Announcement

**SqDancerLynn1** · 07-18-2002, 10:21 PM

Charge the battery and leave it disconnected over night to see if it is the battery going bad or something draining the battery

**argonsagas** · 07-18-2002, 10:38 PM

Hmmm....R/R and stator are OK, but it loses voltage ovenight. Well, we are now coming up on night, at least for today, so why not disconnect the battery for the night, and check its voltage in the morning?

Maybe you just have a bad battery.

**Anonymous** · 07-18-2002, 10:54 PM

batt. was new 3 days ago. but I will check anyhow.

**argonsagas** · 07-18-2002, 11:03 PM

It's night, or close to it, depending on where you are, so don't try to charge the battery before disconnection. It would always lose some voltage from a fresh charge, but DO check it at the time of disconnection,
record the numbers, and compare them with the morning readings.

If the battery was not charged for several hours before disconnection, then the voltage should now be stable, and there should be close to zero loss overnight. Best to use a digital VOM/.Volt-ohmmeter.

You don't expect them to do so, but new batteries can and do fail.

Sleep well.

**Anonymous** · 07-18-2002, 11:04 PM

could you observe a draw on the batt. by connecting a voltmeter btwn the disconnected positive battery cable and the pos battery post? If I remember right that is how I used to do it on cars.Its been a while.
Does this sound right 8O ?

**Anonymous** · 07-18-2002, 11:07 PM

thanks for the reply

**G man** · 07-18-2002, 11:55 PM

An ammeter is what you really want to measure current draw. Voltage will certainly drop if there is a draw somewhere but that will happen over time. It will be hard to tell if the voltage drop is due to current draw or a defective battery. By using an ammeter you can see exactly how much current is being consumed at any point in time.

**Anonymous** · 07-19-2002, 01:33 PM

Hey krash, everbody is right.

It is possible that the battery is bad and you should be able to find out with the overnight trick. If the battery is good Gman is right about you should connect an ammeter up to the system. What you are looking for is a drain on the system when the ignition is off. There should be a no draw at all(reading should be 0) with the key out and the ignition off, if there is you have a bad circuit somewhere. It is possible that the igition switch itself is bad. When you hook up the ammeter you can check to see it is working correctly by turning circuits on i.e. turn the ignition to on and you should see a reading on the ammeter, and with each new circuit the reading should increase. To narrow down where the problem turn the ignition switch to off and pull the key out and thens pull each fuse out one at a time and check the meter, when the meter reads zero it is in that circuit.

I hope this helps
JD

**Anonymous** · 07-19-2002, 02:48 PM

drain

If it is a drain, I'd start suspecting the diodes in the rectifier, they can go bad and flow battery current back as well as forward and do this. Since the charging system is connected direct to the batteryand not via the ign switch, turning the key off doesnt stop the drain.
Having said that, I nearly had the wife's car in bits from this and was sheepish to have it pointed out to me at the last minute that the boot light was left switched into the on position.
Theres a procedure to test the diodes out in the manual for the bike, but im sure you'll find it on the electrical q+a too..
Just a thought...

Announcement

battery goes low over night. help.

battery goes low over night. help.

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment