Parasitic Battery Drain

44 magnum · Apr 16, 2009

Hey guys, I sent this as a PM but my recipient has a few too many msg's. A little help for the Dumb Kid here please?

Looks like i have one HELL of an electric sucker fish on the bike. With the key off, I'm getting 10 VDC between the positive batt term and the bike's positive lead.

Checked amount of resistance between the positive and negative leads of the bike. Infinate resistance. That tells me I have no shorts in the system, no?

Next thing, I read the voltage between the pos batt term and pos bike lead then started pulling fuses one by one 'til I found the one that makes the 10 volts go away. It's the Main fuse. That seemed a little weird, but I went ahead and cleaned the contacts, swapped fuses and still the same thing. Key out of the bike, Main fuse connected, 10 volts.

Where should I start next?

Thank you for your time!

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maleko89 · Apr 16, 2009

44, unplug the red wire connector that goes from the R/R to the harness. Put main fuse back in and see if you still read a voltage drop.

gamorg02 · Apr 16, 2009

maleko89 said:
44, unplug the red wire connector that goes from the R/R to the harness. Put main fuse back in and see if you still read a voltage drop.

mark, should there be 0 volts when the the key is off?

44 magnum · Apr 16, 2009

I would first like to preface this by telling you I've been guilty a time (or two) of over-thinking/analyzing things. That being said, here we go.

Next, I want to thank Morley, Donn (Lankeeyankee), Mark and Garrett for listening and giving feedback on this and the countless other things about which I wonder from time to time.

And finally, I'd like to thank the Academy. For their undying support of my creativity and expression of interpretive dance.... Shit. Hang on, wrong speech.

Okay Mark, after pulling the Regulator/Rectifier out of the circuit, I was still getting 4 volts. After thinking about this though, I'm wondering about the significance of the presense of a voltage drop across the battery term and the bike's lead. Wouldn't the more important measurement be amperage? Idk... So once again, someone smarter than I, should jump in here and set the Dumb Kid (me) straight. Anyhoo....

I swiped my buddy's multi-meter (his will measure current where mine won't) and found the System is only pulling 59 mA (.059). That seems pretty miniscule to me, how about you guys?

So let's sum up. After talking with Garrett on the phone for awhile, I'm hoping my original problem was simply a leaky battery that was allowed to go completely dry before I realized it. I believe this was either caused by just a manufacturer's defect OR from my Battery Tender Plus unit, helped it along by overcooking it. I suppose it could also have been a combination of the two.

I opted to leave the new, fully charged batt OFF the tender tonight in hopes all will be well in the mornng and I'm going to be enjoying the weather. I'll know here in a few hours!

Devin
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44 magnum · Apr 17, 2009

So much for optimism. Turned the key this morning, nothing. Pulled the meter out and the new batt's down to 5 volts now.

Mark you mentioned the regulator. Is it likely/possible that's where the drain is?

Others, your thoughts?

Thanks all.
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richwrench · Apr 17, 2009

After charging the battery, leave it dis-connected from the bike for the night & see if it goes dead again. If it does, there's an internal short in the battery & it's junk. I've had several of those in my fleet & they were fairly new AC Delco batteries. OTOH, 59mA seems kind of high for a bike. The rule of thumb for automobiles is 50mA maximum draw & modern autos have numerous onboard computers that your VMAX doesn't have. When you measured 59mA draw, did you have the r/r disconnected ?

maleko89 · Apr 17, 2009

You still have 4 volts leaving the battery even when R/R is disconnected? It sounds like it's shorting at the R/R and somewhere else then. Remove red wire from starter relay and re-test. If you still get a drain, remove ignition fuse, then fan, etc. until no more drain.

44 magnum · Apr 17, 2009

richwrench said:
After charging the battery, leave it dis-connected from the bike for the night & see if it goes dead again. If it does, there's an internal short in the battery & it's junk. I've had several of those in my fleet & they were fairly new AC Delco batteries. OTOH, 59mA seems kind of high for a bike. The rule of thumb for automobiles is 50mA maximum draw & modern autos have numerous onboard computers that your VMAX doesn't have. When you measured 59mA draw, did you have the r/r disconnected ?

Hey there Rich, thank you for jumping in here. Will do on the 'charge-n-leave' test for the battery. It's two days old, but stranger things have happened.

Ah, 50mA, very interesting, thank you! I completely agree with you about all the things the Vmax DOESN'T have. And no, that 59mA reading was with the regulator still plugged in. I forgot to mention that with it out of the circuit, it dropped to like 30 and change if I remember correctly. Maybe even as high as 39mA.

