Power loss- intermittant

[Doctor of Power]

06 Chopper with upgraded ( yellow) EHC. No problems for 30K miles. Twice recently turned key and nothing. No lights on bike or EHC. Bypassed key switch still nothing. Battery has 12.8 volts and is kept on a tender. After several attempts the power comes on. Checked stator voltage when running and voltage at battery increases with RPM so charging system looks good. Noticed when key is turned on the front signals blink once quickly. My 08 Mutt has same EHC and front signals come on steady when key is turned. Checked harnesses and wire connections. All look good. Only happened twice in 5000 miles but dont wanna get stuck.
Any ideas ( other than bad EHC) of what could be causing this?

Remember:
"You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning."

 

[V]

06 Chopper with upgraded ( yellow) EHC. No problems for 30K miles. Twice recently turned key and nothing. No lights on bike or EHC. Bypassed key switch still nothing. Battery has 12.8 volts and is kept on a tender. After several attempts the power comes on. Checked stator voltage when running and voltage at battery increases with RPM so charging system looks good. Noticed when key is turned on the front signals blink once quickly. My 08 Mutt has same EHC and front signals come on steady when key is turned. Checked harnesses and wire connections. All look good. Only happened twice in 5000 miles but dont wanna get stuck.
Any ideas ( other than bad EHC) of what could be causing this?

Remember:
"You can't drink all day if you don't start in the morning."

Might check all connections at the batt and to the switch. Switches have gone bad but you said you bypassed it. I'd start with coneections and go from there. My .02

 

[Brew]

Didn't you say something about tapping the EHC and it worked sometimes? Or did you revise that?

 

[Doctor of Power]

Haven't tapped the EHC. Always happens on the road. If it does it @ home I will check continuity on keyswitch wires to EHC. But can't check it when it is working.

 

[BigDogBro1]

Recrimp all the wires to all battery terminals.

 

[Doctor of Power]

Did thatand pulled harnesses on EHC and connections look clean. I am a Master Electrician so this is rather embarrassing.

 

[Brew]

Nothing to be embarrassed about, while you got the EHC connection off apply dielectric grease to the connectors. Helps with moisture intrusion, if you haven’t already done it. This didn’t happen after washing the scoot did it?

 

[Doctor of Power]

Washing doesn't seem to have any effect. Happens on the road. Stop for lunch and it is dead when we come out. Looked @ Wire Plus but seems like an intermittant connection issue. but the signal lights flashing leads me to EHC. Was hoping someone had experienced a similar problem and could lend some advice. Certainly appreciate your help.

 

[Brew]

Well, I'm the stupid one here when it comes to wiring...:roll: Have you load checked the battery. Our bikes do some weird things (flashers start blinking and sometimes the horn honks) when the batteries aren't healthy even though they show a good charge. Just a thought...:2thumbs: Are you running a new battery, if not how old is it?

 

[BigDogBro1]

When you say it's dead when you come out from lunch, is it like the battery is disconnected .... no nothin?

 

[Doctor of Power]

Nada, Zero, Zilch. Acts like keyswitch but bypassing the switch has no effect. No lights at all on bike or EHC. Wait awhile and keep trying the keyswitch and it works. Only happened twice.

 

[Madrad123]

The battery connections sometimes break inside the plastic covering to the crimped on connection. May want to slice the covering off and see if that is the issue, if so replace the battery cables. Simple and happens quite often. If not that it could be the "power" module that was used for a while. It was a breaker in which was used to control power from the battery to the electrical system.

 

[Doctor of Power]

Thanks for all the replies. 6" of snow and 7 degrees outside. Good day to stay inside and work on the bikes. Thankfully I have a heated garage. Will let you know what I find.

 

[BadBrad]

Water intrussion will also cause some unusual electrical light shows. If you have the tank pulled, go ahead and use di-electric grease in all connections. You said you bypassed the keyswitch. Were you getting power to the switch? Also, check connections at the coils. Follow your power. If it stops at the EHC, then you probably found the culprit.

 

[DRBarnhart]

Were you getting power to the switch?

The key switch supplies a ground to the EHC, no power there...

If you disconnect the power connector from the EHC is there voltage between A-3 and A-4 on the harness side? Trying wiggling the wires at the battery (not the large battery cables, the smaller wires that supply power to the EHC) and see if it's all good.

Dennis

 

[Doctor of Power]

will try that. i realize key switch is actually a ground. carring a meter with me now so if it happens again i have the diagnostic tools neccessary to find the issue.