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brand new battery dead?

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Old 05-07-2010, 05:53 PM
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Default brand new battery dead?

so, bought my bike last spring,and when i got it the bike started fine by itself. when i bought it the guy had it sitting plugged in with an onboard auto battery tender. took it home and left it unplugged for about 2 weeks, after that the bike wouldnt start under its own power. I had to let it sit on the battery tender for a while before it would start. then it turned into having to boost it with a battery pack (tendering it would not work), to only running properly (w/o cutting out) with the battery pack hooked up. i went out and bought a new battery this winter and put it in the bike and let it sit for about 2 months with no tender on it, when i put the battery in it started the bike with ease. so i put the bike in storage inside a heated basement. i went to pull it out yesterday and when i put the key in and turned it on, no power at all, not even my clock. so i took it to my new place in a truck, and boosted it off a lawnmower battery. the bike started with ease and stayed running no problem (with the lawnmower stil piggybacked onto my new battery), let it get up to heat (90deg) and tried taking the booster cables off and it started to sputter and my hid kit shut off and tried to refire a few times. so i shut it down put in my onboard tender, hooked it up and let it charge over night and all day. just got home tried to fire it up and it will only kick the starter in a rachet noise (not enough power) lights come on (low beam hid), fuel pump seems slower but still primes. i have searched and searched and i cant find anyhting with my exact problems, with having a battery tender hooked up on board, not out of the bike. im wondering if its the r/r or maybe my generator/stator? if i have a tender piggybacked while installed in my bike would the r/r regulate the power that my tender is putting in? what are your thoughts
 

Last edited by fairman86; 05-07-2010 at 06:51 PM.
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Old 05-07-2010, 06:27 PM
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This is obviously a bad charging system.
 
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Old 05-08-2010, 12:22 AM
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How can you say its a bad charging system? He hasn't ridden the bike with the new battery. Sounds to me like you have something grounded somewhere draining the battery. Or you could have received a faulty battery. Take it somewhere and have it tested.
 

Last edited by teko1020; 05-08-2010 at 12:28 AM.
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Old 05-08-2010, 12:53 PM
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alrighty well, i do have an ignition interlock alarm, so that could be draining my battery over the coarse of 2 months, but when i put the battery in the bike 2 months ago i started it and it fired and ran perfectly. shut it off left the alarm off ( but i guess it stil drains for the remote signal) then put it away and didnt touch it, just pulled it out and it had a completly dead batery, then i tenderd it while still installed on the bike, after leaving it for a night on the tender, the tender says its charged but it wont crank the starter more than a sec in a rachet noise (so not enought cranking amps), i was woundering if it could be my r/r regulating my tender and telling it that my battery is charged? when its not? im going to take the battery out in a few mins and take it to partsource to get it tested, and ill go from there. if its not a bad battery im going to tender it out of the bike with the same tender. like i said the tender is an onboad one that says its fully automatic. you leave it hooked up to the battery and it lives in the rear tail, ou just take the rear seat off and plug an extention cord into it. ill take a pic as well and post it. but right now im ruling out the bikes charging system cuz i havnt let the bike try and charge it. i havnt been able to take it out for a drive and i dont wanna st there reving it over 5000 in my parking lot BUT when i boost the bike with a fully charged lawnmower battery i have to leave it hooked up, and the bike will run perfectly!?!?! If i unhook the lawnmower battery from my bike battery my bike will start to die and sputter
 

Last edited by fairman86; 05-08-2010 at 01:01 PM.
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Old 05-08-2010, 01:03 PM
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sorry if im repeating my self i just want to make sure everyone know exactly whats happening thanks for your help!
 
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Old 05-08-2010, 02:21 PM
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i was woundering if it could be my r/r regulating my tender and telling it that my battery is charged? when its not?
No.

It sounds like either the tender or the battery.
You may have some parasitic draw from the alarm, tho, also. (in addition)

The reason your bike is dying while idling is because the battery is dead. It doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the charging system. Most bikes won't charge at idle and won't even stay running.
 
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Old 05-08-2010, 04:20 PM
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Originally Posted by kilgoretrout
The reason your bike is dying while idling is because the battery is dead. It doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the charging system. Most bikes won't charge at idle and won't even stay running.
yup, because the bike is injected the computer needs proper voltage to run its maps properly, taking away the proper voltage and its starts reading and sending inproper signals causing it to start leaning out popping and sputtering. as far as i know the charging system starts charging at 5000rpm so sitting at idle wont do diddly squat, but some other news i took my battery in to get it tested, was only showing 72cca and a battery life scale showed that it had 0% lol so im going to have to take it back to the store i got it from and askem what the heck it up with that! another thing i realized is that the battery says proper charging instructions are charging at0.9A for 5-10hrs my tender charges at 1.5a not 2 sure but in my mind thats charging it to quick i wonder if that would have any effects on the battery
 
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Old 05-08-2010, 05:10 PM
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I don't know.... 1.5a isn't that much. I wouldn't think it would lead to a problem.
Looks like your battery definitely sucks, tho...lol..

Btw, when you said:
alrighty well, i do have an ignition interlock alarm
Do you mean one of those ignition interlock breathalyzer things?
If so, that could definitely be draining the battery while it's just sitting.
 
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Old 05-08-2010, 05:55 PM
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Originally Posted by kilgoretrout
Do you mean one of those ignition interlock breathalyzer things?
If so, that could definitely be draining the battery while it's just sitting.
hahahaha my buddy had one of those in his car, used to tease the **** outta him cuz while your driving it will randomly make you test again to make sure no one blew in it to start your car and sent you on your way.

but no, its a merlin alarm, no speaker, tilt sensor that doesnt seem to work or is disengaged, also is hooked up to the rear taillight to display arm/unarm blinks, and has the ignition interlock system, so while the alarm is engaged no matter if you have the key or not it still wont start. i got the bike with it installed, and cant find the installation diagram and havn't torn the bike down far enough to find all the wiring and check it out, but it seems to work fine, so as for right now, im going to wait till monday and take my battery back to the store and hopefully get a new one and/or find out what happened to this one. once i get the new battery i will throw it in the bike and start it and test the voltage while running around 5500rpm to see if its around 14.5v if not then ill be replacing the r/r hopefully it doesnt have to come down to that.

another question, is there a way to test your battery auto-tender too see if its shutting off at the proper volts?


heres a little something i was thinkin on mounting in the filler panels between your gas tank and frontfaring (the black filler panels)

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Mini-Blue-LED-Vol...ht_1998wt_1165
 

Last edited by fairman86; 05-08-2010 at 06:16 PM.
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Old 05-08-2010, 06:04 PM
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Well in that case, your alarm is draining your battery when the bike is sitting. Alarms are active devices. Unless in sleep or valet mode, they're always drawing current. Armed or disarmed. The receiver has to be prepared for a signal from the key fob.

And as someone said, the stator doesn't provide enough power to charge the battery at idle. If my F3 wasn't ridden, the alarm drained the battery in 2-3 weeks. Drained it completely dry. If that happens enough, it will permanently damage the battery
 


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