Fast Eddie Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 I had to collect Gayle from work last week as the bike wouldn't start; testing the battery there it read 10.4 so obviously hadn't been charging. Earlier that week I'd taken readings for the indicator issue and had slightly low readings, but thought they were still ok.Jumped the battery and rode it home where i took readings again and all was fine (i.e. about 13.x at idle and 14.x @ 5.5k).Went to start the bike today and the battery is flat (10.x again). Going through the process here I get (set to 20 ohm scale):Pin 1 to both reds - 1Pin 1 to both Blacks - 2.71Pin 2 to both reds - 1Pin 2 to both Blacks -2.65Pin 3 to both reds - 1Pin 3 to both Blacks -2.71This was taken with the black wire from the multimeter on the 3 pin cable and the red on the 4. swapping reverses the readings.Next test with the 3 pin cable disappearing into the wiring harness:All pins to all others - 0I'm thinking i've maybe messed up this test as the stator/altenator was erplaced in 2010 and shouldn't have gone yet.I obviously couldn't do the test with the engine on, but once the battery is charged will give it a go. I charged the battery overnight and unplugged it this morning (reads 12.7v) presumably if the charge has dropped in the 12 hours till i get back I'll know the battery is knackered?p.s. just to make sure I've been testing the right things:this is what i was testing:http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb305/Edviscostello/DSC00584.jpgThese are the wires from it:http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb305/Edviscostello/DSC00585.jpgThe one on the left is the one i think is to the stator:http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb305/Edviscostello/DSC00586.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 you have already established you are getting charge to the battery at idle and at 5k revs so it may not be the stator or reg/rec although the reg/rec could be over heating with use and not charging after a while but then the bike would stop when riding it sounds to me like you could have an electrical drain when the bike is off or the battery is gone and not holding a charge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joeman Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 it sounds to me like you could have an electrical drain when the bike is off or the battery is gone and not holding a charge! Stick your ammeter in series between the +ve battery terminal and the +ve battery cable, and with the bike switched OFF (keys out) measure the current draw to see if you have something draining the battery.. if nothing draining the battery, then its likley a duff battery not holding its charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borgy95 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Do you do shortish journeys regularly? that can be a heavy drain on the battery? as you could be taking more charge on start then you put back in to it during the ride. so overtime it is dipping.I had that issue when i had a v short commute, the type to far to walk but really short to ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throttled Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Have you checked to see if it has run out of petrol? This advice may of no use whatsoever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Sounds like the battery is just not holding a charge Ed....... New battery time by the sounds..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBlonde71 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 I had the same thing recently.My battery was reading 12.5 volts and sometimes the bike was slow to start, (by slow i mean 10 - 15 secs),The new battery came and there was a chart in the box showing some voltages and charge capacity @ 12.5v it was only 50%.With the new battery fitted it starts within 1-2 secs.So maybe with 12.7 you should look at getting a new battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Eddie Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 Do you do shortish journeys regularly? that can be a heavy drain on the battery? as you could be taking more charge on start then you put back in to it during the ride. so overtime it is dipping.I had that issue when i had a v short commute, the type to far to walk but really short to ride.Not usually, but with the indicator problems it's been started up briefly a few times.the ride home from Gayle's work is about 40 minutes so I'd have thought that should have been ok. Ian, it's still got some petrol, even if i had to re-mortgage the flat to fill it!MrBlonde, You may be right, but i've never noticed it slow to start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Eddie Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 Not done any more tests on the bike, but been watching the battery the last few days. Monday Morning 12.7Monday night 12.6Tonight 12.56Think this is the first thing that will get changed then go from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 voltage Approximate charge 12.60 V 100% 12.35 V 75% 12.10 V 50% 11.95 V 25% 11.70 V 0% hope that helps a little Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 The crunch test would be with the battery in the bike and measure the voltage with the lights off and then switch the lights on and see how much the voltage drops. It will drop a bit, but if it's 12.5v with the lights off and 12.0v with the lights on I think that would be too much of a drop and would indicate that the battery is duff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Eddie Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 cheers, someone else just sid that off load voltage is meaningless and to do the same test you just said. will give it a go tomorrow assuming it's not pissing down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Eddie Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 I went out today and redid the tests.Battery was reading 12.4v before I started anything and then dropped to 11.66v with electrics and headlight on.Measuring the draw as someone suggested (20ma and set to V Ohm Ma) I got 0 (in fact I'm not sure i remember the bike even switching on) but IIRC 6.x when using the 10A setting.http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb305/Edviscostello/2012-07-05185718.jpgThis picture is from when i first did the tests.Carrying out the tests on the reg/rec (in diode mode)to red:Pin1 674pin2 715pin3 686to black all 1The 3 plug cable running back to the stator i get 0.7 resistance when off when running I get approx 23v at idle and 70 at 5k revs. If someone could tell my where to find the engine earth ground mentioned that would be great.when i plugged the cables back in the voltage across the battery rose to about 14.23, pretty much stayed above 13, but it wasn't a steady reading, always up/down by a couple of .01vI did notice that the 3 cables either side of the connection got very hot*, as did the reg/rec. the +/- coming out didn't*very in my opinion, not sure how how they are meant to get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joeman Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 6amp draw - hope thats with the bike on.. If youre drawing 6amps with the bike off you have a real problem!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Eddie Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 yeah that's with it on but not running. Battery is low in that state too but i think that's because it slowly looses about .04v/day. Not sure if this is the major cause of my problems or an incidental Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Hey Ed....when you say that the battery voltage dropped to 11.66v with the ignition nd lights on how quickly did it drop? Just to give you an idea.....when I use TuneECU it has a voltage reading in the bottom left of the screen....the last time i used it the voltage started at 12.3v and dropped to 12.0v after about 5-10mins...and my lights are on all the time. So if your voltage dropped quicker than that I'd say your battery is done. The wires from the generator and the reg/rec will get warm.....but if the battery isn't holding a charge or isn't working optimally the generator is like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in the bottom.....it has to work harder than if it was pouring into a good bucket......strange analagy maybe...but it's just to get the point across.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 cant you just connect another battery off another bike for now to see what happens? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast Eddie Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Yeah It's instant. Guess I'll go ahead and get the new battery as I earlier thought. Stu, Gayle had also suggested that (and we'd already tried that when Gayle had problems with hers) however I was trying to make sure the charging system was ok. Seeing the battery unplugged and loosing charge made me think it was knackered but more knowledgeable people seemed to write that off. Will stick the battery from the gsxr in there soon and give that a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 actually I would try the suspect battery in another bike as if its the charging system thats duff you could fry a decent battery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 actually I would try the suspect battery in another bike as if its the charging system thats duff you could fry a decent battery TBH Stu...if the battery voltage drops that quickly when put under load I'd be pretty confident that it's the battery that's duff..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 TBH Stu...if the battery voltage drops that quickly when put under load I'd be pretty confident that it's the battery that's duff..... thats what i was thinking to be honest Bob and as i said in my first post on it the charging system looks to be working when tested unless something is breaking down with heat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 TBH Stu...if the battery voltage drops that quickly when put under load I'd be pretty confident that it's the battery that's duff..... thats what i was thinking to be honest Bob and as i said in my first post on it the charging system looks to be working when tested unless something is breaking down with heat Yeah...I know what you are saying Stu......if the charging circuit is duff you could cook a new battery pretty quick....and as bike batteries are not cheap..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushwind Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 wot tango saysyourbattery isfookedbut...............you needto knowwhy???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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