Battery won't hold it's charge

[philsmith]

Thought this needed it's own thread.
Had an off (it was dry) and I let the battery go dead whilst I was waiting for people (it did start up after the crash).
Battery went dead whilst pushing it to a friend's garage (I have no gear lever) and we have been able to bump-start it several times, left it running for an hour or so but that didn't charge it.
Put it on a fast charge all night but the next morning it has no charge.
The battery is basically brand new from when I bought the bike (yesterday :() any ideas??

[rictus01]

is the casing warped at all ? you could have damaged the plates inside, but basically is it doesn't hold a charge it's knackered, a smart charger may bring it back but it's doubtful, you could try the dealer, but he'll probably say it's not covered following you crash and was damaged in that.

Cheers Mark.

[philsmith]

It didn't charge while idling (I don't know the mechanics of this) and the charger didn't seem to work but once I got the bike in a condition to give it a quick ride home before work it seems to have worked fine. Got back from work and it started like it should so I suppose the charger was poo and it simply won't charge while idling if it is giving out power for all those lights at the same time.

[zunkus]

Charge your battery off the bike.
If it's more than 13volts (check with a multimeter off load) it should be ok.
Connect it back to the bike and start the bike. check again the voltage. if its more than before especially when you rev the engine above 2k then it's charging ok.
If it's not go to the voltage rectifier/regulator and unplug the three wires coming from the alternator, I think these are the yellow wires if I remember correctly. Put the meter to AC Volts and see if you read anything between any of these wires. If you have a voltage coming here then the fault lies either with the regulator or the wire between it and the battery.
Hope this helps

[suzukigt380paul]

what sort of charger did you try to charge it with,i have a supposedly intelligent car charger and it wont charge a dead flat battery,and comes up with a fault on the display,but if you put a booster battery on it for a minute to get a minimal charge in it it will then charge it,and also if the battery is toast and there is no visible damage and you only just bought it,then i would say it would still be replaced under warranty

[philsmith]

It was just a loose plate on one of the terminals, the thread apparently got too big for the screw so I fixed it with tape until I get a self tapping screw, thanks for the help guys. When it stops tipping it down and I actually get a day off work (Would commute if it was further than 30 second walk) I can take her (Savannah) out properly.