Charging and REcharging - damaging battery?

[CoolRider]

Howdy!

Ok, 2001, Brand new stock battery 6 months ago.  No problems till two weeks ago.  Bike wouldn't start.  It tried to, but sounded like it was slowly outta juice.  Put it on the Yuasa Battery Tender, put it back in the following morning.  Started up fine for two commutes (15-20 miles each).  Third one, same problem.  I put it back on the Tender for three days (charging/floating) till this morning.  She started fine.  I had read (and checked the manual) about the charging system not kicking in till after 3500 rpms, so I kept her humming for the whole ride at least 3500+ rpms.  Stopped for gas and she had trouble getting going.  Got to work, let it sit for an hour then tried starting her again.  Same deal. No charge.

Questions:

1. Am I damaging the battery by running it down then recharging it again and again?

2. Am I damaging anything else by letting the battery run down?

3. Sounds like I'm having a charging system issue.  The posts I've read sound like I need to multimeter the battery for leaks/load and then the system at the couplers.  Any other thoughts on where to start or go from there?

Thanks a million!

[Bugsy]

how often you ride the bike ?

Mine was in the same situation as yours.

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[CoolRider]

Typically 1, 2 maybe 3 times during the week (commuting) and 100-200 miles (per one day) almost every weekend.

[Bugsy]

Get a battery tender to charge it.


I am looking for one myself.

[CoolRider]

I have a Yuasa tender, and have been using it currently. Probably too regularly. I got it at mawonline.com for a good price. It worked wonders last winter while I had the bike packed up.

[Iced]

Hope these screenshots from a manual helps u out.

page 7-8

[Iced]

7-9

[Iced]

7-10

[Iced]

and 7-42 might be related as well.



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[Iced]

one more: page 8-13

[CoolRider]

Thanks Iced!
I know what I'll be workin' on tonight!

[bacharles]

[flrider]

CoolRider, the same thing happened to me a while back. Had a battery replaced by warranty and have a battery tender and hook up after every ride. The new battery never functioned right so went back to dealer and they were going to replace with another Suzuki battery. Had to order so I opted to buy a Yuasa and have not had a bit of problem since. I would bet your battery is toast. Bob

[CoolRider]

Ok.  I ran the tests.  With the bike off, I did the "Battery Current Leak Inspection".  Meter read WAY more than the specified 3mA.  (I'm figuring this is the problem as the battery is totally discharging.)  I have a seperate (and newer) battery that I tried the same test with.  Same result.  

I'm fairly certain it isn't the battery.

The "Charging Output Inspection" was spot perfect.

All other tests checked out pretty good, though I had a tough time getting a good read on the regulator/rectifier.

So I started to go through the connectors/couplers and still couldn't find a leak source.

Would it be leaking through the regulator?
Any other ideas?

Thanks!

[Iced]

Hey Coolrider, sorry i missed this yesterday, but sounds like u found the problem. If the drain test shows way more than 3mA, you have to find the source of the drain... Don't suppose you have any electrical mods/accessories added?

U couldn't find any leak source thru the couplers? Have u tried getting a base reading from neg terminal to neg cable and then start pulling some fuses? If the reading drops after pullin one, hopefully you'll have a better idea where its at. I think there's only about 6 or 7 fuses

[Henryace1]

Sound like your charging system is taking a dump. Get it fixed before it leaves you stranded...

[CoolRider]

No worries Iced!
Thanks for the fuses tip!!

Actually I broke down and took it to the local Suzuki dealer.  They found "the problem" fairly quickly.  As I suspected, after going through the tests, they discovered that it was definetly a leak and NOT the battery or charging system.
The dealer found that the positive battery cable was shorting somewhere down the line and rewired it.  It was a cheap visit and I'm back on the road today.  Here's hoping all goes well!
Thanks again for your help!
Take care.

[CoolRider]

Oh yeah... and sorry...

Thanks to all who looked and offered advice!

Catch you later....

[Iced]

no problem

You'll find a wealth of knowledge from these guys here on the board... Glad u got your problem fixed.... Hey, and welcome to the board