Horn and dead bike

Yesterday I had been riding along about a mile from my home on my Maxim when this little dog pops out from a driveway. I wasn't going fast enough to hit him, so I thought I would just blow my horn and maybe the owners would know there dog was in the road. When I did, the horn sounded like a garbled duck being choked by a wascally rabbit. Didn't think anything of it, but mentally noted it for something to look at. This am my bike had no juice. No lights, No instrument lights, acted like someone stole my battery. I tested it with a multimeter and it only had 6 volts. I removed it and recharged it. While recharging I disconnected the horn. Put the battery back in and it fired right up. Drove it around for 1/2 hour and then parked it. I have been checking the battery all day and it is holding at 12.49 volts. So my question is, can a faulty horn cause the battery to drain down in a 12 hour period?

 

BruceB, any short in the wiring can drain the battery and quickly!

you may need to pull the L/H switch apart in case the short is occurring inside the switch, pass light, indicators and high low beam all in there!

 

I doubt the horn made your battery go flat, more likely IMO the charging system failed allowing the battery to run down hence the garbled horn sound...

I'd check your charging output & look at the reg/rec connections for any sign of overheated, bad connections.

 

ok...left the horn unconnected and the bike fired right up after sitting all night...took a volt reading before starting the bike and it was 12.51 volts. Reconnected the horn and then 10 hours later the battery is down to 6.1 volts. So it would seem that this is horn related. When I connected the horn and pushed to horn button with the bike running the horn was still garbled and breaking up. Took the switch apart and inspected it and did not see any bare wires or signs of arcing or a short. Checked the wires and they also seemed fine. Continuity test was also good. Unhooked the horn again and recharged the battery. So far the volts seem to stay in spec...guess I will order a new horn and try that, for now,,,hoping I won't need a horn for a few days...

 

It can't be the horn itself surely, I mean, the horn isn't even powered up when the ignition's turned off so unless you leave your key on when you park the bike....

 

yeah..I know that..and no, don't leave the key on...just stating what is going on with the bike. Just going through the process of elimination. Once I get a replacement horn and if it happens again, then it removes the horn as a problem and then on to the switch. Since the problem isn't obvious it is the only way I know to figure out what is causing this.

 

Ya, I think I would have replaced the switch first. Just my 2 cents.

 

Disconnect the horn. Charge the bike over night. Next morning do a volt check. Fully charged it should be 12.7. Start the bike up and check the voltage. Should be 14+ with it running. Shut the bike down. 6 -8 hours later, Che k the voltage. My guess its down quite a bit. Conclusion : horn has nothing to do with it. You've got a dead battery cell .

 

He did that.

Umm, Bruce: ya gots a dead horn there bud. It's got an internal short. No real surprise.

You have a myriad of aftermarket possibilites in addition to just finding another original one on eBay or asking Len.

Some of the super-loud options are way cool but obtrusive as all get out. You can also get stock-appearing horns that are in fact, much louder.

Poke about on the innanet. Keep in mind that if you get too hinky, you may have some electrical re-engineering to do.

 

Fitz, how can a dead horn drain a bikes battery overnight with the ignition off though? :?

 

I've got a soapy tenner ( I think that's an english term yeah) that says it's a bum battery.

 

I'll swap ya for a rubber cheque that says the reg/rec or brushes? lol

 

Can't explain it, but popped a new horn in last night and the bike did not lose any charge. Started right up this morning..tested the battery with engine off and running and all volts are within spec. All electrics are working and no faults. So thanks Big Fitz for the advice, and I guess the people who were betting that it was something else were wrong, and I am not sorry about that. The horn was inexpensive to replace.

 

I'm sure we're not sorry either, glad that seems to have sorted it for now

Still would like to hear fitz's reasoning behind why a faulty horn would drain the battery with key off :? Doesn't make sense to me...