Battery drains...

erb224 · Posted: August 29, 2007, 1:24 pm Post subject: Battery drains...

Hello All,

I'm new to the motorcycle world... I bought a 83 heritage special from a friend of my Dad's. The guy said that he thought the rotor or stator was bad when I bought it.

Anyway, will a bad rotor/stator drain the battery when the bike isn't running? I bought a brand new battery, rode the bike a little around the house and the next time I got on it the battery was dead. I just want to make sure I'm going in the right direction.

Thanks,
Ed

xsjohn · Posted: August 29, 2007, 1:48 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

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www.650rider.com/index...opic&t=922

Here is a few previous posts on charging........There is a bunch if you look under forum and electrical..........check rotor first.......rotor shouldnt dtain battery when its off.....stator either........short somewhere....Check battery when its running to see if its charging.......also whenits off disconnect the positive and barely tounch it to the terminal.....see if there is a slight spark.....shoundn't be one.....if so it is drainig.....?

John

erb224 · Posted: August 29, 2007, 1:59 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

I've been poking around the forums... I read the previous posts, but none of them mentioned that the battery died while the bike wasn't running. Finding a short will be interesting.

I've got a long weekend ahead of me so I'll have time to investigate more. I'll let you know what I find.

weekendrider · Posted: August 29, 2007, 2:19 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

erb224 wrote:

I bought a brand new battery, rode the bike a little around the house and the next time I got on it the battery was dead. Thanks,
Ed

Did you charge the new battery before using it?
If not maybe it didn't have a full charge to begin with?

erb224 · Posted: August 29, 2007, 2:56 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

Yes, the battery was fully charged.

erb224 · Posted: May 12, 2008, 10:55 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

Don't know where the summer went last year but I never got this bike totally fixed.

I've checked all of my wiring and made sure my all my connections are clean. The batter holds charge now, so that is good.

Here is my new issue: When I start the bike the headlight doesn't always turn on. When I rev it up it comes on and the neutral light definitely is brighter. I assume there is something amiss with my charging system

This bike has sat for a couple of years.... Should I just ride it a while (not too far from home and see if it clears itself up?

whynot2 · Posted: May 15, 2008, 10:39 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

Here's a really dumb question, did you check the brushes? As far as the headlight issue, is the switch housing tight against the bar? Check your ground? greg

xsjohn · Posted: May 15, 2008, 10:46 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

Could be the headlight relay.....shuts off the headlight for starting.....at least the first start attempt.........xsjohn

erb224 · Posted: May 16, 2008, 9:29 am Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

whynot - There are no dumb questions. I am such a newbie at this. I haven't looked at the brushes yet. I just got the battery to hold charge. Now I'm moving on to the next thing.

I thought that if the headlight comes on it's producing some kind of charge and if it didn't I would have a real problem (aka bad rotor). Am I mistaken?

I'm borrowing some equipment from my father-inlaw tonight to test out the charging system.

Retiredgentleman · Posted: May 16, 2008, 12:20 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

erb224; You need to do some tests to confirm that your alternator is positively(little pun) charging, then you can move on to testing other problems. Put a voltmeter across the battery terminals..........engine idling should have about 13.5 volts.Rev engine to 2500 RPM, should have about 14.5 volts. Another test is to measure the voltage between the 2 brushes............with engine idling should be about 9.5 to 10 volts, as you rev engine to 2500 RPM this voltage will decrease to 6 to 7 volts. If these tests are good then it means your charging system is working OK.

erb224 · Posted: May 16, 2008, 1:02 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

Am I right that the headlight wouldn't turn on if it wasn't charging a little? I've read about the saftey relay for the headlight and that's why I'm thinking it must be charging.

I understand there are requirements for minimum charge to maintain battery the battery. I'm just hoping that I don't need to invest too much (e.g. rotor replacement), or I may have an xs650 for sale Sad

erb224 · Posted: May 16, 2008, 10:52 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

I checked the bike and it wasn't charging at all. So I took the side cover off and removed the brushes... One was significantly shorter than the other (half the size).

When I put them back in I switched them. Started the bike and got 13.5v at idle. The bike is now charging and I'll be going to my local Yamaha dealer to see if they have new brushes, if they don't I'll be placing an order at mikes.

Thanks for the help!

Retiredgentleman · Posted: May 16, 2008, 11:21 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

You say the bike is charging, does the voltage at the battery increase to 14.5 volts when you rev engine to 2500 RPM?
What is the condition of the copper slip rings on the rotor. If they are dull colour, use some fine emery paper, 600 grit, hold on the rings and rotate by hand. Slip rings need to be bright and shiny to have low resistance path.
By the way did you ever measure the resistance from slip ring to slip ring with brushes removed?

kingwj · Posted: May 17, 2008, 9:32 am Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

That was easy. Something else to check when the charging gremlin comes to visit.

erb224 · Posted: May 17, 2008, 12:46 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

The most I can get is 14.0V. I'm guessing that is because I have a bad brush.

The rings on the rotor were ok I think. I'll check that out when I get my new brushes.

I went about 20 miles on the bike yesterday, checked the battery voltage today and it was higher than yesterday. The voltage with the key off was 12.69v.

WHY DOES IT ALWAYS RAIN ON SATURDAYS? I need to move south Smile

xsjohn · Posted: May 17, 2008, 1:22 pm Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

Put a couple of led's in the tail light.....will help quite a bit......xsjohn

Retiredgentleman · Posted: May 18, 2008, 12:16 am Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

14.0 volts is marginal,should be 14.5 volts. Could be a rotor that is weakening or the voltage regulator is not working perfectly. As John says reducing the load with LED's will help. Another way to reduce alternator load is to change the headlight. Many headlights seem to be 55 watt low beam which draws over 4 amps..............change to a H6024 Halogen that is 40 watt low beam and it draws only 3 amps.

xsjohn · Posted: May 18, 2008, 12:28 am Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

Retired .....is that something different than the mikes Halogen headlight.....just put one in and did notice something different in starting...although with the headlight off starting it shouldn't make a difference..doesn't quite seen to charge as good as it used too...a great light for a change though..........xsjohn

Retiredgentleman · Posted: May 18, 2008, 12:46 am Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

John; The headlights at mikesxs are 55 watt halogen which will give very good lighting, but they would be drawing over 4 amps. The H6024 Halogen is 40 watt low beam and draws only 3 amps. Gives very good light and saves 1 amp of load from the alternator. Bought mine at Walmart for $16.77.

xsjohn · Posted: May 18, 2008, 12:51 am Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

Cool .....will do........just a plug in replacement correct.......xsjohn

Retiredgentleman · Posted: May 18, 2008, 12:57 am Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

Yea for sure, just plug in. My old sealed beam headlight looked like it was 30 years old and gave a yellow low quality light. This new headlamp just seems amazing in comparison. Getting older.............so maybe I need more light.

xsjohn · Posted: May 18, 2008, 1:00 am Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

Dumb question......walmart 40 wat low beam bulb will fit right into mikes halogen headlight....xsjohn

Retiredgentleman · Posted: May 18, 2008, 1:05 am Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

John; The H6024 is the headlight and bulb together, like a sealed beam.............I guess thats not what you want.

xsjohn · Posted: May 18, 2008, 1:14 am Post subject: Re: Battery drains...

Ok....dang nothing is simple any more.......maybe I do if charging becomes a problem......noted the number of the bulb you mentioned and wish I had been more attentive because you have mentioned this before......do have a headlight cut out switch that I run for a while till I feel the cops are not around...just a habit I guess from long ago....have a good battery but the heavier headlight will eventually rear its ugly neck I am sure.......thanks...xsjohn

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