milleplod
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My '55 plate RT has a battery-draining issue - I think.
The previous battery was only 6-weeks old. The bike had been parked in the garage for around a week, off the CTEK charger. Fancied a run out, it only just started, the battery was just about flat. I did a 30/40 mile ride, came home, my multimeter showed the battery at around 12.6v after an hour parked. Engine running, it showed 14 and a bit volts at 3k revs, so the alternator seems to be charging OK.
I checked it at 4.30pm - 12.6v
- " - 8.30pm - 12.51v
Next morning 8.00am - 12.3v
Meter showed 9.67v when cranking first time, then 9.4v second time straight after - bike started each time. I connected jump leads to the bike from a spare car battery - it spun over way faster than on its own battery, as expected.
I did a parasitic drain test and got 0.8mA, which I think is negligible - on initial connection, the meter shows 0.24 for a second or two, then 0.13, then settles on 0.8 steady.
Anyway, based on the voltage when cranking, I returned that battery for a refund. I've now fitted the Exide gel 12-19 I've mentioned in another thread. When fully charged, this one shows just under 10v for an instant when cranking.
It seems to be doing the same thing - ie draining fairly quickly, similar figures to those above. There's nothing extra connected to the bike - my Garmin mount is always disconnected from the battery when parked after I read that it can draw current even with no unit mounted on it. The 2 accessory sockets are both live with the key out, but I assume that's how they're meant to be, and there's nothing connected to them anyway.
I've disconnected the battery for tonight to see how it drains overnight compared to when connected. Am I missing anything, other than a better understanding of electricity...?! It's not a huge issue really, the bike's always in the garage overnight and usually on the charger, but it doesn't seem right that the battery drops too low to start it after 6/7 days.
Pete
The previous battery was only 6-weeks old. The bike had been parked in the garage for around a week, off the CTEK charger. Fancied a run out, it only just started, the battery was just about flat. I did a 30/40 mile ride, came home, my multimeter showed the battery at around 12.6v after an hour parked. Engine running, it showed 14 and a bit volts at 3k revs, so the alternator seems to be charging OK.
I checked it at 4.30pm - 12.6v
- " - 8.30pm - 12.51v
Next morning 8.00am - 12.3v
Meter showed 9.67v when cranking first time, then 9.4v second time straight after - bike started each time. I connected jump leads to the bike from a spare car battery - it spun over way faster than on its own battery, as expected.
I did a parasitic drain test and got 0.8mA, which I think is negligible - on initial connection, the meter shows 0.24 for a second or two, then 0.13, then settles on 0.8 steady.
Anyway, based on the voltage when cranking, I returned that battery for a refund. I've now fitted the Exide gel 12-19 I've mentioned in another thread. When fully charged, this one shows just under 10v for an instant when cranking.
It seems to be doing the same thing - ie draining fairly quickly, similar figures to those above. There's nothing extra connected to the bike - my Garmin mount is always disconnected from the battery when parked after I read that it can draw current even with no unit mounted on it. The 2 accessory sockets are both live with the key out, but I assume that's how they're meant to be, and there's nothing connected to them anyway.
I've disconnected the battery for tonight to see how it drains overnight compared to when connected. Am I missing anything, other than a better understanding of electricity...?! It's not a huge issue really, the bike's always in the garage overnight and usually on the charger, but it doesn't seem right that the battery drops too low to start it after 6/7 days.
Pete