Bad battery?

[Drew85]

My bike is dying at every stop only when the fans running. Had the battery load tested at 2 different auto parts stores and they said it was fine. Get it home and charge it, a week later its at 90%, another week later its at 85% and has stayed there for a couple weeks now (its not in the bike, just sitting on the bench), still shows over 12 volts. Is the battery any good?

 

[wildweasel_pt]

Battery looks to be dying your charging system may need a look as well if problem remains with a new battery. For what you say it should have got an internal resistance that its draining it. no way a battery wouldn't last at least a month with no relevant drop in voltage. Try with a good one and check how the bike reacts when the fan kicks in. Checking your charging system is the next step as it might have been it to kill your battery. there are numerous threads and a how to here in the forum to explain what im talking about.

 

[Drew85]

Battery looks to be dying your charging system may need a look as well if problem remains with a new battery. For what you say it should have got an internal resistance that its draining it. no way a battery wouldn't last at least a month with no relevant drop in voltage. Try with a good one and check how the bike reacts when the fan kicks in. Checking your charging system is the next step as it might have been it to kill your battery. there are numerous threads and a how to here in the forum to explain what im talking about.

Thanks for the info. I completely rewired the charging and starting systems on the bike over the winter, new R1 voltage regulator, thicker wiring, everything soldered, 4awg battery cables, cleaned starter and new brushes. I tested the v.r. and stator after rewiring and everything checked out. This battery was in the bike when I bought it 7 years ago(panasonic).
I was just wondering if this was normal for a good battery to drop to 85% when not in use, or if it means the battery is bad.

 

[m-cman]

My Odyssey just went out. It was in the bike when I bought it 7 years ago also. Don't know when it was initially put in service. You have received much more than average life on your battery. It is probably shot.

 

[alorio1]

Take it to Autozone fully charged and have them load test it......

 

[Drew85]

Take it to Autozone fully charged and have them load test it......

Autozone wouldn't load test it. Advance auto parts and Oreillys didn't have a problem doing it and both said it was good.

 

[alorio1]

Have you checked your voltage at the battery at idle and at 2500 RPMs ?
I'm assuming you already went thru this if you did the R1 mod.

http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=19108

 

[Drew85]

Finally got a chance to mess around with it.
I'm getting 12.6 volts at the battery without the bike running.
12.7-12.8 volts idling, warmed up with the fan on, will not stay running.
14.08 volts at 3000rpm with the fan on.

 

[jagco1]

I had the same problem for about a year mind was intermittent, I went through everything to. 3 battery's 3 r/r wiring. Come to find the my stator wiring was expose at the rubber boot. Sometimes it would be ok. I also did the r/r mod to. I hope this is not your problem to.

 

[Drew85]

I know the stator wiring is good, I just did the starter clutch and checked them out. I think the stator is bad. Went through a tank of gas yesterday, it would still run rough and die when warm without the fan running.

 

[alorio1]

Not normal for a battery to loose that much just sitting. I don't think it's your stator if you are getting 14 volts at higher RPMs. You might want to drain the fuel bowls on each carb for contamination. Open drain screw on each carb and drain fuel in a clear jar. Turn ignition switch on a couple of times for each carb so the fuel pump can run and flush out each carb. 7 years on a battery is pretty good and it would not hurt to replace it now since it is loosing voltage just sitting. I see no reason to change the stator, you seem to have a healthy charging system......

 

[Drew85]

Not normal for a battery to loose that much just sitting. I don't think it's your stator if you are getting 14 volts at higher RPMs. You might want to drain the fuel bowls on each carb for contamination. Open drain screw on each carb and drain fuel in a clear jar. Turn ignition switch on a couple of times for each carb so the fuel pump can run and flush out each carb. 7 years on a battery is pretty good and it would not hurt to replace it now since it is loosing voltage just sitting. I see no reason to change the stator, you seem to have a healthy charging system......

The battery always stayed at 12.6 volts. The battery charger I have checks the percentage of the battery and it went down to 85% after 2 weeks and stayed there. This was the whole reason for this thread was to find out if it was normal to do that.

 

[alorio1]

I know the stator wiring is good, I just did the starter clutch and checked them out. I think the stator is bad. Went through a tank of gas yesterday, it would still run rough and die when warm without the fan running.

The battery always stayed at 12.6 volts. The battery charger I have checks the percentage of the battery and it went down to 85% after 2 weeks and stayed there. This was the whole reason for this thread was to find out if it was normal to do that.

Thanks for correcting me, I guess I missed the whole point of this thread. I think you should change the stator too....LOL

 

[D-Max2012]

This is just my opinion, but i noticed you made mention (twice), that the bike would not keep running once the fan kicked in.. That's stating two things. 1) fan is energized - working normally and, 2)The bike is now hot.
My bike had an issue where as soon as it got up to temp, the engine would sputter then die. It would not run again till I let the engine cool off. I found out, through a similar this forum, that the Stator Pick-Up coil unit had suddenly gone bad (which happens to many people). It was a simple test to find out if that was the case. The Stator Pick-up connector (on my 91), is under the seat, two connector plug.. Black and Red (or Black and Orange) .
I took the old one and tested it while in the house with a heat gun. It started out at 100.3 ohms and quickly started jumping all over the place when a little heat was blown on it. It got to about 140 degrees and went to an Open Circuit reading and would not give me a reading until it went back down to about 85 degrees.

On my 91, the part number is "3UF-81670-00-00”


I could not afford the direct replacement, which was something like $293.00 or so... I found a replacement at RegulatorRectifier.com with the same part number, and soldered it to the existing wire. Cost me $43.00 and some time and effort.


Hope this helps...