Battery drains with ignition off

[shredex]

I did the standard test with the removal of the negative connector of the battery and connecting the light tester thing to the battery and the connector, but the light doesnt shine.
So appearantly nothing is pulling from the battery but the battery still drains while it sits.
im going to do another test tonight. im going to remove the battery from my bike and let it sit, and see if it drains on its own.
The water levels in the battery are fine.
the charging system works fine.
I re-did a bunch of the connectors and made them tight and waterproof.
I even replaced a few cables.
but the battery still drains while it sits.
It didnt do this until reasently. I used to be able to wake up in the morning and just fire the bike right up. now I have to let it charge for a few minutes each morning until the battery gets to about 13.80v to fire it up.
its not draining as bad as it was after I re-did the wiring. when I woke up this morning and checked my battery it was at 13.44v, but it wasnt enough to fire the bike up.

im hoping to get to the bottom of this and find out if my battery is bad or something with my wiring.


oh yea, and I almost got the front up with a roll on on my fzr last night. I got incouraged by a few new friends on there cbrs and gsxr doing wheelies. I still cant get the front up though! and I dont know when im at 6k rpms because the digital guage is off so thats one reason that I cant do a pop the clutch wheelie.

[reelrazor]

You need to do a load test on your battery.

13.44Vdc should be plenty to fire it up. Would be plenty if the battery has good load capacity.

If the battery load tests well, you need to think about re-brushing your starter.

Your 13.8Vdc to 13.44Vdc overnight isn't drain, I am thinking. More like charge 'rebound'.

[yamaha_george]

S,
when you take the battery out look at the very bottom if there is build up of lead waste from the plates it will short the plates out slowly but allow the battery to charge with what looks like the right amount but be very weak in current availability.

If the build up is minor you can empty the battery and clean it with distilled water/ sode water and shake the crap out. Flush it a few times . Then put back the correct specific gravity acid solution and then recharge the battery SLOWLY until fully charged.

Rapid charging is the usual cause of this lead waste build up .

[shredex]

You need to do a load test on your battery.

13.44Vdc should be plenty to fire it up. Would be plenty if the battery has good load capacity.

If the battery load tests well, you need to think about re-brushing your starter.

Your 13.8Vdc to 13.44Vdc overnight isn't drain, I am thinking. More like charge 'rebound'.

13.44 would be enough to fire if as soon as I turned the key to "On" the battery level didnt go down to about 12.5v

and I even pull my light and gauge fuses so that it doesnt take from the battery when I turn it on.

I got stuck after school today and spent 1 and a half hours trying to push start my bike. I finally got it, but it wasnt without hard work.

[reelrazor]

You need to do a load test on your battery.

13.44Vdc should be plenty to fire it up. Would be plenty if the battery has good load capacity.

If the battery load tests well, you need to think about re-brushing your starter.

Your 13.8Vdc to 13.44Vdc overnight isn't drain, I am thinking. More like charge 'rebound'.

13.44 would be enough to fire if as soon as I turned the key to "On" the battery level didnt go down to about 12.5v

and I even pull my light and gauge fuses so that it doesnt take from the battery when I turn it on.

I got stuck after school today and spent 1 and a half hours trying to push start my bike. I finally got it, but it wasnt without hard work.

Even still, the battery either can't take load current, or your starter is drawing too much current. Everybody's battery drops by that much when under normal electrical load w/o the charging system making up for it. Mine will start if the battery is showing 11's.

Load test it. (the local autozone/advance auto etc. will do it for free).

[shredex]

Load test it. (the local autozone/advance auto etc. will do it for free).

there isnt a way that I can load test it myself?

[reelrazor]

Load test it. (the local autozone/advance auto etc. will do it for free).

there isnt a way that I can load test it myself?

Yeah, if you have a load tester..which is basically a carbon pile to draw current at a high rate and a meter to measure drop while it is on the load.

You can buy load testers for ? $30 or so. Harbor freight has this unit for $49;

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... mber=91129

and a 15 buck one but it only draws to 100 amps. You need to get one that exceeds the amp hour rating of the battery. I am not sure what the ahr is for our batteries.

[shredex]

Iv got an Energizer battery, which I didnt know they made motorcycle batteries.
and I have it on charge right now and I just checked the voltage of it so far and its at 14.33v is this ok? iv never seen my battery get such high voltage.
and how important is the little ventilation tube that hangs on the side of the battery? because I never put mine on.

[reelrazor]

Iv got an Energizer battery, which I didnt know they made motorcycle batteries.
and I have it on charge right now and I just checked the voltage of it so far and its at 14.33v is this ok? iv never seen my battery get such high voltage.

It is as high as it needs to be. Does your charger have a computerized shutoff? ("intelligent charging") or just an ammeter that works it's way down to zero (where/when you are supposed to disconnect it yourself)? All batteries rebound some from freshly charged down to a 'normal' state.

and how important is the little ventilation tube that hangs on the side of the battery? because I never put mine on.

It's not important to the battery itself at all. But, caustic vapors come out of it (hydrogen and sulfuric acid along with some trace lead) as it is charging. It's a pretty good idea to have that hose on it and running down to exit under the bike, for the health of your frame and electrical connections in the area of the vent.

[shredex]

I got my battery load checked,
the thing was reading 1amp....or -1amp... it was a big digital meter and it had a "-" a few spaces before the 1...so I dont know if it means negitive or not

but is 1amp good enough?

anyways, I got a new battery and its sitting for 30 min, and then I will charge it for 5 hours. hopefully it will work and Ill be on my way tomorrow!

[PAFizzer600]

http://www.yuasabatteries.com/motor_battery.asp
http://ezinearticles.com/?Checking-and- ... &id=189427

Amps matter if the battery is old, then you should be concerned with the amps from the battery and the state of all of the cells.
Also, get a hygrometer. It's the best tool for a moto battery ever. Every time you charge a battery it degrades further.

[reelrazor]

I got my battery load checked,
the thing was reading 1amp....or -1amp... it was a big digital meter and it had a "-" a few spaces before the 1...so I dont know if it means negitive or not

but is 1amp good enough?

anyways, I got a new battery and its sitting for 30 min, and then I will charge it for 5 hours. hopefully it will work and Ill be on my way tomorrow!

Yeah, I dunno. Most load testers have a big red button, or a spring loaded toggle switch. You hook the leads up, it gives a reading and then you hold the switch/button for a ten seconds or so and th emeter either holds close to static voltage (battery good) or the meter sags (battery load weak/bad).

A battery can read good voltage(12.5-14Vdc) and have good specific gravity (hydrometer) but still not be load capable.

[shredex]

I hope the battery I bought is the right battery. its a 12A-A