Voltage Leak .01 amps

[081dbx64]

Here goes. I noticed my battery keeps discharging. Checked the stator pages and get good charging across the battery.

Put my voltage meter on amps and pulled the main fuse. Connected the amp meter across the two terminals and get a reading of .01 amps.

Pulled the red wire from the R/R and the amps goes to zero.

Does this mean my R/R is bad?

Thanks

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

It could be a bad r/r unit. Is the AC output of the stator within spec? What kind of voltage drop do you measure between the r/r output and the battery positive? Do this: Take the ground wire from the r/r unit and connect it directly to the negative terminal of the battery. Clean all the electrical connections, including the fuse box, and retest.

And check out this information:

More On The Stator Papers

Charging System Health
Mr. posplayr has put together a comprehensive tutorial on keeping your Suzuki GS charging system healthy:
GS Charging System Health (PDF file <1MB)




Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[posplayr]

Here goes. I noticed my battery keeps discharging. Checked the stator pages and get good charging across the battery.

Put my voltage meter on amps and pulled the main fuse. Connected the amp meter across the two terminals and get a reading of .01 amps.

Pulled the red wire from the R/R and the amps goes to zero.

Does this mean my R/R is bad?

Thanks

are you using a 6 wire honda? if so you need to solve the biggest poblem with isuing the Honda as the sense wire will draw current when the bike is off. Normally you need to us a swiched source but alas that is hrd to find that doesnt have a large drop. The coil relay mod is best to use as a switched refv for the honda.

 

[081dbx64]

Ok. I am using a stock R/R. It's the original that came with the bike. I did another test. Left the red wire connected and disconnected the three stator wires. Then I checked for voltage from the connections on the R/R where the stator wires went. I get voltage out of 1 of them and the other two none.

This leads me to think it's leaking voltage. Will check the stator output today. But when the battery is charged I get 15.6 volts at 4000 rpm with the lights off and when they are on I only get 12.8 or so across the battery.

 

[Coolshaft]

Votage is preasure, Amps is Flow.
So it means, in garden hose talk, that there is a flow of current, like a small leak in the hose when the tap is on off.
Is your Multi a decent one and accurate?

 

[posplayr]

I guess I speed read the OP so after going back to read am very confused as to what he is doing. If you want to test for a trickle current then pull the positive lead of the battery and put the amp meter in series with that. You should be able to see a small 0.01 amp ???? leak .

Now with that in place, engine off, you start removing components until the current draw goes away.

 

[trippivot]

you are making this more complicated than it really is.

you are making this more complicated than it really is.

checking static draw -- (meter on amps) ( hooked in series at the battery ground- disconnected from bike - battery negative post to negative cable or frame )

amp draw is done on the negative side of DC circuits. positive side amp tests will give you false readings.

 

[081dbx64]

That's exactly what I did. Once I pulled the red wire to the R/R the amp draw went to 0. So I know it's the R/R that is leaking.

 

[081dbx64]

I believe I have a good meter, it's always seemed to work.

http://www.vellemanusa.com/downloads/1/dvm850blgbnlfresdpl.pdf

 

[081dbx64]

I already moved the ground of the R/R to the negative battery post and cleaned all the terminals.

 

[081dbx64]

I tested the stator output. All possible connections give me a reading over 70 volts.

 

[posplayr]

checking static draw -- (meter on amps) ( hooked in series at the battery ground- disconnected from bike - battery negative post to negative cable or frame )

amp draw is done on the negative side of DC circuits. positive side amp tests will give you false readings.

It is safer to use the negative side of the battery, but unless you get alot of sparks then the measurement should be the same (+) or (-).

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

With what you have observed, I would suspect the r/r unit too. Hit up member duaneage for a good replacement Honda unit. Or go whole hog and get a Compufire unit depending on your budget.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[081dbx64]

I was thinking about the electrosport. That's what the stator papers said? Is that a good choice.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

The Electrosport r/r unit is more or less a stock replacement. I think the units from duaneage are better, with a larger heat sink area and a "sense" wire (6 wires total) to more closely monitor the charging output. The Compufire unit is an even more heavy-duty series regulator which can lower your stator temps as compared to the shunting type r/r units.

I've used duaneage's units in the past and have no complaints. He's a great guy to deal with. Search the forum for "Compufire" and read up on the information that Mr. posplayr has posted. It's good stuff too.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[posplayr]

I was thinking about the electrosport. That's what the stator papers said? Is that a good choice.

paid advertising

 

[081dbx64]

****..

Well perhaps my R/R was bad...but the new one did not solve my current drain problem. I still get a current drain if I pull the bottom three fuses that are being fed by the orange wire from the ignition switch. So that tells me it's not anything connected to the orange wire.

So that just leaves things connected to the red wire or main fuse.

All right that leaves the gray and brown wires coming out of the switch. It looks like the gray feeds the lighting switch. Not sure what the brown feeds. Looks like the park function.???


This is starting to drive me crazy. So to isolate this problem once my battery is charged again I will pull the gray or brown and see if the current draw goes away. Then I can just start moving through what ever circuit I'm having a problem with.

Somebody tell me if my logic is right? I guess this leaves the ignition switch or the light switch?

 

[Steve]

If you are measuring current drain through the MAIN fuse when the bike is turned OFF, there are only two places it can go: 1. through the r/r, 2: through the ignition switch. The gray and brown wires you are looking at are both fed by the LIGHTS fuse. The brown wire goes to the tail light, the gray wire feeds about everything else that lights up. When the ignition switch is put in to the PARK position, the red wire from the battery is connected to the brown wire to light up only the tail light. When the ignition switch is in the ON position, the gray wire that powers all the other lights is connected to the tail light to power it, too.

Check the ignition switch area for dirt and/or corrosion to make sure there is nothing conductive in there. You can unplug the r/r from the system to make sure that it's not the drain. Beyond that, you are going to have to look for a chafed wire or contamination in a connector.

.

 

[bakalorz]

****..

Well perhaps my R/R was bad...but the new one did not solve my current drain problem. I still get a current drain if I pull the bottom three fuses that are being fed by the orange wire from the ignition switch. So that tells me it's not anything connected to the orange wire.

So that just leaves things connected to the red wire or main fuse.

All right that leaves the gray and brown wires coming out of the switch. It looks like the gray feeds the lighting switch. Not sure what the brown feeds. Looks like the park function.???


This is starting to drive me crazy. So to isolate this problem once my battery is charged again I will pull the gray or brown and see if the current draw goes away. Then I can just start moving through what ever circuit I'm having a problem with.

Somebody tell me if my logic is right? I guess this leaves the ignition switch or the light switch?

A .01 amp leak is not a major problem.
It won't cause problems running your bike.
in 100 hours (four days) it will have drained 1 amp-hour out of the battery.
in 1400 hours (about 2 months) it will completely discharge the battery.

If you ride your bike every week or two it won't matter at all.
If you ride less than that then pop the main fuse or charge every week or two.

I suspect that a slight drain for the trigger circuit of the R/R is not completely abnormal.
To confirm thats what it is, just disconnect the positive wire of the r/r and see if your drain disappears.

 

[081dbx64]

If I disconnect the red wire from the R/R it goes away. If I leave it connected my battery drains over night every time. If I disconnect it it does not drain. Brand new R/R.

I also disconnected all the orange wires from the fuse box...still does not solve the problem. I disconnected the ignition switch in the headlight and it still does not go away.

What next?