AGAIN.. start problem?

[Marc]

Did a few km ride to the shop, and when restarting... battery almost completely discharged.  Was able to do a few revs, but not enough to start the bike.  Called my wive who came with the Bonnie    and was able to start with the aid of her battery.  On the way home rev counter died followed by the ODO and at last the speedo, but riding was ok.
Put the battery on the recovery Optimate, and after one day all seems ok.  But why did the battery suddenly discharged so quick?? (battery is from dec.2011)
Note: I'm riding regulary, and did the Voltage-fix last year.



According to BB's earlier quote, I did the following leak test:

Might be teaching you to suck eggs, but:

Turn everything off.

Disconnect the battery +ve lead

Put your multimeter on "Amps" in a range that covers 30A to start with.

Connect the red multimeter lead to the battery and the black to the bike red lead.

You should have a zero reading.

Turn the multimeter onto increasingly sensitive ranges until you are at the most sensitive (this approach stops you overloading the meter)

If it still reads zero you have no leak.

If it reads anything else, remove and replace the fuses one at a time until you get a zero.  That identifies the circuit that is leaking.

Now you just have to find out where.

Multimeter on 200mA connected between battery+ and bike red lead:  reads 1,7



Idem, but third fuse removed: reding zero (I presume this is du to the clock??)



Multimeter connected between battery+ and the lead coming from the R/R:  reads 1,9



Multimeter connected between battery+ and the 2 leads together: reads 3,6



Are this figures normal?
When riding regularly it should not be evident to hang the bike on the Optimate every week, should it? 

[metalguru]

By the look of the readings they are milliamps and should not flatten your battery.

Have a look at the main fuse holder as these tend to melt.

The fuse holder from the voltage fix is quite small for the amperage going through it. Examine this for carbonising on the contacts and also on the fuse blades.

I modified my main fuse holder with a maxi fuse holder, there are pictures.



As you I ride all year and I had 2x100/150 headlamps and heated grips in normal use.
The standard fuse holders for the main fuse and charging are not strong enough for prolonged use.
As a precaution when my bike and I are sleeping, I used Optimate charger all the time.

[Marc]

Have a look at the main fuse holder

You mean the 30A fuse at the battery box?

[metalguru]

That's the one.   

[lukeman]

I would think that your bike isn't charging strongly and over the course of the ride you ran it down.  Happened to me, all the gauges died, and barely made it home. 

How many volts are you getting on a warmed up bike at idle and at 4-5k rpm?

[Chris Canning]

While it could be absolutely anything a battery bought in 2011 is an old battery,had the same on the K forum 'My battery is new it was bought last year' guess what!!!

[Chris Canning]

Ignore this it's a cock up

[Marc]

Have a look at the main fuse holder as these tend to melt.

The fuse holder from the voltage fix is quite small for the amperage going through it. Examine this for carbonising on the contacts and also on the fuse blades.

did a check today, and both fuses are in perfect condition.
Anyway, I'll look for bigger ones as a precaution.

How many volts are you getting on a warmed up bike at idle and at 4-5k rpm?

I recently replaced the R/R by a Mosfed.
I have 13,8V at idle, and 13,95/14V at 4k rpm.  This seems ok, does it?

I must say that, during the week, I mostly ride short distances.

Hmm..

[lukeman]

Have a look at the main fuse holder as these tend to melt.

The fuse holder from the voltage fix is quite small for the amperage going through it. Examine this for carbonising on the contacts and also on the fuse blades.

did a check today, and both fuses are in perfect condition.
Anyway, I'll look for bigger ones as a precaution.

How many volts are you getting on a warmed up bike at idle and at 4-5k rpm?

I recently replaced the R/R by a Mosfed.
I have 13,8V at idle, and 13,95/14V at 4k rpm.  This seems ok, does it?

I must say that, during the week, I mostly ride short distances.

Hmm..

Well the charging sounds quite good.  It might be time for a new battery.

[Marc]

Well the charging sounds quite good.  It might be time for a new battery.

2,5 years for a Yuasa, that's quick 

[Chris Canning]

On another forum I did a group buy for Odyssey PC680's after a while I had a couple of guys tell me their batteries had gone flat,we use the bike every day they say oh really I ask how far do you ride oh only a few miles do you think it will make any difference they ask  .

As for 'is a battery old at  under 3 years',this September I will change the battery on my K it's been on 2 years and I don't trust it even though it's genuine BM,that will be the 4th in 7 years!!! the previous just dropped off a cliff while on the road,some do last but not all not by a long shot they don't,particularly if their not looked after well,ie no battery tender and short trips.

[metalguru]

If it is lead acid and the see through type then yes.

Running all the lamps and short journeys with engine stop/start will kill these batteries quickly.
I did fit a standard lamp switch from the 885 series to take the strain off starting, especially on cold days.

What must be remembered is the looms were make to a price and not a very big one, so the cables are as small as they can be to handle the current required. The 955s are getting on a bit now and the cable conductivity will lessen with age. Not saying to rewire but just give it all the help you can.

Have had good success with Motobatt batterys on my own and customers machines of all makes. They are Gel Mat type, the downfall is when they fail there is no warning but have not had one fail yet.
Most riders I know do connect Optimate or similar when not riding as I do. This is due to some of my journeys being short.

[Marc]

Thanks guys for the input!
In periods of short trips, the Optimate will do the job.

[Bixxer Bob]

Marc,  only scan read this so might be repeating others, but have you checked fuse 2? It's the main fuse for the charge circuit.  My dashboard voltmeter dropped suddenly from 14.6v to 9.5v one night on the way home recently.  On checking, fuse 2 had partially melted the fuse holder but had not completely blown.  Cleaning it up and a new fuse got me back to 14.6v 

[Marc]

have you checked fuse 2? It's the main fuse for the charge circuit.

Yes, all fuses looks ok. (main fuse, voltage fix fuse, charge fuse)