| Author | Message | ||
     Miami78 |
So while taking an experienced riders course on my xb12ss my battery died by the end of the day...most likely from the fan running constantly (hot day) during all the shutting off/restarting we did with little riding at speed to charge the battery. Now in a couple days I'm taking an advanced riders course and I would really like to avoid the dead battery...my only idea is to force the fan off with the kill switch (if that will work on an '09, haven't tried yet). I've put 750 miles on my bike and I'll be getting the oil changed very soon after the class (1K service). So how bad would it be on my bike to force the fan off for a day? I don't want to damage anything but having a dead battery in the middle of a class really sucks! Thanks! | ||
| Srwitt |
Well either way, your gonna have a fan running, or lights running, which will drain more, I don't know. My guess would be the lights draw more juice than the fan. (Message edited by SRWitt on August 03, 2009) | ||
| Miami78 |
Lights I can pull a fuse on though...I'm worried about cooking my oil to the point of damaging my bike. | ||
| Midknyte |
Have ya gots a battery tender? | ||
| Miami78 |
I don't...I looked into getting one for home use, but there will be no place to plug it in during the course. | ||
| Hughlysses |
If you've got a fully charged battery, I think it would last all day even with lots of stop/starts and fan cycles. I'd put it on a charger the night before and make sure it's fully charged. I would not recommend forcing the fan to stop repeatedly. Besides oil coking, I think the rear head getting too hot can also lead to rocker cover gasket leaks. | ||
| Miami78 |
That's what I thought for the previous course...but it died in the end. Maybe I can just shorten the cycles a little...like once it drops to the lower speed give it a minute then kill it. | ||
| Midknyte |
unplug the headlight, keep the fan | ||
| Kowpow225 |
+1 | ||
| Ourdee |
1. Carry a spare battery that's charged up. Swap it in when needed. 2. Carry a jump-starter battery. Boost the bike battery at lunch time. 3. Rent a bike for the day. Put those hard miles on the rental. Don't forget the $2,000.00 deposit. | ||
| Froggy |
The battery on my bike is the size of two packs of cigarettes, and with the quick swap connectors can be swapped in seconds once the seat is off.  | ||
| Miami78 |
Swapping the battery is not a bad idea...might have to run to the dealership tomorrow... | ||
| Xl_cheese |
I think if you have a tender at home and have the battery fully charged you shouldn't have any problems. Assuming your battery is in good shape. | ||
| Bitbear |
I went the four hours of the experienced riders' course, with al the stops and starts, with no hint of a problem. I'm thinking maybe your battery is old enough that it isn't holding a charge as well as it should. Is that possible? | ||
| Miami78 |
I hope not...the bike is only a month old...so it should be in good shape! My ERC was 8 hours on a hot day though, the fan was running a lot while the bike was off. The advanced course is scheduled for 9 hours and it'll be a high of mid-90's.  | ||
| Ripdog28 |
The only way i can see your battery dieing is if you leave the key on with the lights on. the fan is not going to drain the battery. if you dont run the bike enough to charge the battery then your engine will not get hot enough to use the fan. you do not need to be at high speeds to charge it. I think you didnt turn the key off all the way or you turned it to much and your tail light was left on. could be wrong though | ||
| Froggy |
Its the starting the bike over and over that drains the battery the most. The 08+ bikes have a lower output stator, so it will take a little longer to recharge. | ||
| Miami78 |
The fan can drain the battery...if it runs dozens of time like it did. Sitting at idle and putting around at less than 20mph for 15 mins on asphalt on a 100 degree day is plenty to get the engine hot enough, believe me. I've been told also that at Idle and low speed the battery is not charging, so it all fits that it is the fan...the key was not left in, the lights were not on. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
I agree with Bitbare that if the battery and charging system are working, you should not have a problem. You should have 13.5 volts on the battery even at idle, and 14.7 above 2000 rpm. I might suggest the following: 1. Load test the battery. 2. Check the output from the alternator, and the voltage regulator. See Shop Manual. 3. Pay attention to the Dreaded Connector #77, which is located under the front belt pulley cover. This connector often fails due to being undersized. It fails slowly over time and can reduce the rate of battery charge before failing completely. 4. Make sure battery connections are good and tight. The Buell charging system has rather a lot of points where it can fail. In the mean time, the suggestion of pulling the head light is a very good one. I really can not recommend turning off the fan, for all the reasons stated above. | ||
| Froggy |
#3 does not apply, he has a 2009 which isn't affected by the connector issue. The fan isn't killing the battery, it does not draw enough power. It would have to be running for something insane like an hour after shutoff to kill it. The headlights draw more power than the fan. My suggestion is pull headlight fuse so the bike has less draw while running and will recharge the battery faster. | ||
| Hughlysses |
If you haven't had this bike long, it may be that the battery never had a really good charge on it. If it sat in the showroom for a long time, or if it was used for short test rides, the battery may just need a good overnight charge on it. | ||
| Miami78 |
Thanks for all the input from everyone...that's why I love these forums! I'll try just pulling the fuse on the light and let the fan do its thing. |
