Odyssey PC680 and Kisan Signal Minder SM-5, R1150 Battery Drain Fix

[roger 04 rt]

After getting to the bottom of a slow starting problem (inadequately charged PC680, here ) on my R1150RT last Fall I monitored the state of charge of the PC680 battery throughout our long, cold winter. If I remove the Kisan it stayed well charged with a once a month top-up of the battery. However once the Kisan is installed, the battery loses almost 10% charge per week.

 

(This drain is compounded by the PC680's lower than stock battery capacity (16 amp-hours vs 19 AH stock). It's a great battery but at 0 degrees centigrade Odyssey specs a charging voltage of 15.5 volts and a maintenance charge of 14.4 volts. This is over 1 volt higher than the R1150's alternator and more than a volt higher than many battery trickle charges output. And I'm not crazy about leaving the charger connected when I'm not around. So a smaller PC680 battery and a 3X higher drain Kisan flasher aren't a great combination.)

 

The Kisan Signal Minder which is installed on my R1150 adds a significant current drain with the key off but the battery connected. The R1150's total key-off drain on the battery in stock configuration is 2.5 mA. With the Kisan installed the key-off drain is 3 times as high, about 7.5 mA. It may not seem like a lot but it adds up to about a 15% discharge of the battery over 10 days.

 

I finally got tired of having to pull the Kisan or recharge the battery if I travelled so I modified the SM-5 today to cut its key-off power to ZERO.

 

The problem is that the Kisan connects directly to the battery on its pin 2 (but also has a connection to the Load Relief relay on its pin 1) so that it can operate the Hazard Flasher lights with the key off. I don't need the key-off-hazard-flasher function so I opened up the Kisan, cut pin 2 internally, jumpered that connection to pin 1 (photo below). The current drain of the Kisan is now 0 mA with the key off and the PC680 can sit connected for a week and only lose 2-3% of its charge. Total time for the modification was about 15 minutes.

RB

 

[PAS]

PM sent.

[roger 04 rt]

Roger I would like to do the same to mine (03 R1150RT with SM-5)

Could you be a bit more detailed on how to get to it. This was installed by a previous owner. I am also using the PC 680.

 

Thanks

 

Paul, The SM-5 is in the middle row, right hand side, of the electrical box. Carefully lift it up and you'll see a grey U-shaped release lever that wraps around the connector. Press the middle of the top of the connector and the handle will release and rotate down. This will disengage the connector.

 

Once you get it out, there are end caps on the SM-5 that can be pried off. The are glued but the glue is weak. Once the end caps are off, the PCB pushes out.

 

When you solder a jumper between the two pins on the side opposite the photo, you need to keep the profile on the jumper low so that it doesn't short to the aluminum case.

 

That's all there is to it.

RB

[PAS]

Thanks RB. My clip is black so that was part of the problem. Got the end caps off but the board wont budge. I will have to think about it before I break something.

 

Do all the other functions work except for the flashers with key off?

[roger 04 rt]

Everything works fine, as advertised. You just have to have the key on to have the flashers work.

 

The glue is sticking the pcb to the aluminum. I used a knife to gently crack that seal.

[d'Maineac]

I thought I saw something on Odyssey's site saying to never go over 15v during charging; maybe it was 16? Do you have a link to the specs you reference? I have a PC680 that's about a year old on this RT I just got in January. I also have the SM5, but with only one key, I might just want to leave those flashers on if I want to get under the seat. I'll just keep it charged in the winter. I haven't noticed any voltage issues, but I'm probably riding it too much. BTW, if you bring out those 2 leads you snipped (they're 2 now) to a mini switch, you can disconnect the SM5 during the winter and reconnect it when you're done storing it. It's kinda handy to have the flashers stay on if you need to pull your key out of the ignition.

[roger 04 rt]

The switch sounds like a good idea.

 

The manual is here, page 17: http://www.odysseybattery.com/documents/US-ODY-TM-001_0411_000.pdf

[d'Maineac]

I thought I'd seen this before. On page 16:

 

"It is extremely important to ensure the charge voltage does not

exceed 15V."

 

 

[d'Maineac]

The part I quoted was in the 'manual charger' section. Your 15.5v is the theoretical cycling voltage when the battery is at 0 degrees C (from the temperature compensation chart).

 

"I finally got tired of having to pull the Kisan or recharge the battery if I travelled"

 

You have to recharge it if you travel? I measured mine this morning having sat a day and a half: 13.95V (Fluke 111). I dunno, I guess I'm not getting it. I push the start button, it starts right up.

 

Ride, enjoy, put it away. Repeat.

[PAS]

I still couldnt get mine out of the aluminum case. You must of got a loose one. Dont see any traces of glue visible either.

[roger 04 rt]

Once you get the end caps off, the pcb does slide in the aluminum extrusion. The only thing holding it is glue. Not sure how best to release it.

[PAS]

After doing this mod I can no longer change the signal time interval from the fastest duration. Does anyone else have this problem?

[roger 04 rt]

Paul, I went and tested all programming modes on mine. I am able to set 8 second, 30 second and 45 second turn signal cancellation. Also, I can select hi, dim or off for the running light modes.

 

For the turn signal timing, I hold the appropriate button down, turn on the key, wait 2 seconds, release the key and then test the function.

 

My PCB doesn't have the ECO wiring that yours has on the bottom so maybe that's got something to do with it. RB

[LGannon]

Can't believe I'm only seeing this now, explains a lot and why my Odyssey keeps draining :-(