Follow up on my electrical problem with the battery

[RussellJ]

Did all the tests on the charging system and to see if anything was draining the battery.

Ther verdict is the charging system is goo. at 1,500 RPM i get 15.2 volts on the battery and when the bike is off I get 12.5 volts.

I get a 20.6 mA draw on the battery when it is off which is normal because of the clock.

So the final verdict is that the MotoBatt battery was a POS

And the Fast By Gast PB-2 is a monster battery Cutting my seat in an hour to fit the battery in
Pashnit carries them

Thank you AJAY for all the help with everything. Much appreciated

 

[Sous]

I have a P3 from Schnitz Racing and it is the only type of battery I will buy from now on. The bike cranks really fast, the weight of the battery is a fraction of the stock and the size allows me to put accessories in the battery tray without modifications.

Battery System, Lithium Ferrous, Lightweight, Pulse and Speedcell, Kawasaki ZX-6R - Full Spectrum

 

[EarlyBird]

RussellJ post some pictures! What is the cold cranking amps on the new battery versus stock?

 

[tmf2004]

Do you have to make any modifications to fit the battery? I'm looking for one myself.. My battery won't last long coming into the FL heat...

Holy Price!!!!!

 

[Sous]

Do you have to make any modifications to fit the battery? I'm looking for one myself.. My battery won't last long coming into the FL heat...

Holy Price!!!!!

If you are referring to the one I posted, the answer is no for a Gen II. The width of the battery was nearly the same, so it fit in the holder nice and snug. There was some space as the battery is nearly a cube in a shape. So, I put my intercom and some wiring connections next to it in the tray.

When I got the box with the battery in it, I thought they forgot to put the battery in the box before mailing it. It is that light weight. Supposedly they last for up to 8 years, so in the end you will be saving money if you have it for that long.

 

[IG.]

Did all the tests on the charging system and to see if anything was draining the battery.

Ther verdict is the charging system is goo. at 1,500 RPM i get 15.2 volts on the battery and when the bike is off I get 12.5 volts.

I get a 20.6 mA draw on the battery when it is off which is normal because of the clock.

So the final verdict is that the MotoBatt battery was a POS

And the Fast By Gast PB-2 is a monster battery Cutting my seat in an hour to fit the battery in
Pashnit carries them

Thank you AJAY for all the help with everything. Much appreciated

Here is your problem right there!!!

20.6 mA draw is NOT normal. You have to investigate.

Here is why: 20 mA = 0.02 A, so in 24 h hours your battery loses 24h x 0.02A = 0.48 Ah - that's almost 0.5 Ah. So, in 10 days your battery will lose 5 Ah - that's half the charge of the stock 10 Ah battery. And if it wasn't fully charged to begin with, you are likely to be left with little juice to even start the bike.

Scorpio alarm draws about 5 mA when disarmed, and about 8 mA when it's armed. I purchased a unit (years ago) which was drawing about 10mA when disarmed, contacted the company and they agreed that was too much, and replaced the unit.

So, if you have an alarm it's probably 25 - 30 mA draw. Bottom line, even with fully charged stock battery, in two weeks you will have almost a dead battery which is consistent with how you described it in your original post.

And if you think a 1 hour ride will recharge it, that's not true either. The recharge current varies, but could be somewhere along 0.5 A on average. So, in half hour you would get back 1h x 0.5A = 0.5 Ah - not enough to compensate a week's loss.

 

[Pardini]

15.1 charging volts is good.

20 mA is about 10x's too high. Leakage should be 2 to 3 mA.

A battery at 12.5 volts needs a charge. Could be bad, but not necessarily.

Do the leakage test again with all accessories disconnected. If still above 5 mA start pulling fuses one at a time and check leakage again to isolated further. Work it down from there. Takes time and a systematic approach.

 

[RussellJ]

RussellJ post some pictures! What is the cold cranking amps on the new battery versus stock?

New battery has 280 CCA compare to a think stock is 140...

15.1 charging volts is good.

20 mA is about 10x's too high. Leakage should be 2 to 3 mA.

A battery at 12.5 volts needs a charge. Could be bad, but not necessarily.

Do the leakage test again with all accessories disconnected. If still above 5 mA start pulling fuses one at a time and check leakage again to isolated further. Work it down from there. Takes time and a systematic approach.

Really i tought 20 mA was alright? I am using a cheapy harbor freight multimeter though. I will double check figures again tomorrow to verify. it might be uA also... idk the multimeter is hard to understand and i did the check very fast to be honest. The voltages i know are correct maybe its not mA and just uA

And i have no accessories connect as of now... never had any. I have some i need to install though but those will be on a switch when my PMR comes in

 

[RussellJ]

Actually i lied i am going to go double check now and take pictures So you guys who know better than I can translate it all

 

[RussellJ]

PIctures as promised.

