Continuing battery problems.

Yeah wasn't sure which setting to put it at but here's the readings:

2000u - 1

20m - 1.

200m - 85.5

Am I right in thinking that 0 means no draw and a reading means there is a draw or is it the other way around?

[aesmith]

I can't quite make sense of the scales you quote. It sounds as if it's drawing 85.5 "somethings" which gets rounded up to 1 "something" at the higher ranges.

If it's 85.5mA (Milli Amps) than that's too much, and will flatten your battery in less than a week. 85.5µA (Micro Amps) then that's virtually nothing.

[Pete7]

As a guide,

12.7v fully charged and rested for a few hours.

12.2v = 50% charged

12.0v = 25% (or flat as AESmith said).

Do bear in mind that the whilst the digital meter will display to 0.1 most aren't that accurate unless you have a large Avo type. I have two on the boat and there is a difference in readings between them.

Pete

Originally Posted by aesmith

I can't quite make sense of the scales you quote. It sounds as if it's drawing 85.5 "somethings" which gets rounded up to 1 "something" at the higher ranges.

If it's 85.5mA (Milli Amps) than that's too much, and will flatten your battery in less than a week. 85.5µA (Micro Amps) then that's virtually nothing.

I'll try and take a pic of the display it will hopefully be clearer. It is strange though as it was 6 days between being used and then not starting this most recent time.

Originally Posted by Pete7

As a guide,

12.7v fully charged and rested for a few hours.

12.2v = 50% charged

12.0v = 25% (or flat as AESmith said).

Do bear in mind that the whilst the digital meter will display to 0.1 most aren't that accurate unless you have a large Avo type. I have two on the boat and there is a difference in readings between them.

Pete

Thanks for the info. Off current readings its certainly looking like the battery is fine and I'm again more inclined to say its current draw from somewhere. At least I've got time to try and diagnose this before I next plan on being on the bike.

Well at about 5 the battery was still at 12.66 so that's encouraging. Here's the pick of the reading of the current, hope I did it right. Was a struggle to take the reading, support the multimeter and take the picture at the same time! Reading was the same as before but my hand slightly slipped as the camera took the picture.

[aesmith]

That looks like 84.8mA I'm afraid.

Originally Posted by aesmith

That looks like 84.8mA I'm afraid.

So I should start looking for loose wires/connections etc then? Weird thing is the voltage on the battery hasn't dropped at all yet today!

Battery been hooked back up now for a day. Reading this morning - 12.64v, so not dropped off at all. Surely if there was a higher than expected drain there would be a drop in charge by now? I'm begining to think I should just take my chances and keep the battery on an optimiser at least once a week. Battery seems to be holding it's charge both off and on the bike (at least upto now) and everything else seems fine. Only thing I can think to do now is take readings before I next go out on it and get a decent ride in with a couple of stops etc. All being well, any readings taken once back should re-confirm, at least in my eyes, that the charging system is working, or am I wrong there? I.e. if it's 12.64v before the ride, it should be the 12.64v once back.

Personally as someone that doesnt know much about electrics, if i had your problem and charging the battery once a week or so ensured it didnt happen, i would just do that. Yes its not ideal but if you can make it work like that its gona save you alot of hassle in tracing a problem