Shot Posted July 28, 2011 #1 Posted July 28, 2011 For almost a year my battery goes down after a couple of days of not riding. I have added running lights, led tail lights, air horn, auxilary plug in and maybe a couple more items over time. I don't know whats drawing the battery down and an electrician I ain't. How can I test to see what is causing this problem?
GaryZ Posted July 28, 2011 #2 Posted July 28, 2011 Remove the negative battery cable and connect an ammeter (measures current) in series. Most voltmeters will also do amps. "In series" means the ammeter is wired between the battery and the battery cable. With the key off, any reading means there is a current draw that is draining your battery. Disconnect electrical stuff one at a time until the current draw goes away. Then try and figure out why that particular electrical item is drawing current. You may find that the item is not properly wired through a "switched" fuse circuit and stays hot when the key is off.
Flyinfool Posted July 28, 2011 #3 Posted July 28, 2011 First be sure that something is actually drawing the battery down. If you have a test light, remove the negative battery cable and connect the test light between the cable and the battery terminal. If the light comes on then you have a significant draw on the battery. If the light comes on start pulling fuses one at a time till you find the one that makes the light go out. That is the circuit that has the problem. Don't forget the fuses that you added for extra toys. If the test light does not light up, then replace it with an ammeter to see what if any the draw actually is. It is possible to have a draw that is to small to light the light. If there is no draw on the battery, you either have a bad battery or a charging problem. Dang, Typed to slow again..........
saddlebum Posted July 28, 2011 #4 Posted July 28, 2011 (edited) First thing make sure the water level is up in your battery, Your battery will not charge properly if it is very low, nor will it deliver proper performance. If not top it up with distiled or deionized water, avoid tap or well water. Then check for parasitic load loss as described in the previous threads. Finally have the battery load tested. A simple check you can do yourself is connect a voltmeter across the battery with everything turned off. Then turn on your ignition and lights while watching your voltmeter to see how quickly the voltage drops off. It should not drop mutch more then a volt or two initially. If it takes a real nose dive the battery is most likly shot. To be sure, varify it by having it charged up and properly load tested. Edited July 28, 2011 by saddlebum
FinnMacCool869 Posted July 28, 2011 #5 Posted July 28, 2011 Disconnect the battery and remove the battery from the bike. Wash battery compartment with a solution of warm water and some baking soda, do same for the battery. Reason is that salt will build up in this small space and bridge the battery terminals and the salt will discharge the battery. If you live where they put road salt down in the winter, or take a trip where they do you can pick up the salt and then the battery problems start. This one gets missed a lot and people spend a small fortune hunting down the problem.
Flyinfool Posted July 28, 2011 #6 Posted July 28, 2011 FinnMacCool869 said: Disconnect the battery and remove the battery from the bike. Wash battery compartment with a solution of warm water and some baking soda, do same for the battery. Reason is that salt will build up in this small space and bridge the battery terminals and the salt will discharge the battery. If you live where they put road salt down in the winter, or take a trip where they do you can pick up the salt and then the battery problems start. This one gets missed a lot and people spend a small fortune hunting down the problem. While this may work/help on your car, most people do ride their bike on roads bad enough to need salt. Or am I that much of a fair weather rider? When you wash the battery, be very careful to NOT get ANY of the baking soda into the battery, the baking soda is not fussy about which acid it neutralizes.
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