battery question

bloody bike.

got petty this morning went to go start the bike get 3 secs of the bike turning over and ******** the batterys flat.

AA job pmsl



is this about right for a battery to not turn the bike over for more than a few secs? or should it at least turn it over for a few good mins?

as the battery was new in april this year.

[rictus01]

A lot of things effect the battery and the charge it will hold, but for a start you shouldn't hold the starter button for more than 10-15 seconds or so at anyone time anyway.

try answering some of these, to give us a clue.

when was it last used? what sort of trip was it's last one? how cold did it get? has it been deeply discharged at any point ? do you have any earth leakage ? is the bike charging correctly? have you had problems before ?

Cheers Mark

Originally Posted by rictus01

A lot of things effect the battery and the charge it will hold, but for a start you shouldn't hold the starter button for more than 10-15 seconds or so at anyone time anyway.

try answering some of these, to give us a clue.

when was it last used? what sort of trip was it's last one? how cold did it get? has it been deeply discharged at any point ? do you have any earth leakage ? is the bike charging correctly? have you had problems before ?

Cheers Mark

sorry mark for got all the important stuff as normal pmsl

last used yesterday. and is used every day monday to sat every week. to do a round trip of 50 miles to and from work.

not very cold ie not as cold as it has been as no ice on the roads.

dont think i have a earth leakage, bikes been fine in the past with charging, bike started fine when i got to work this morning after completing the rest of my 20 miles on the motorway.

only had probs 2 weeks ago in the very very cold weather ice. where the bike sat for sat and sun and on monday refused to start.

the battery didnt last two presses of less than 10 secs this morning.

oh its a curvey. 2001.

[rictus01]

well the normal uses seems consistent with maintaining a good charge, so we're not looking at a drain over time, so that leaves either,

a breakdown in charging system (although I prosume you jumped it this morning) it probably started easy enough after your ride in as it was warm and you'd just dumped charge into the battery, might be wise to try it lunchtime ?

you've developed an earth leakage and over time the charge is drained (can be tested with a meter).

the chargeing system isn't making the correct charge(again easy to check with a meter).

you have either a short or resistance in the starting circuit creating greater load, this can be switches/connectors or the wiring itself, (easy one to check, direct feed from the battery and you'll hear if it turns the starter any faster than threw the normal circuit).

you did'nt leave the park light on did you

Cheers Mark

Originally Posted by rictus01

well the normal uses seems consistent with maintaining a good charge, so we're not looking at a drain over time, so that leaves either,

a breakdown in charging system (although I prosume you jumped it this morning) it probably started easy enough after your ride in as it was warm and you'd just dumped charge into the battery, might be wise to try it lunchtime ?

you've developed an earth leakage and over time the charge is drained (can be tested with a meter).

the chargeing system isn't making the correct charge(again easy to check with a meter).

you have either a short or resistance in the starting circuit creating greater load, this can be switches/connectors or the wiring itself, (easy one to check, direct feed from the battery and you'll hear if it turns the starter any faster than threw the normal circuit).

you did'nt leave the park light on did you

Cheers Mark

prob would help if i explained what happened this morning, nothing like given min info and expecting you to gess is there lol

any way. started the bike this morning when i left my house, got 6 miles out filled up with petty. and then it didnt wanna play bull. waitied for the aa used a jump pack started no probs.

can you remind me how to do the earth leakage test please as i cant for the life of me remember.

i will check the charging system over the weekend.

and nope didnt leave the park light on pmsl. dont that on my last bike and have learnt my lesson lol

[rictus01]

so I take it it started fine first thing then, not sluggish at all?

if that was the case; then this is a "sudden" discharge, enough to not be able to start the bike (at the petrol station) ,I'd be looking for some sort of short somewhere, not much would effect the battery in such a short time with the bike running.

However prudence suggests checking the whole system over, so as my previous,
1. check the battery condition (measure the charge in it, charge it fully and leave it overnight disconnected and measure it again)
2. check the charging circuit, measured output to the battery with the bike running.
3. Earth leakage test*
4. starter circuit test (bypass the circuit by direct feed to the startermotor and see if that spins up easier), check back all cabling from the starter to the battery, not forgetting the switchgear and solonoid/relay.
5. double check the engines earthing ( this won't discharge anything, but if dodgy will stop it starting so would perhaps seem to be the same thing, but worth a check anyway).
6. check the loom for known chaffing points ( around rear subframe, behind side panel/seat bolts, around headstock).


*the earth leakage test is easy, remove the neg terminal from the battery and meter between the wire and the battery post, you shouldn't get a measured reading at all, if you do then it's leaking to earth somewhere.

Cheers Mark

Originally Posted by rictus01

so I take it it started fine first thing then, not sluggish at all?

1. check the battery condition (measure the charge in it, charge it fully and leave it overnight disconnected and measure it again)
2. check the charging circuit, measured output to the battery with the bike running.
3. Earth leakage test*
4. starter circuit test (bypass the circuit by direct feed to the startermotor and see if that spins up easier), check back all cabling from the starter to the battery, not forgetting the switchgear and solonoid/relay.
5. double check the engines earthing ( this won't discharge anything, but if dodgy will stop it starting so would perhaps seem to be the same thing, but worth a check anyway).
6. check the loom for known chaffing points ( around rear subframe, behind side panel/seat bolts, around headstock).
Cheers Mark

right mark

need some help again, went to start the bike this morning, and had probs, as all i got was a quick run followed by a back fire and it stoped went to start it and got about 4 seconds on the starter and the battery was flat.

1, still got to test after sitting, but after a little run, ie idle for 2 mins was at 11.80volts
2, with bike running it started at 14volts but after about 2 mins it was running at 15 volts
3, (did this and it confussed me as all i got was) the battery voltage at 12volts or just below
4, not checked yet
5, checked the earth from the battery down and no broken wires i could see off
6, had a quick look, also unpluged the after market cheapo alarm to see if it matters