Still too high even with the reg out of the picture maybe?

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44 magnum · Apr 17, 2009

maleko89 said:
You still have 4 volts leaving the battery even when R/R is disconnected? It sounds like it's shorting at the R/R and somewhere else then. Remove red wire from starter relay and re-test. If you still get a drain, remove ignition fuse, then fan, etc. until no more drain.

Yeppers. After I unplugged it, it was still showing 4 volts, so will do on the starter relay, ignition fuse, fan, valve stems, turn signal fluid and muffler bearings.

Whew!! I have a lot of shit to do tonight!!!

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richwrench · Apr 17, 2009

just 2 more of my cents - don't use voltmeter to check for a draw - use an ammeter - if I have time when I get home I'll pull my battery terminal & post what my draw is.

maleko89 · Apr 17, 2009

Thanks Rich. I'll try that too.

Here's $.05 back.

richwrench · Apr 17, 2009

maleko89 said:
Thanks Rich. I'll try that too.

Here's $.05 back.

nickle back - isn't that a band ? :biglaugh:

richwrench · Apr 17, 2009

OK - just checked my bike - ZERO mA draw. Talk about primitive electronics ! Just to double check my meter I started & shut off my '98 F150 - to "wake up" the PCM & then dis-connected the battery cable & measured 183 mA. That will diminish greatly when the computer goes back into "sleep mode". FWIW I did measure .53 VDC between my battery & cable just to see what it was, but all that is is voltage potential - not an accurate draw test.

44 magnum · Apr 18, 2009

Thank you for doing that Rich.

As I sit here eating breakfast and getting ready to head to work, I'm thinking "Ooooooh shit". I'll give you the details later, but I managed to get it down to 29mA and was pretty proud of myself.

Sounds like I still have a problem. I haz a sad again.

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mabdcmb@yahoo.com · Apr 18, 2009

richwrench said:
OK - just checked my bike - ZERO mA draw. Talk about primitive electronics ! Just to double check my meter I started & shut off my '98 F150 - to "wake up" the PCM & then dis-connected the battery cable & measured 183 mA. That will diminish greatly when the computer goes back into "sleep mode". FWIW I did measure .53 VDC between my battery & cable just to see what it was, but all that is is voltage potential - not an accurate draw test.

+1 on the ZERO mA draw. I did the same test this winter as a comparison with my friends bike. Here is the link to that thread. http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=6770

I used a test light at first for a voltage test. It did not light during the test. I later used the multimeter and i measured .3 MICROAmps. Not milliAmps. My fluke measure MicroAmps which is uA instead of mA. When I had the meter down there I also did the V test and there was basically nothing registered. Then again, my bike is an 06 that is totally stock with hardly any miles

spyder13 · Apr 18, 2009

Try unpluging your Ignition switch to see if there is some leakage accross the contacts

44 magnum · Apr 18, 2009

I just got back from trailering the bike back from a test run. It was running fine then just quit. No voltage to the switch; no lights, nothing. The r/r appears to be burnt; it leaked dark brown stuff all over my exhaust.

Some of you may know/remember that I just powder coated some parts. Two of which were the passenger foot peg brackets. Could that be the problem with this mysterious drain? Maybe it's not grounded and that's what's causing it?

When I got it back in the garage I found the main fuse blown; there's my lack of voltage. I'm going to grind the powder off where the r/r mounts and get another one heading my way.
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maleko89 · Apr 18, 2009

Did you take off the R/R before powder coating?

Check the connection between the stator and R/R. When that gets dirty or bad both the stator and R/R can over heat. You might want to test the stator too.

44 magnum · Apr 19, 2009

No 'cause I wanted it to match the rest of the bike!! Kidding... yeah, I took it off. Matter of fact I just left it hanging there.

I need to run back over to my buddy's house to get my manual. I don't know how to check some of the things you've suggested, but I will do so. Thanks Mark.

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maleko89 · Apr 19, 2009

The connector is the one that connects three white wires from stator to the three whites of R/R. It's on the left side behind V-max side cover.

Test 1: Test resistance of each white wire to ground. Should be no continuity.

Test 2: Test resistance of between each of the three white wires (3 tests). Should read continuity.

Test 3: Switch meter to AC volts. Connect leads to any two of the white wires. Rev to 5000 rpms. Reading should be at least 50 volts. Repeat for two other tests. Replace stator if all three tests aren't the same or less than 50 volts. Mine was about 75 VAC at 5000 rpms.

While you're in there, remove connector. Clean/solder each terminal and then put heat shrink around each connector and then a bigger one around all three.

Parasitic Battery Drain

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