Author Topic: Advice on battery drain investigation  (Read 796 times)

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Offline Oilspill

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Advice on battery drain investigation
« on: May 24, 2020, 15:33:18 »
Hello all
Due to the very limited use over the last couple of months I've been keeping an eye on my battery, and I think I have a small parasitic drain (battery goes from 12.7 to 12.2 over a couple of days, checked with a different battery and still the same) and looking for some further guidance to nail it down.
To date I have hooked up the multi meter to show amp draw, and pulled fuses - found the "fuel" fuse seems to be the circuit with the drain.  OK I thought, may be a dodgy fuel pump relay - pulled the relay and no change on the meter, still showing a drain - I thought pulling the relay would knock out the circuit - but I'm not a sparky by nature - so am calling out for some guidance as to best way to track this down or if anyone has had a similar issue they can give me some tips?
thanks in advance

Offline Fat Rat

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Re: Advice on battery drain investigation
« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2020, 15:47:24 »
Do you have an alarm or a tracker fitted to the bike?
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Offline hotbulb

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Re: Advice on battery drain investigation
« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2020, 17:21:02 »
.... or a USB socket or anything with a "power on" light? If you completely disconnect the battery, does it continue to hold 12.7v even after a few days?

Offline Oilspill

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Re: Advice on battery drain investigation
« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2020, 17:44:54 »
No alarm or accessories fitted, other than heated grips which I have unplugged and 'eliminated' from my enquiries.  Yes, both batteries I'm using are happy to hold 12.7v comfortably once off the bike.

Is there a source for a wiring diagram for the 'fuel' circuit [as denoted in the fuse box] as this appears to be where the drain is?

Offline mr_diver

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Re: Advice on battery drain investigation
« Reply #4 on: May 24, 2020, 17:55:45 »
Usually parasitic power drain is caused by something added to the vehicle.
Or you have an electrical short, but that would manifest in other ways other than just a drain, usually fire.

These days the usual culprit is a USB socket or plug.
In days gone by it was alarms.
Firstly I'd be checking that all USB items are removed or switched off.
Then disconnect any aftermarket alarm system and bin it.  :fix:

There is very little on a bike unless it's a keyless start BMW/Ducati to take a parasitic draw.
The other option as has been mentioned is to disconnect the battery and see what it drops overnight.
12.7v seems a little high to be a standing voltage, more like 12.4-5 is normal.

Immediately after turning the bike off the voltage will read higher than the standing voltage.
The bike should be left for 10 minutes before you take the standing reading.
If it drops below 12v over night when disconnected I'd suspect your battery is dying, not quite dead yet.
My Varadero has been on only a few very short trips over the lockdown period and the charging system not being the best to start with has likely taken more from the battery than put in and it was dropping to 11.8v over a couple of days.
Honda HISS system does take a small parasitic draw over the first 48 hours after shutdown, then virtually nothing thereafter, but a good charge in the house has topped it up and now holding @12.4v over night.
Maybe a good charge could recondition the battery. (smart chargers are required)

I'd also to a cranking check.
read the voltage when turning the bike over.
If it drops below 9v it's likely a bad cell in the battery and a replacement is called for. It could be used until it stops starting the bike, but this is a time bomb- MartinW took his Wee all the way to Gibraltar, rode up the rock and the bike refused to start to come down as the battery decided at that point to die.  :angry-banghead:



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Offline kwackboy

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Re: Advice on battery drain investigation
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2020, 19:42:59 »
If you have tried another known good battery, try unplugging the regulator and do the same Tests.
 
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Offline Oilspill

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Re: Advice on battery drain investigation
« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2020, 20:56:55 »
Thanks for all your replies.  I have unhooked everything for the night and see where we are in the morning.  I've managed to get hold of a wiring diagram and I can see that the rectifier is on the same circuit as that which has the draw on it so that is now on the 'suspicious' list - it looks like the connections for it are under the tank which is a pain as I can't see me getting the opportunity to get the tank off until next weekend. I'll let you know how things progress!

Offline Gert

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Re: Advice on battery drain investigation
« Reply #7 on: May 25, 2020, 08:03:10 »
Have you tried wiring in a test lamp to replace the fuse? Basically a bulb with two leads soldered to the bulb connector and bulb casing. Polarity does not matter on the test lamp. Connect the test lamp across the fuse holder, where the fuse would normally plug into. The lamp will glow while there is a constant power drain. Making use of the wiring diagram, you can trace / disconnect the relative components until the lamp stops glowing.

Offline colin

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Re: Advice on battery drain investigation
« Reply #8 on: May 25, 2020, 11:02:36 »
wasn't there a factory recall on the regulators for this year bike.
just wondered if that could cause a drain.