G oog le BadWeB | Login/out | Topics | Search | Custodians | Register | Edit Profile

Buell Forum » Knowledge Vault (tech, parts, apparel, & accessories topics) » Electrical - Battery, Charg Sys, Lights, Switches, Sensors & Guages » Archive through August 11, 2015 » Calling all electrical wizards - parasitic battery drain - '08 XB12Ss « Previous Next »

Author Message
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Synesthesiaxb12scg
Posted on Sunday, June 22, 2014 - 07:47 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

'08 XB12Ss

SYMPTOMS:

when i ride every day: morning battery voltage test shows a healthy 12.73 volts

a battery test while the bike is running shows a healthy charge voltage of 14.34 volts

when i don't ride the bike for 7 to 14 days a battery voltage test shows a not so healthy 11 something volts and this aint enough to kick her over. clearly a case of parasitic battery drain.


TEST:

so i followed the simple multimeter current test as follows:

- Pull the negative terminal cable off of the battery.
- Set a multimeter to mA.
- Attach the negative terminal cable to the multimeter red probe and attach the multimeter black probe to the negative terminal on the battery itself.
- If it reads 0, you don't have a short.
- If it's anything but 0 then you have a short somewhere. Now start pulling fuses from the block one at a time until the needle drops to 0. That'll narrow it down.


RESULTS:

following this test opened a can of worms and unfortunately hasn't presented a clear cut answer,

- with all fuses in place my multimeter showed a fluctuating reading of 1.54 to 1.64 ma
- when i removed the ECM fuse only the multimeter showed a fluctuating reading of 1.05 to 1.15 ma
- when i removed the key switch fuse only the multimeter showed a stable reading of 1.13 ma
- when i removed the fuel pump fuse the multimeter showed a fluctuating reading of 1.34 to 1.43 ma
- when i removed all 3 of the above fuses the multimeter showed a stable reading of 0.48 ma (this i believe is acceptable)


HELP:

so hence the 'calling all electrical wizards' what the F*** do i do with this right old mess???

my better judgment says just add a battery isolating switch under the seat for the times when i wont be riding for a bit, but i would prefer to get this soughted properly.

HELP
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Sparky
Posted on Sunday, June 22, 2014 - 08:14 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

If all the removeable fuses have shown there is no appreciable drain through any of them, I would do one more test:
1) disconnect the battery cables from the battery.
2) connect the + lead of the multimeter to the positive battery cable and the - lead to the bikes frame or negative cable.
3) with the multimeter reading ohms, verify infinity ohms.
If this passes then I would think the battery itself is the source of the drain. Oops, maybe not: the ECM may tap a small amount of milliamps to power its internal clock. Perhaps a check with the XB12S service manual to find out what that standby current drain is would give some insight.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Synesthesiaxb12scg
Posted on Monday, June 23, 2014 - 12:26 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

what do you mean by 'appreciable drain'?

ok i will try the impedance test?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Reepicheep
Posted on Monday, June 23, 2014 - 07:32 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Sounds like the battery to me. Batteries can fail in many ways, it can still be good in terms of storage of power and cranking power, but have an internal self discharge drain.

A motorcycle battery is probably more than 20 amp hours. So it should be able to drive a 2mA drain for 10,000 hours, over a year. The battery is probably self discharging much faster than your measured drains are pulling from it.

Here is a nice article I found when googling for amp hours for a motorcycle battery...

http://www.yuasabatteries.com/motor_battery.php

Once of the battery reconditioners might be able to salvage it, I've had pretty good luck with the good ones. Problem is that it's hard to tell which ones are the good ones these days.
« Previous Next »

Add Your Message Here
Post:
Bold text Italics Underline Create a hyperlink Insert a clipart image

Username: Posting Information:
This is a private posting area. Only registered users and custodians may post messages here.
Password:
Options: Post as "Anonymous" (Valid reason required. Abusers will be exposed. If unsure, ask.)
Enable HTML code in message
Automatically activate URLs in message
Action:

Topics | Last Day | Tree View | Search | User List | Help/Instructions | Rules | Program Credits Administration