few days and soured some very interesting componentry for an idea I have for a quality secondary earth cable which I will be prototyping hopefully within the week.
    I have also sourced some specialist cable for full wiring kits which is at least equal in quality to the USA cables.

    It will be interesting to see what price point I can achieve whilst not only maintaining the quality of the US kits, but exceeding the visuals also (which won't matter to most but it does to me :Happy:). When I have more I will post a thread for comments / feedback.
     
    • Like Like x 4
  10. Started having starting problems with my 999. Thought it was just the colder weather (Perth winter). So I got a a motoelectric wire kit which looks nice, good quality stuff.

    When I pulled the battery I realised I have a bigger problem and explains why the starter was struggling to crank the motor [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Has anyone else had this sort of corrosion problem. It's the - ve (lower) terminal.
     
  11. Wow
    wow...
     
  12. Yeah! Nasty surprise
     
  13. Wise after the event, but it is good preventative maintenance that stops this being a problem. Before the winter disconnect both battery terminals, clean them and coat in dielectric grease, no corrosion problems in 13 years of 749 ownership.
     
    • Like Like x 2
  14. I've made my own set of upgraded starter and earth cables, obviously saving a lot over the professional upgrade kits. Of course my upgrade might not be ideal (but better than the poor original effort by Ducati), and I'm sure the kits are great ..... BUT, lots of people seem to be concerned with wire guage, number of strands, whether to crimp or solder or both, various types of battery lugs, which are all valid points but it occured to me the whole thing is let down by the starter solenoid.
    No one can see the size of the contact patch inside or the condition of the contacts when they're pulled in by the starter button, so surely it could easily be the 'weakest part of the chain'.
    You can test for continuity but that's hardly enough is it, especially when we're talking about 60Amps passing through ideally with the least possible resistance.
    So worrying about small differences in cable sizes or terminal crimping may often be a bit of a 'red herring', or do we have to replace the solenoid 'just in case' and hope for the best?
    Anyone got thoughts on this?
     
  15. So if a solid state relay is the best way to go it looks like you're sort of agreeing with me that the regular solenoid could be an important factor that's often overlooked when replacing cables etc. But what a bloody price for that relay, it looks great but I reckon that's a bit over the top in terms of money, for that price you could get a 'pro' cable upgrade, a new 'regular' solenoid and have most of the price of a new starter motor too! But thanks for the reply it's an interesting idea.
     
  16. Why buy an expensive Ducati, when a shit box Chinese bike will do?
     
  17. Haha, I know what you mean mate but my bike is a 1994 900SS with 45k on the clock, it's great but hardly what people would call 'expensive' these days. I just mentioned the solenoid thing because I've been working on the starter circuit and it occured to me people keep going on about various things but rarely mention the solenoid as a possible weak link, thought it might help someone else one day. Cheers
     
    #39 Pete W, Aug 21, 2020
    Last edited: Aug 22, 2020
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