1: Voltage with the bike off
2: Voltage with the bike running
3: Current draw. It does appear that it is mA
4: The old batterys voltage.... very pathetic. The battery only sat for less than 48 hours and it died to the point the gauges wouldnt even light up... 1.76 volts...
5: Picture of the battery installed . It has 2 side posts if you can see the nuts there. I need one more stock bolts to go on the negative side but i could only find one of my old ones.... I will probly go to lowes to get them. The PB-2 came with spacers also sitting lose on the top of the motobat battery...

 

[IG.]

Don't be sidestepped by a cheapo digital multimeter from HF. Just because it's a mature technology (and therefore cheap) doesn't mean it's inaccurate.

It reads next to the red clamp: "V, Ohm, mA" so it seems you are getting 20.6 mA and that's not good. Also, a disconnected battery showing 12.49V is not right. Should be slightly higher - at least above 12.60V - anywhere between 12.60 - 13.2 depending on how fully it is charged.

It's just a matter of disconnecting fuses/cables one at a time, and figuring out what draws the current.

Do you have HID's or anything electrical aftermarket? Alarm? PC?

I know that gagues are connected because when the bike is OFF and you reconnect the battery, the gauges cycle once. So, if all else fails, try to disconnect gauge cluster and see if this makes a difference.

Take a look at my post (#14) on this thread to see my permanently installed V-meter.

 

[RussellJ]

Don't be sidestepped by a cheapo digital multimeter from HF. Just because it's a mature technology (and therefore cheap) doesn't mean it's inaccurate.

It reads next to the red clamp: "V, Ohm, mA" so it seems you are getting 20.6 mA and that's not good. Also, a disconnected battery showing 12.49V is not right. Should be slightly higher - at least above 12.60V - anywhere between 12.60 - 13.2 depending on how fully it is charged.

It's just a matter of disconnecting fuses/cables one at a time, and figuring out what draws the current.

Do you have HID's or anything electrical aftermarket? Alarm? PC?

I know that gagues are connected because when the bike is OFF and you reconnect the battery, the gauges cycle once. So, if all else fails, try to disconnect gauge cluster and see if this makes a difference.

Take a look at my post (#14) on this thread to see my permanently installed V-meter.

Hmmm very well thank you for alerting me that something is not good.. I will take the dash panel off this weekend and do some quick checks and I will report back when i figure out what i find!

I did not run the bike at idle more than 5 minutes and this battery is right out of the packing. never been riding with this battery as of yet ( the seat will not fit on until i cut the bottom of it) . This is just initial findings. After i ride around with it this weekend i will check the readings

 

[Pardini]

Pic #3 your meter is set wrong. Need to click it CW into the DC A range. Hard to see but set it at 20m or put the red probe in to the hole above(10ADC) where it is now and set to 10A. Then disconnect the neg cable at the battery and read the current between the neg cable and the neg battery terminal.

 

[RussellJ]

Pic #3 your meter is set wrong. Need to click it CW into the DC A range. Hard to see but set it at 20m or put the red probe in to the hole above(10ADC) where it is now and set to 10A. Then disconnect the neg cable at the battery and read the current between the neg cable and the neg battery terminal.

In he third pic it was set to the top right on the 1.5V thing. If i set it to 10A it shows 0.00 when connected from the negative terminal to the neg cable

 

[Pardini]

In he third pic it was set to the top right on the 1.5V thing. If i set it to 10A it shows 0.00 when connected from the negative terminal to the neg cable

When set to 10A you need to move the red lead on the meter in to the top hole in the meter. The one above where you have it in pic three or leave it where you have it and set the meter to DC A, which will be more accurate.

 

[IG.]

I am concerned that if he puts on 200m, the initial current may burn the fuse (if there is one), or worse. The 10A may not provide the accuracy. The way to do it is to first connect the cable to the battery (touching is enough) so the the initial current does not go through the multimeter, then attach the probes (current should be zero), and then pull the cable away from the battery while the probes are connected so the stabilized current starts flowing through the multimeter.

Now, that Pardini pointed out, it's confusing what "20.6" meant because the dial was set on something looking like it was meant to test a battery.

 

[karnage]

My battery puts out 200CCA and it turns over real nice once I found the bad starter.I have left my bike sit for a week and it fired right up without a charger on it.There shouldnt be much draw while sitting.The clock should be next to nothing since its just memory really .