Need help on my SV in Bristol

Once you have the seat off, you will reveal the fuse/relay tray. Below that tray is the battery. That is what we are aiming for

The battery will have 2 terminals. One Positive (+ve (red rubber cover and a PLUS sign stamped on the batery)) and one Negative (-ve).

First thing to do is set the multimeter on DC volts ... if you get that exact one from maplins, then it is 3 clicks left/anticlockwise form the off position.

The two terminals/probes you get with the meter need to go in the bottom two slots on the multimeter (bottom right). Red for red, black for black. The top red slot is for measuring current. We will use that later, but for now we want to measure voltage.

Ok, so now the meter is set up, put one of the probes on the +ve of the battery and one on the -ve. You should get a reading on the meter at this point.

Hopefully it will be >= 12v (its a 12v battery).

Originally Posted by jambo

Ok, there are 2 options. All a battery does is hold charge. If there's none in there and the battery's new then either:
1) The charge is not being put in there in the first place
2) It is going in, then escaping through a bad bit of wiring

Buy that £5 multimeter from maplins or similar.

Take the front seat off the bike using the 2 little 4mm allen bolts on the plastic triangles below the seat, then the larger (6mm if I'm right) allen bolts that hold the seat on.

You can now get the battery cover out of the way and see the battery.

Take it out and charge it.

Set the multimeter to measure Voltage. You will probably have a setting that reads 0-20V or similar. Test the voltage across the positive (+) and negative (-) terminals of the battery using the multimeter. This should be around 12 Volts.

Put it back in the bike and check it again. It should still be 12V.

Start the bike. Check the voltage again with the bike running. It should now be higher than it was before, showing the charging circuit is attempting to put electricity back into the battery. It should be about 14V. If you blip the throttle it should never go under 12V, or over about 15V.

If all of that is ok then the alternator & reg/rec are probably ok and the bike is charging the battery.

Set the Multimeter to measure resistance. Turn the bike off. If you measure the resistance between the Positive (+) and negative (-) terminals of the battery, it should read at infinite. If you get a nice low value for resistance, then electricity can flow from one terminal to the other with the bike off, you have a bad bit of cable somewhere. Check the wiring where it runs near the battery where the seat bolts went in and see if the insulation's been rubbed through.


Post up what you find.

Best of luck.

Jambo

Cool, saved me some writing there!!

I'd say a better check for the 'drain' is to take the -ve terminal off and use the ammeter function of the multimeter (tell you how to do that later Nadine ) ... you can then determine the exact drain in amps and if it is an issue or not ...

[jambo]

Originally Posted by Blue_SV650S

Cool, saved me some writing there!!

I'd say a better check for the 'drain' is to take the -ve terminal off and use the ammeter function of the multimeter ... you can then determine the exact drain in amps and if it is an issue or not ...

You're right, that is a better check, but cheap multimeters only have "point" connectors for testing, and won't let much current flow anyway. A nice one you can clip / bolt in line with the battery's required for this test to be good

Originally Posted by jambo

You're right, that is a better check, but cheap multimeters only have "point" connectors for testing, and won't let much current flow anyway. A nice one you can clip / bolt in line with the battery's required for this test to be good

You don't need to carry much current, its not like you NEED the bike running ... you can just do it with the ignition OFF (should be minimal drain) and again with the ignition ON (but all lights off) ... shouldn't be more than say 2-3A? (it'll only be the coils, computer/clocks, oil and neutral lights taking any drain) ...

We can also check the A/C voltages at the alternator, even with a basic/cheap multimeter

Originally Posted by Blue_SV650S

Cool, saved me some writing there!!

I'd say a better check for the 'drain' is to take the -ve terminal off and use the ammeter function of the multimeter (tell you how to do that later Nadine ) ... you can then determine the exact drain in amps and if it is an issue or not ...

Hello Jambo and Blue SV,

Ha! you really gave me some confidence now! That was nice and easy, I got everything you said, so I will do this all by tomorrow eve and then let you know what happened! Maybe I can sort it out myself in the end. Well, I don't wanna get to big-headed yet...

Thank you very very much,
all the best,
Nadine

Originally Posted by NadineDieBiene

Hello Jambo and Blue SV,

Ha! you really gave me some confidence now! That was nice and easy, I got everything you said, so I will do this all by tomorrow eve and then let you know what happened! Maybe I can sort it out myself in the end. Well, I don't wanna get to big-headed yet...

Thank you very very much,
all the best,
Nadine

I am sure with a little guidance here and there, you can sort it out ... first step is isolating the problem! ... with your new tool (multimeter) its just a matter of time before you/we track the perisher down!!

When you use the meter, make sure you have it on the correct setting for the appropriate job, else you will get some funny readings! ... once you take a measurement, type here what the setting was, what you tried to measure and what the results/reading were!!

The most basic of tests (and the initial one) is the voltage across the battery. Firstly with the bike turned off, then the bike started!

A charging system should obviously charge when bike is running, so ... if you get 12v->13v bike turned off (<12v and the battery is flat/faulty) and 13->14v with the bike running (remember to rev it up and down a bit and note voltage changes) then the charging system is fine and you have a drain/draw somewhere!!

Is the bike alarmed by the way??? Its not uncommon for them to go a bit AWOL and start taking too much juice ...

Originally Posted by NadineDieBiene

Dear all,


I am afraid I have to admit that I am a stupid girl,

All the best,
Nadine

Originally Posted by ASM-Forever

Sounds like a job for Hovis.

it does indeed

Originally Posted by hovis

it does indeed

Oi, don't use my own words against me!!!

Originally Posted by Blue_SV650S

I am sure with a little guidance here and there, you can sort it out ... first step is isolating the problem! ... with your new tool (multimeter) its just a matter of time before you/we track the perisher down!!

When you use the meter, make sure you have it on the correct setting for the appropriate job, else you will get some funny readings! ... once you take a measurement, type here what the setting was, what you tried to measure and what the results/reading were!!

The most basic of tests (and the initial one) is the voltage across the battery. Firstly with the bike turned off, then the bike started!

A charging system should obviously charge when bike is running, so ... if you get 12v->13v bike turned off (<12v and the battery is flat/faulty) and 13->14v with the bike running (remember to rev it up and down a bit and note voltage changes) then the charging system is fine and you have a drain/draw somewhere!!

Is the bike alarmed by the way??? Its not uncommon for them to go a bit AWOL and start taking too much juice ...

No, there is no alarm on it!

Any news?!!?