Burst battery and no electrics - in Spain.

hey guys i am in real need of your help. I was recently taking a ride through the north of Spain when i my bike started to give off a strong smell. I pulled over and had a quick look. I noticed that the battery was overflowing with acid, quite literally. The place where i was staying was only down the road so i decided to risk it and drive home. However when i was to start her up everything died. Literally when i pressed the start button i lost all of my idiot lights, front lights and the bike never even attempted to turn over. I know its not the battery because i replaced it just two weeks ago with a brand new one, becaause it suddenly died on me when i was at work. When i replaced it i did everything by the book and used only the acid pack that came with it.

A couple of days ago i brought yet another new battery for her. I have all of my lights back again and everything seems to be working fine, but when i turn her over she just does not want to fire up. It does not sound like its even coming close. I'm not to sure if this is any help but normally when i first turn the ignition on the fuel warning light, lights up for a second or two and then turns off again. This time however i am not getting that. Not to sure if that is linked but thought its worth mentioning.

The fuses are all good, and i will check i am getting a spark from the plugs today.

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

[Sid Squid]

Is this an SV?

If the battery has burst and acid flowed out, then the greatest likelyhood is that it has been grossly overcharged. The new battery is now useless - bin it and wash the bike very very thoroughly, preferably with a solution of water and bicarbonate of soda, (baking soda), I can't stress strongly enough how damaging battery acid is - wash it, wash it now, even if it's just a stream of water.

The regulator-rectifier is probably faulty, however the fact that it now won't run even with a correctly charged battery could possibly mean that the over-voltage has done some damage to the electronics of your bike, or possibly the burst battery acid has physically damaged an electrical part, connector or wiring.

Disconnect the regulator, put a correctly charged battery in the bike and try to run it, if the electrics work correctly then the regulator is most likely confirmed as the problem.

Thankyou for you post. Yes its an sv650s 99-02. I have washed it down and the wires seem to be physically fine. Its strange because i looked over all of the fuses again and they seem to be fine. If there was a power overload wouldn't they protect it? I will look for a spark when i get home and i will probally change the regulator as this is not the first time the bike has had a problem with the battery, so as to be on the safe side . Its abit of a tricky situation as i'm stuck in a foreign country and i would rather sort this out myself than take it to a garage and try to explain something like this lol, but if it comes to it then i will. thanks again.

[johnnyrod]

I'm with the squid, sound like the charging system has gone wild. The fuses will really only blow if the current draw is a lot higher than normal, but if the bike is over-charging, the voltage is high but not insane, plus it could be as AC if it isn't rectifying.

Cheers! yeh the people i have spoken to so far have said that. So i think its time to change over the rectifier and just see how it goes.. Thanks again for all the help

[johnnyrod]

As Squiddo says check the area for acid damage, in particular make sure there is still a good earth connection

[maviczap]

Exactly the same sympthoms as KJ's battery well fried back in March, bad smell (for miles )

And bulging battery

Luckily we stopped before it burst, but you can see the deformed cap on the top


So usual reg/rect problems, as usual Sid was spot on