Loss of electrical power

Hi,

I have an 82 XJ650RJ Seca. It has been running great, although once and a while if I dont ride it for a while, it takes a bit to start and if I am in a rush, a quick spray of quick start gets her moving with no issues.

Last week, I needed to get going so I tried to start her, no go, so sprayed a bit of quick start into the air intake, hit the started and it turned once or twice and then i hear a quick pop/noise and all the electrical went dead. No starter, no lights, no indicators, nothing.

I have run a couple of tests which hopefully will help someone help me .
I have a quick connect lead on my battery, so if i probe that with my multimeter, i get 12 volts if the ignition is turned off, and if i turn the ignition on, the reading goes to 0. Same thing if i check the voltage at the master fuse (i still have the old fuse box installed), i get 12 volds if the ignition is turned off, and when its turned on, nothing. If it take out the master fuse, and just check the lead, I always get 12 volts, regardless of if the ignition is on or off.
All of the other fuses always show 0, regardless of what i do.

I am not sure what to check next. I really want to get some riding in before it gets too cold. . Anyone have any idea of what might be the culprit, or what else i can check to narrow down the issue.

 

I assume your quick connect lead is for a charger and goes right to both battery terminals? If so then you have a bad connection at the battery or the battery is toast.

 

Yea, the quick connect is for a charger and goes right to the terminals. In trying to track things down I have taken the battery off the bike and i get just over 12 volts when testing accross the terminals. I have charged the battery with a battery tender and it says it is fine and fully charged (the batter was bought new last year and has never given me any problems). I would assume that even if the battery was too weak for starting the bike but I am still getting 12V, when i turn on the ignition i should at least get the lights on the console to light up or the rear brake to work.

The fact the the starter was able to turn at full strength and then it all of sudden stopped (not slowing down or struggling at all) makes me think it isnt the battery. I could be wrong, but I am hoping to proove it before i spend another 100 or so on a battery.

Any suggestions on how to proove what the problem is if it is electrical like I suspect. I find it really wierd that the voltage accross the battery goes to 0 as soon as the ignition is turned on. It almost appears as if the batter is short circuited when I turn the ignition switch on. Any tips on how to track it down?

 

Start by pulling the battery, fully charging it, and then take it to the local auto parts and have it load tested.

If the bike still has the original fusebox with the glass tube fuses you could have a cracked fuse clip.

Beyond that, a relay (or the starter itself) could be shorting to ground, it's hard to say. How many miles on the bike? It could be time for the alternator to get some attention.

Do you have a service manual for the bike? If you want to PM me with an email address I can send you the pertinent pages from the factory book...

 

Thanks bigfitz.

The bike has around 45k km and it does still have the original fuse box. Ill pm you for the manual.

Thanks

 

One electrical property of batteries is called Impedance. It is the reason for a different terminal voltage when open circuit (i.e. no current flow through the battery) and under load (current flowing).

The reason that batteries have this is due to the chemistry of the battery (how it produces voltage and stores energy, I'm not a battery expert in this regard). However, when you load test the battery, you are probing the impedance.

The basic model of the impedance of a battery is Terminal Voltage = Open circuit voltage - Current X Impedance, or V_batt = V_oc - I*R. Impedance increases with life, over-discharge, poor storage conditions, etc. The terminal voltage under load is what the electrical system actually sees, so if you have a high impedance, the whole electrical system will see a significantly different voltage than what you measure open circuit.

I'd say that if you are measuring voltage at the terminal (and not somewhere else in after the load in the electrical system), and you put any load on it and cause the voltage to drop to 0, then your impedance is VERY high and you are going to need a new battery. The reason why your voltage doesn't drop when you pull the main fuse is that the ignition is located after it. It doesn't see voltage because there is no connection (at the fuse box); therefore, no current means no impedance drop, so you are just measuring open circuit voltage. It's just like connecting an extra wire to the terminal, then testing at the end, you haven't completed a circuit.

Finally, if your battery is bad, the first thing you should do with a new one is test your charging system. If the battery is only a year old, the most likely culprit for it's demise is over-discharge, which will happen if your charging system isn't functioning properly. The bike can easily run for about 20 miles on battery charge alone, but once you deep discharge it that much, it won't come back.

 

http://www.electrosport.com/technical-r ... iagram.pdf

 

Don't be fooled by good "VOLTAGE"
The Bike really needs AMPS.

Do as Fitz suggests.
Have the Battery "Load-Tested"
Most AutoZone Stores will do the test for free.

Be sure to bring-in a Fully Charged Battery.

Another inspection to do:
Pull the Alternator Cover.
Look inside the Cover for the Alternator Brushes.
Measure the Brushes.
10mm or less means they need to be replaced.

 

You should correct that Rick, it's "Don't be fooled by good "OPEN CIRCUIT VOLTAGE."

The battery needs to be able to provide voltage under load, as I said before. The terminal voltage and the resistance of your load (which can be considered constant unless a component has failed), determines the current through it. So no terminal voltage EQUALS no current.

I deal with this issue all the time at my work, where we track battery health and performance during discharge events. The issue with a "dead" battery is the impedance, I think even more so than the capacity.