Power draing issues

so after i had just got my bike running again i noticed a small issue, when it sits over night for for about 8 hours the battery will drain just enough that it wont want to start. forcing me to jump or recharge the battery be for ridding. will disconcerting the battery before park it at work or over night stop it from draining power? and could i just remove the negative terminal or would i need to remove both (i only ask because i can reach the negative with out removing the seat) ?

but as fro fixing the problem is there some where i can check that might be common for causing power drains? i still have the original fuse box and was planning on replacing that soon, but other than that i have not messed with the electrical system at all and this didnt happen before so im confused as to why its happening now.

 

Only need to unhook one terminal, either one.
What your describeing is a bad battery.

 

my battery is brand new, i got it when i first got the bike. is there anything that may have caused the battery to die? could the acid levels be off? im just wondering in case i need to buy another one and hope i dont repeat the bad habits.

 

Was it dry when you got it , as in you put the acid in it ?
Did you ever let it go dead for a few weeks.
Do you have a meter with a amp range on it, it may have a small load on it. Use the highest amp scale
Take one wire off the battery, put one lead on the wire the other to the place it came from. If you have a reading , pull the fuses one at a time till it goes away.
That's the problem circuit.

 

Are you sure your charging system is charging the battery properly? Tested the output (14.5V +/- 0.3V at 2500 rpm). If it's not, you could just be putting it away with a discharged battery and not realize it (happened to me).

Do you go for short rides in a lot of stop and go traffic where you idle (i.e. run off the battery) for most of your commute? I've had both issues on my commute into DC. I fixed a charging system issue and now put it on a tender just to make sure.

 

There are a lot of possibilities. Instead of guessing, diagnose.

-Even relatively new batteries can go bad. Fully charge it (independently of the bike) and then take it to an auto parts store and get it load-tested.

-It's also a good possibility that it might be time for new alternator brushes or other attention to the charging system. FIND OUT. Check the output as ManBot13 described above.

-Check for stray electrical "draw" as Polock described above.

 

the bettery was dry when purchased, had the auto parts store fill the acid and charge it up before i brought it home. never let it go dead for long periods of time, as much as i can figure anyways.

yes most of my commute is stop and go. how exactly do i test the out put, i figure its with an altimeter, but which setting? a nice youtube video or step by step write up would help me best.

thanks every one.

 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8vfoLbyCo- ... vfoLbyCo-w



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altimeter

 

That would be a good trick. An altimeter is the instrument aircraft pilots use to tell how high up they are (altitude.)

Might want to try a voltmeter. Use the DC Volt setting, it usually has a straight over dotted line, the wavy one is AC.

Put the leads on the battery terminals when the motor is revving at 2500 RPM and see if you're making between 14.2V and 14.8V DC. (14.5 VDC +/- 3%)

Charge the battery and take it in and have it load tested. Then you'll KNOW, no guesswork.

 

whoops i meant multimeter :roll: :lol:

 

I figured as much, couldn't resist. "Voltmeter" would have passed the judges too.

"Precision Instruments for $400, Alex!"

Just bustin' your chops. Get the battery tested. If the bike has less than about 25K miles on it, there's my bet. If it's over that, mileage wise, then it might indeed be time to service the alternator. That's what you'll need the altimeter for. Check the output and see. It's not hard.

 

ok so i tested my battery and it seems to charge fine when the bike is running, still havent got ti load tested yet because the wife has the car today and i dont want to take the bike out and possibly have it die and not be able to get home. i did also pull the cap off of my stator and was wondering what people thought on the looks of it, which probably isnt the best or even possible way to see if its good, but some one might see something that i wouldnt know of. still doing more tests to try and figure out whats going on.

it did take a bit for the bike to start up when i reinstalled the battery after charging for a few hours.

i guess im just a bit confused as to what/where everything is located. when i do google searches for different terms (alternator, stator, brushes, etc..) i get some of the same pictures. would love some clarification on these.


so obviously its very dirty, are the brushes the two small square towers coming off the cap? and the stator is to copper wire ring (under all the gunk, lol) what else am i looking at here...?

 

pink is the stator, stationary
blue is the rotor, rotates
green are brushes

 

thanks polack! that helps a lot.

 

Yes. Those two rather grubby little things sticking up in the cap are the brushes. They have a "wear limit" line cut into them that may be covered up by dirt; they look halfway decent but you need to clean them up and look for the line. If you can't find a line then it's time for new brushes.

Also, since it's apart, carefully remove the brush holder and inspect the little braided wires that connect the brushes themselves to the assembly. They've been known to become all green and corroded on the inside and even though the brushes are fine if their leads are corroded they won't work.

The rotor is the part that rotates (go figure) and has the two shiny rings on it where the brushes ride.

The stator is indeed the field coil all encased in epoxy "monkey snot." DO NOT FLUSH the stator or rotor with contact cleaner, apply the cleaner to a rag and wipe clean. You don't want contact cleaner/brake cleaner soaking in and delaminating things. You can flush out the brush assembly.

Be careful with the wires and with that U-shaped grommet where they go through the case. That grommet is unobtanium, I don't think even Len has them.

 

ok i just went out and tested my rotor with my multimeter, and got a reading so it works ( one thing down). i do see the line on my brushes and its very close the the holder so im guessing those are fine. just gotta test my stator and hopefully knock that off the list as well.

about 3 hours or so ago when i got the bike started after i took it a short ride i parked it and took the negative terminal off and let it sit that way. and after reconnecting the terminal it started right up with no problems. so im gunna let it sit over night like that and see if it still has a charge in the morning. if so at least i know if i have to take the bike somewhere i can undo the terminal untill i can figure out what the power drain is coming from.

 

Take the battery in and have it tested so you're not barking up the wrong tree.

Install a brand new set of spark plugs if you haven't, and check to ensure the resistor cores in your plug caps haven't worked loose.

Did you take a voltage reading across the battery terminals with the motor at 2500RPM? Were you getting the specified voltage? If so, cross off the alternator and let's move on. As long as the brush leads aren't corroded and everything is cleaned up, you're probably looking at about 30K miles before the brushes need to be replaced. The book says 8K miles (???) so I panicked and checked my '81 when I got it with 18K on it; they were fine, and now, 9000 miles later (27K plus) the brushes appear to be maybe a little past half-done.