Flat battery.

newman

newman

Registered
Can anyone give my a bit of advice please.

A nice bit of sun out yesterday, so I thought got to go for a ride, got all my gear on, got the bike out, went to start it up nothing.:banghead:.
Checked the battery it was flat, so I called out the breakdown service, in case anything else was wrong, and he confirmed it was a flat battery although he didn't check anything else.
He charged it up a bit and it started ok.

I forgot my battery charger in London when I moved, so I've just ordered a new charger/tender, it should be here tomorrow.:thumbsup:.

I got the bike new in January 2011.

I rode the bike a week ago and it was all right then.

The only things I can think of which could have drained the battery, are it's been cold, and maybe the alarm system.
Is there anything else that could have happened.

I'm not mechanically minded so I would not know anything else to look for, it's under guarantee anyway so no problem if it is something else.

One good thing the guy who came said when my breakdown cover was up for renewal he would get me a discount.:thumbsup:.
Thanks.
 
Alarm and cold will kill a battery. If I dont ride my bike for a week or more, I put her on a battery tender. But I dont have an alarm. Get you a battery tender and you will be fine.
 
Infrequent short rides are not enough to replenish the battery which gradually loses charge naturally as well as to things like an alarm, cranking the engine during start-ups. Make sure your charging system works OK. AFTER you come from a ride, DO NOT turn the bike off. Take the seat off, and measure the voltage on the battery while the bike idles - should be at least 13.5V. Measure with higher rpm (like 3k - 4k) - you should read at least 14.0V.

Also, periodically measure the voltage on the battery when the bike has been sitting for a while. 12.6V and above - your battery is fully charged. If you read something like 12.3V or below - the battery is really down there - well discharged.

Alarms are known to drain batteries. Some alarms may draw up to 10 mA. In a week, that would be 0.010 A x 24 hours x 7 days = 1.68 Ah of additional drainage on top of natural loss. A short ride would not replenish it. So, after a few months of occasional riding, your battery may go down to a fraction of its original capacity.

Cranking the engine for 2 sec: 80 Amp x 2/3600 Hour = 0.044 Ah. Seems like not much. But if you do lots of local riding, meeting friends, getting gas, etc. you may be starting the bike 10 times during such ride. That would drain the battery an additional almost 0.5 Ah for every ride.
 
Typical waited in all day, then looked at my email, and they said they tried to deliver it at 1.05pm, looked in the post box and there was a card, which said they had tried to deliver it.
They didn't try too hard, as from my front door to my fence is about 20ft and Lynne me and the dogs heard nothing.:laugh:.
They are delivering it tomorrow.
 
Got my battery charger/tender today.:thumbsup:.
Battery's won't charge it's only got 3.6v.:banghead:.
Got to wait until I get some money next week so I can get a new battery, then test it following lG's advice to see if it was the battery or some other charging problem.
The battery I've got is a Yuasa, these are supposed to be good, so I'll go with one of these again. Unless anyone knows of anything better.

This has taught me a lesson, I wish I had brought a battery tender before, I was going to but it sort of slipped out of my mind.
 
Sorry to hear of you problems Newman.

As a matter of course I always have the battery on the Optimate every time I come home even throughout the summer months, if I'm only going out for a short runs, I don't even bother to switch it off (un plug it) and just stick it back on the bike when I arrive home and everything's cooled down a bit.

Its amazing how much the Battery takes to bring it back up to full charge when you've only done a few short runs, IG. is spot on with his post. :thumbsup:

Best regards Stretch.
 
The best advise I can give is to install a V-meter on the bike, and permanenty wire it straight to the battery (via a small denomination fuse). It's from RadioShack. Don't bother going there - they only sell it online now. Costs a whooping $12, draws a whooping less than 1mA of current - less than the battery loses all by itself. By observing the voltage when the bike is ON and OFF, you will know the pattern. If an abnormality develops, you will know way ahead of time, and will be able to take measures - most of the time by simply charging the battery if lost some charge.

I personally noticed something was wrong as my voltage started kreeping below 13V during the ride. After troubleshooting, everything pointed to the voltage regulator. Just got an aftermarket one, and the voltage seems where it's supposed to be. If I didn't know that, I would continue riding until one day I couldn't start the bike - that's if lucky. Or would get stranded in the middle of a ride - if unlucky.

RadioShack Panel Meter 0-15VDC : Specialty instruments | RadioShack.com

pRS1-10226429w345.jpg


If you get one, I would recommend to calibrate it with a digital V-meter: connect to the battery and turn the adjusting screw until it shows the exact voltage. Then, drop some gasket sealer on the screw so it doesn't turn because of the vibration. Also, carefully open the cover and color the area between 12V and 13V with green color. This way you could just glance at the meter and know where the voltage is without focusing on the scale too much. I installed it atop of the fuse box by cutting out a small area in the upper panel, and sealed the sides so the water can't get under it.
 
Thanks guys.
Also when I took the battery off the connecting screws were right loose, I think I could have unscrewed them with my fingers, could this have affected the charging of the battery.
Live and learn I suppose.
 
newman said:
Thanks guys.
Also when I took the battery off the connecting screws were right loose, I think I could have unscrewed them with my fingers, could this have affected the charging of the battery.
Live and learn I suppose.
Click to expand...

Strong possibility :thumbsup:
 
Thanks again lG and stretch.
I'll keep a close eye on the battery and connectors from now on.
 
Borrowed some money off my dad, ordered the battery yesterday 1st, got it today.:thumbsup:.
Yuasa, £46.49 including delivery.
 
Managed to get the bike out today been on the tender from 2nd, when I got it home measured the voltage as lG said, and all is ok, must have been the cold weather plus the alarm draining the power. Ta.
 
newman said:
Thanks guys.
Also when I took the battery off the connecting screws were right loose, I think I could have unscrewed them with my fingers, could this have affected the charging of the battery.
Live and learn I suppose.
Click to expand...

Yes, very much so.
 
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