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I searched the forum and couldn't find direct answers to the questions I have. If the answers are out there and I missed them..... sorry for posting this.

Anyway.

CHARGING:

I have a 64 Narrow case. The battery is about ten years old... it sat dry for those ten years and I just added electrolyte a month ago. The guy at the battery store said I had a 50/50 chance of it lasting or even working. It had been working great until last week... I was out riding and the bike just up an died. I looked at the headlamp and it was very very dim. I pushed to a friends and we put the battery on a charger and wthin a few min it started boiling over.

So I am thinking the battery is shot... no big deal I have one ordered. But I want to make sure the battery is charging while I am riding. I started the bike up and put two leads on the battery. It read between 6.14 and 6.2 volts. (light off)

That sounds really low to me. Is that normal charge (I had the throttle slightly open but I don't know the rpm)

I don't want to get a new battery and drain it while I am out riding.

GASOLINE
Should I be running high test fuel in this bike?
it has 10:1 compression and is the 5 speed model

Again sorry if these answers are elswhere in the forum.

Thanks,
Evil

" we put the battery on a charger and wthin a few min it started boiling over. "

____ What do you mean exactly by "boiling over" ?
What rate of charge was being applied to it? _ If it was a high-amperage/12-volt charger, then that could have been putting over 6-amps through it, which would take only a short time for a small 6-volt battery to start making hydrogen-bubbles like crazy.
Those charging-bubbles (evenly disbursed through-out the battery), are a sign that the battery still has (at least) a fair amount of life left.


" But I want to make sure the battery is charging while I am riding. I started the bike up and put two leads on the battery. It read between 6.14 and 6.2 volts. "

____ To be sure a battery is getting charging-juice, you need to connect an ammeter in series with it. _ However a volt-meter can provide a tell-tale sign of having taken a charge...
First, a good used 6v-battery that's been sitting a day or so, should read at least 6.0-volts,, and right after a good charging, it should then measure between 6.3 - 6.5 volts. _ So that difference should tell you if there was any charge taken. _ If there was only battery-charge given-out from the battery after a test-run, then immediately afterwords, it's voltage ought to show a lesser figure than it had before the test-run begain.
__ To get any note-worthy change in the battery's voltage from a test-run, you should go for a 20-minute ride while keeping the engine revving between 4 to 6 thousand RPM. _ If that doesn't show any difference (before & after), then try it again with lights on.
But if you're not all-set to go for a test-run, then keep your volt-meter connected and closely note any increase in voltage as you rev the engine over 5000-RPM.
If you don't see any voltage-increase, then you're back to needing an ammeter to make sure the battery is not receiving any charging-power.

. . .

" Should I be running high test fuel in this bike? "

____ Well I don't know about what the "bike" cares for, but back when it was made, it's 'engine' did indeed prefer High-Octane fuel !
With today's gasoline, it may not matter much. _ If you get any pinging, try adding a little gas-dryer.


Hopeful-Cheers,
-Bob

It was shop model Snap On battery charger. It didn't have a setting for 6v other than on. It is completly possible that it was getting 6 amps or more.

And by boiling over i mean.... bubbles and liquid were sneaking out around the negative terminal post. I assumed it may have been dropped or damaged over the years resulting in a crack there. The battery is still working but I have not load tested it to see if it is faulty. And of course when I ordered a new battery is was on back order. It's the yuosa b38 6a.

IF you charge the battery on a low rate say half an amp overnight it should power the headlight for a couple of hours ,but i suspect it is kaput which is why it wont accept a charge or rise in voltage.

wow. If you hit it with a 12v charger, and cooked it till it was boiling through the case, that alone could have warped a plate.

I have that battery in my 450. It is a 13.5 amp hour battery, same as Ducati recommended in the original SAFA. recommended charge rate would be not more than 1.35 amps. If it sat around for a long time and suffered a drop it could be time to get a new one. Following Bobs rec is good to make sure. Or you can take a look at the shop manuals in the Tech section. there is a wealth of knowledge there and the speak specifically to testing your alternator output. If I remember right, your's called for a smaller battery than that so you could get by a little cheaper. good luck.

I replaced the battery on the duc and and it was dead in the matter of a few hours. Do the two wires that come from the stator need to be on a certain order? or does it just look like the stator isn't working correctly? Could it be anything else? What about the connections IN the black box... I haven't opened it yet, is their a connection that can fail in there?

" Do the two wires that come from the stator need to be on a certain order? "

____ No, they're interchangeable (so long as the stock system goes) !


" or does it just look like the stator isn't working correctly? "

____ It's quite doubtful that your stator has gone completely bad.
__ Do you have an ohm-meter that can measure under 1-ohm ? _ If so, please measure the resistance between the two yellow lead-wire ends. and also the resistance between each one of them & Ground.


" Could it be anything else? "

____ Yes, bad rectifier(s), (for one thing).
__ Does the alt.cable look as if it's ever possibly been mishandled ? - If so, it's then possible that the yellow-insulation has gone-bad enough within, to allow the two conductor-wires to short-circuit together.


" What about the connections IN the black box...
is their a connection that can fail in there? "

____ Not likely "IN"-side,, however, have you not checked it's accessible fuse, found under it's black-cover (that's at the opposite-end from the 6-wire terminal-cover and held-on by two small screws) ?

____ You didn't mention if you were running lights or not during your first run with the new-battery, or the battey's AH-size...
It could be that only one of your charging-system's pair of charging circuits has failed, leaving just the other to work all by itself, (as it's more likely that just one of the two power-diodes has gone bad, [even more likely than the black-bpx's fuse blowing] ).
__ With only one of the two charging-circuits working, the engine can continue running and the battery will stay fully charged (to run brake-light & horn),
but with the lights also turned-on, the battery will soon discharge (depending on it's size),, so it's hard to say without added details like that & the average-RPM your riding was at during your first test-run.


Hopeful-Cheers,
DCT-Bob