Juiceless

[Wingnut]

Just assembled this 82 850G. New battery and charging at 14.2V. Rode the bike for about 3 weeks with no problems. Drove home late last night and all was fine. Pushed it out of the garage today and it was dead as a doorbell. (What does that phrase really mean anyway?) Wouldn't even light up the indicator lights. Fuses were good. I crossed the two main terminals of the starter relay only to get the tiniest spark. Had to leave for work so I didn't have time to troubleshoot.

It has to be, either a draw killed the battery, or the battery itself failed internally becase the lights were bright as I turned it off last night. So even today it should have done something.

Has anyone had any problems with unwanted electrical loads that killed their batteries? Can the regulator do that when it goes bad? I am hopefull for an internal battery failure because that will be free. Has anyone had that happen?


Thanks for your thoughts

bob

[Anonymous]

Bob do you have a fairing or any other non stock items??
Mark

[Wingnut]

Yes, but nothing that plugs in. Only stock electrical items. I get out of work in a few minutes and will be diving into this thing tonight. On vaca next week and need this thing put to bed tomorrow. I'm going to charge the battery, test for draws by tickling the positive wire to the battery terminal and if there aren't any draws I'll run it and check for charging voltage. I really feel the battery may have just shorted out. I have had problems with batteries from this auto parts store before but was being lazy and didn't want to drive 30 min to get to a bike store. Will advise tomorrow.

Thanks though

bob

[argonsagas]

Check connections and check the battery for fluid level.

14.2 volts is OK, numerically, but it should not be constant.


Ideally, the regulator/rectifier will maintain an input to the battery that is close to the load on the electrical system while the bike is running; if the charge rate remains above that you may be boiling away the liquid, and the dry/exposed plates do not conduct current.

Bike batteries are notorious for losing liquid, even when running perfectly.
Check the fluid level regularly, and often.

When refilling, use distilled water if possible.....you don't need the contaminants found in most tap water.

[Wingnut]

I'm in trouble! Not charging! Have to find the stator papers and start there. Will advise what I find. Thanks for your input.

bob