| Author | Message | ||
     Adrenaline_junkie |
My Wallmart battery went dead last fall after just 9 months. I had noticed that the Battery Tender had the CHARGING light on more and more. I bought a brand new, genuine H-D battery for it at lunch today. Funny thing happened when I was installing the new battery, installed the hot, no problem, as I went to hook up the ground....ARC. I went ahead and hooked it up. Started it. Went for a short, frigid ride and parked it. I thought maybe some of the electrical components had discharged and figured a little ride would charge everything back up. I was wrong! After the ride I disconnected the ground and as I moved back to re-attach it, it arced again. It is now resting quietly with the ground lead disconnected. Trying to decide if I want to search for the short myself or hire someone else to do it. I really don't enjoy wiring issues. | ||
| Froggy |
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| Hammer71 |
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| Barker |
oh crap, it just got into some okra!  I feel your pain, I spent all day yesterday finding and fixing a loose ground on my Niner (Message edited by barker on March 03, 2009) | ||
| Froggy |
Now I feel bad for crapping on his thread. | ||
| Brumbear |
thats a draw if your arch is strong check the stator or make sure the key aint on the starter should have a relay the ign has the key the charging harnesses have voltage all the time disconect the VR see if it still archs | ||
| Akbuell |
First thought: Is it still under warranty? If so, that would be my first stop. If not, the first place I would look would be around the steering stem/frame area. The wiring harness tends to wear or pinch there. And check the wiring harness in the ECU area under the seat. Another chafe area. If nothing obvious there, it becomes a bit of a quest. Hook a multimeter up in the amp mode, after unplugging everything, essentially. Look for the amp draw when the offending system is plugged in. Hope this helps, Dave. | ||
| Nillaice |
start pulling fuses until the large arcing stops, that should narrow the search | ||
| Adrenaline_junkie |
Lots of good ideas. I'd planned on using an ammeter and new about the wire mashing issue at the steering head. For some reason it hadn't occurred to me that has to be on something that is hot all the time. Thanks | ||
| Panhead_dan |
Just how much arc is present? It is normal for there to be a tiny one. | ||
| Adrenaline_junkie |
The arc is about 1/4". I would classify it as STRONG. The key was turned off and in my pocket. I'm going to pull the voltage regulator first. | ||
| Adrenaline_junkie |
No change with the voltage regulator unplugged. I have a DieHard battery tender. The yellow CHARGING light is still lit up. I'm going to let the battery top off and then hook everything back up and measure voltage while its running. I hope its not my stator. I've never used anything but H-D Formula+. I guess I'm going to go price an ammeter. | ||
| Cadhopper |
It's been a while since I've seen a Buell fuse box but can you pull the fuses and relays one at a time to help isolate what circuit the draw is on? I've used this method on other bikes in the past. | ||
| Rah7777777 |
Does your battery die overnight? Over a couple nights? Amp clamps are pricey, but handy. You just have to make sure and buy a good one for accurate readings. BUT.... Do this first! Use a regular multimeter, set it on the 10 amp setting ( make sure wire leads are on correct spot) Key out, tender off the bike, unhook your neg cable, one lead from meter on battery neg, one on neg cable. Let it sit for a bit and see what your reading is. You want it under 50 miliamps. (0.050 amps) If it's under that you should be A okay. (Message edited by rah7777777 on March 06, 2009) | ||
| Adrenaline_junkie |
I'll do that. Thanks Rah. | ||
| Skinstains |
If you're gonna drop some coin on a meter I recommend going with a Fluke. |
