Strange electric thing poped up

[Orange4]

Just want to clear up that 12.4 volts is only half charged. If a battery sits like this it will sulfate and die a premature death. 12.6+ is fully charged, resting voltage. Bikes tend to undercharge a bit on idle so every ride can leave you with a charge deficit which can add up.

Keep it on a tender or check the voltage regularly before you ride. If you check just after your ride you will be reading a surface charge. Let the battery rest for a while at least before you check the voltage. If it's below 12.6 trickle charge it for 14-16 hours.

[Jeffintampa]

Thanks Orange

Good little project for me today thanks will go out and see whats up beautiful day for something like that.

[donebysunday]

The fact that the alternator puts out 14+/- should keep the battery well. If not riding as in winter storage a tender should do the same job. Yes/no ?

[Jeffintampa]

augh

Crap ole crap. Had it on the tickle all night, took it off this am, fired up drove to work (little high on the rpms) It sat all day, and went to go home click click .... I think the battery has to be bad, kind of like it leaked out all day.

grrrrr

[MaximPhil]

Crap ole crap. Had it on the tickle all night, took it off this am, fired up drove to work (little high on the rpms) It sat all day, and went to go home click click .... I think the battery has to be bad, kind of like it leaked out all day.

grrrrr

Hi Jeff,
Either Bad battery OR the bike has an electrical drain. Wire shorting somewhere.?
Phil

[Schming]

Crap ole crap. Had it on the tickle all night, took it off this am, fired up drove to work (little high on the rpms) It sat all day, and went to go home click click .... I think the battery has to be bad, kind of like it leaked out all day.

grrrrr

If you think the battery is bad, why not be sure and try what CZ suggested to make sure there's no leak

Get an amp meter or a test light, and hook the ground cable up to the battery. Put the amp meter or light between the red battery lead and the positive battery terminal. Does the meter read any milliamps, or the light glow, even faintly?
If not, check the brushes in the starter motor.
If so, start down the wiring line and unplug the next plug. As soon as the current stops when you unplug a connector, you have your problem spot. I don't have a wiring diagram for your bike, so I can't be more specific, but you get the idea. I think the regulator is next in line, or the auxilary power terminals?
CZ

[3Phase]

Jeff,

If you don't want to wait and watch the battery for hours, see if you can dig up an inexpensive ammeter. Put it in series with the battery positive terminal and the positive battery cable when the engine's not running and that'll let you know if there's a drain on the battery or if the battery is toast.

If there's a drain, pull the Main fuse and check again. If there's still a drain the only thing between the Main fuse and the battery is the Regulator/Rectifier output wire -- it is not fused.

There's an Isolation Diode in the Rectifier that might have shorted and turned into a fancy wire instead of a diode. Everything will work fine while the bike's running but it'll drain the battery though the Rectifier bridge when the engine is not running.

.

[Crusty Snippets]

Amps

A Marine supply store should have a decent Blue Sea amp meter. I have one on my boat. Most things are run through it.
Also have a matching volt meter. Volts at a glance, turn something on, like a light, and the amp meter will show it.
In the book " Living on 12 Volts" the author says a fully charged battery after sitting for a while is 12.75 volts, and a 50% charged battery is 12.25 volts.
My larer batteries have no problem showing these numbers.
My new battery for Yami took a while to come up to charge. Also a regular car load tester, does no favours to a bike battery. There is just not a lot of cranking amps in these things. So the battery might be showing 12.6 volts after sitting for an hour. I would check it again after 24 hours. If it is dropping down towards half charged, and also has trouble cranking, and is a few years old, I would go straight to the battery shop.
If a new battery does not fix the problem I would be checking for drain as others have described.
My solenoid / rectifier thing shorted when I connected the new battery.

Unkle Crusty

[Jeffintampa]

No problems so far

Well borrowed a battery from a friend not the exact size but fit and has been working a few weeks now. Hmm just had to believe a year and a half would kill a battery.

Bike does set outside all day in the Florida weather. Comes home and spends the night in the garage.

Jeff

[motoman]

Well borrowed a battery from a friend not the exact size but fit and has been working a few weeks now. Hmm just had to believe a year and a half would kill a battery.

Bike does set outside all day in the Florida weather. Comes home and spends the night in the garage.

Jeff

Should'nt normally.............but poor electrical connections, and regulator doesn't know any different consistantly allowing batt. to be charged at a higher volt rate than necessary WILL shorten batt. life.