tony-1977 Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Hello people!My bike is now on it's 4th battery in 18 months. It charges fine and shows 12.5 - 13v on the meter, but when the bike's stood for over 4 hours, it's flat Even with the main switch offAny ideas? Quote
Korben Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Take it to a garage mate. It's got a wiring fault that I bet a qualified automobile leccy could probably find and fix in less than half an hour. Quote
tony-1977 Posted September 21, 2008 Author Posted September 21, 2008 Take it to a garage mate. It's got a wiring fault that I bet a qualified automobile leccy could probably find and fix in less than half an hour. I did Said nothing wrong. Two different places looked at it... Quote
Korben Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Hmmm.... No idea then mate. Especially if you have the kill switch on and it's still draining it. Quote
red Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 There has to be something draining it as that is an usually short amount of time for a battery to last.You have any other auto electricians you can take it to?I'm sure that the other ones must have agreed that it's going flat a little to quick? How can they say that's normal? Quote
tony-1977 Posted September 21, 2008 Author Posted September 21, 2008 Hmmm.... No idea then mate. Especially if you have the kill switch on and it's still draining it. I'm puzzled too. It's a 8Ah battery. Just ordered a 12 to see if that will work better... Quote
tony-1977 Posted September 21, 2008 Author Posted September 21, 2008 There has to be something draining it as that is an usually short amount of time for a battery to last.You have any other auto electricians you can take it to?I'm sure that the other ones must have agreed that it's going flat a little to quick? How can they say that's normal? They said it's not normal, just blamed a dodgy battery Quote
Guest Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 is the bike new or old ? sorry if you posted this elsewhere ?one thing to try to really show it has a drain on the electrics ...disconnect battery --- leave over night ... reconnect in morning .... if it works its a fault on bikes electric 95% of time ...any aftermarket accessories fitted ( alarm etc ) Quote
Guest Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 Good idea for a test that lol its amazing how many people dive in with bits of wire everywhere before checking the basics...especially when you get these There has to be something draining it as that is an usually short amount of time for a battery to last.You have any other auto electricians you can take it to?I'm sure that the other ones must have agreed that it's going flat a little to quick? How can they say that's normal? They said it's not normal, just blamed a dodgy battery Quote
Guest Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 have you put a alarm or new imobilizer on it or a remote start they drain batterys a lot Quote
Guest Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 really silly thought here .....when you turn bike off/apply steering lock ( i assume the steering lock is on the ignition switch ) you are not putting it into park light mode ? so that the sidelights are on and if in daytime you may not notice .....also 4th battery ..... where are you getting the batteries from ? new seconhand ?and the people you had look at the bikes were competent mechanics/auto electricians not just bloke dowb pub sort of thing lol Quote
rollazuki Posted September 21, 2008 Posted September 21, 2008 OK, beg,borrow, or steal a multitester with current(amps) reading on it.10 amps is more than ideal, but you will probably need less after initial tests.Ammeters need to be in series, not in parallel like volt testers, so disconnect one battery lead(either will do) and complete the circuit by putting the multimeter leads between the battery lead(disconnected) and the battery terminal.You are now gonna see on the meter, every amp pulled from the battery.turn the ign on and turn a light on, you will see the current rise, as amps are drawn, ok!Turn the ignition off and see what happens. Probably with it set on the 10amp scale youll see nowt, so go down the range on the meter into milliamps, and my guess is that you will see a reading.You shouldnt see anything at all with ign off, but Id guess you can see a few milliamps on the gauge. If this is the case, proceed as follows:One by one, remove the bikes fuses and replace them, if at any point the reading drops to zero you have found the circuit which is sucking the power. If that fails, try again, but one by one undo (every) multiplug on the bike, again one of em should cause the reading to drop. When you have found a fuse or a plug that causes the meter to read zero amps, check that circuit.Maybe there is a wire rubbing onto the frame, a switch corroded internally, or similar, but now you know the bit you need to fix.If you connect the meter as described and there is NO current drain, you are either special! or leaving the side light circuit on(muppet!)good luck. Quote
tony-1977 Posted September 21, 2008 Author Posted September 21, 2008 Thanks for all the help guys. Appreciate it.The bike is 15 months old.There is no drain on the battery when ignition is off (tested with meter).Definately not switching parking lights on. When ticking over, shows 13.5v, but when put light on, drops to 9 - 10, until revved, then back to 13.5.It has an alarm and remote start, but I never use these.Using NEW batteries from a dealer, not second hand.I did notice the earth connections could have been tighter. Have cleaned and tightened and ridden 20 miles, will see in morning if any better.... Quote
craig Posted September 22, 2008 Posted September 22, 2008 might of missed this but................what bike is it Quote
red Posted September 22, 2008 Posted September 22, 2008 It's a Superbyke SBS125 .. he posted it on his hello thread Quote
slugworth1987 Posted September 22, 2008 Posted September 22, 2008 alarm and remote start use power from a hot battery bus right? so they are always on even if not being used the reciver is waiting for a signal correct? alarm is monitoring its logic gates so again always on... maybe the systems are a bad idea? Quote
rennie Posted September 22, 2008 Posted September 22, 2008 i would pull fuses for extras, see if it improves, if still no good i would look at reg/rectifier, they're expensive though!, good luck Quote
rollazuki Posted September 22, 2008 Posted September 22, 2008 Look, its like this:If you disconnect a battery lead and measure current between that lead and the battery terminal and there is non, zero, nada, then THERE IS NO CURRENT! This means that NOTHING is drawing any power from the battery, simple as that.If any power is drawn from the battery, wether its lights, alarm, or ignition, it travels thru the battery leads. If there is no current draw on the battery at all via those leads, then the bike is drawing NO POWER.You are either buying bad batteries, or dropping them on the way home, or drastically overcharging them.There is no black magic with electricity, there is either some kinda circuit, or there isnt. Simple as that.All the best, Rolla Quote
slugworth1987 Posted September 22, 2008 Posted September 22, 2008 its still strange how a batt is leaking that much with nothing being drawn try a diffrent brand or a sealed lead acid gel. try slow charging on 13v 1amp or less for 23 hours this will refreash the batt (does on 28v aircraft batts) ni-cad would be good but bikes charge constant voltage not constant current like a ni-cad requires Quote
tony-1977 Posted September 24, 2008 Author Posted September 24, 2008 I've just fitted a new 12amp battery and it seems ok so far. Lets see if it lasts more than 3 days like the last 8 amp ones... and it now takes 2 milli-seconds to start, not 2 tries and a flat battery ps. what's the reg/rectifier?? Quote
rennie Posted September 25, 2008 Posted September 25, 2008 reg/rec is a little box, probably with cooling fins on, that regulates and rectifies the output of the alternator/generator. honda's weakest point!, don't know about your bike. Quote
tony-1977 Posted September 25, 2008 Author Posted September 25, 2008 well, it started this morning with no probs..... maybe the original 8amp battery was not up to scratch? Quote
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