Battery draining issues, any common problems?

[Ladioviro]

I was bought a new battery for my ‘98 r1100r because it had trouble starting and the voltage was dropping way too fast after charging. Down at 12.45 ish after two or three days. 

 

Same thing happening now with the new one. Is there anything that commonly drains it? No added extras on the bike, clock is working. 

 

It’s reading 14v when the engine is running, and it’s at around 10v on startup, that’s all normal right? 

 

Cranking is is really slow though. Turning the key to ignition shaves off .10 volts by itself. 

 

Don't know much about stator/starter/alternator/regulator stuff. 

 

Temperature isn’t too cold in the shed, 10 degrees maybe 

 

Anyone in ireland want to buy a bike ?

[Ladioviro]

I’ll research how to measure parasitic drain and try that but I’ll still have to find the culprit right?

[dirtrider]

Morning Ladioviro

 

Same thing happening now with the new one. Is there anything that commonly drains it? No added extras on the bike, clock is working. --  Any number of things can cause a patristic drain. The usual is added accessories (but you say you don't have any of those). Another cause is if your motorcycle has a Kisan signal minder in the fuse box to control your turn signals. You might take a look to see if you have one of those installed. 

 

Your 1100R bike should have around (or slightly under) a 1.9mA  draw with the key in both the (R) & (OFF) position.

 

If your motorcycle has an alarm then it can have considerably higher drain & even higher yet with the alarm set. 

 

It’s reading 14v when the engine is running, and it’s at around 10v on startup, that’s all normal right? -- Actually 14v is on the high side of normal so charging output sounds good.   10.0v during engine cranking is to the low side but still within the normal range cranking on a cold engine (you don't want to see it any lower than 10.0v though).

 

Cranking is is really slow though. Turning the key to ignition shaves off .10 volts by itself. – This might be indicating a starter problem, or a low battery cranking amp capacity, or a starter cable voltage drop, or extremely thick engine oil on a cold morning.

 

Don't know much about stator/starter/alternator/regulator stuff. – Not a whole lot to know as you will still have to dig & test to find your problem.

  

Temperature isn’t too cold in the shed, 10 degrees maybe—That is still cool enough to cause some  thick oil drag during cold starting.

 

How does it crank over after riding the bike then stopping for short while then re-starting? 

 

[dirtrider]

43 minutes ago, Ladioviro said:

I’ll research how to measure parasitic drain and try that but I’ll still have to find the culprit right?

 

Morning Ladioviro

 

Not a lot to it, first remove fuse number 5 from the fuse box (so engine cranks but doesn't start).

 

Next, just put your voltmeter on the 12v DC scale showing at least 2 decimal points to the right of the main voltage number. Then put one probe on the battery (+) post (not the cable at the post but actually on the lead post itself), then put the other probe on the large post on the starter solenoid where the large  (+) cable attaches (you need a good clean resistance free connection here). Now crank engine & see what the voltage reads during engine cranking.

 

Next do the same for the (-) cable,  put one probe on the battery (-) post (not the cable at the post but actually on the lead post itself), then put the other probe on the starter case (again, to a clean bare spot with a good resistance free connection), you need a good resistance free connection here. Now crank engine & see what the voltage reads during engine cranking.

 

By not paying attention to voltmeter polarity you will see a negative voltage reading on one cable & positive reading on the other but that means nothing as ALL you need is the actual voltage number. 

 

You probably want to see  'well'  under a volt of voltage drop during engine cranking with under .5 volts being much better & anything over a volt of drop pointing to a cable or cable attachment issue. (the lower the better when it comes to cable voltage drop)

 

 

 

[Ladioviro]

3 hours ago, dirtrider said:

 

Morning Ladioviro

 

Not a lot to it, first remove fuse number 5 from the fuse box (so engine cranks but doesn't start).

 

Next, just put your voltmeter on the 12v DC scale showing at least 2 decimal points to the right of the main voltage number. Then put one probe on the battery (+) post (not the cable at the post but actually on the lead post itself), then put the other probe on the large post on the starter solenoid where the large  (+) cable attaches (you need a good clean resistance free connection here). Now crank engine & see what the voltage reads during engine cranking.

 

Next do the same for the (-) cable,  put one probe on the battery (-) post (not the cable at the post but actually on the lead post itself), then put the other probe on the starter case (again, to a clean bare spot with a good resistance free connection), you need a good resistance free connection here. Now crank engine & see what the voltage reads during engine cranking.

 

By not paying attention to voltmeter polarity you will see a negative voltage reading on one cable & positive reading on the other but that means nothing as ALL you need is the actual voltage number. 

 

You probably want to see  'well'  under a volt of voltage drop during engine cranking with under .5 volts being much better & anything over a volt of drop pointing to a cable or cable attachment issue. (the lower the better when it comes to cable voltage drop)

 

 

 

Thanks for that, very helpful. I went to try it but now my oil and battery light won’t turn off and the engine only clicks and won’t turn at all. Must’ve done something. . .

 

to the fuse box I go