VFRDiscussion ARCHIVE / READ-ONLYREAD-ONLY

Completely dead battery ?

17 posts Started 1 Apr 2012 Last recovered post 3 May 2012 Wayback Machine snapshot 23 May 2012

#1
Good Day,
Got a really wierd problem with my 85 VF1000r...started it yesterday, no problem, went to start it today, minor fuel pump noise then a click as if the battery was flat, and the dash lights went out.  I don't think I left the ignition on, anyway tried to charge the battery, to no avail. I can only get lights if the charger is in supply mode. Off the charger the lights will come on in park, brakelight and indicators work. When I switch on the main lights there is a very faint glow from the element and the tail lights are very dim. It would appear to be a completely nackered battery as it does nort seem to take a charge and the charger comes up with an error light.
Can a battery go from working to completely useless overnight or do I have a worse problem than that?

Thanks in advance.
#2
Unusual, but possible--- You've checked all connections and grounds?
#4
short circuit on main voltage probably

happened to me, starter switch positive terminal grounded itself to the frame, flat battery within hours, such state usually damaged acid batteries, I was lucky having an odyssey drycell battery which came back to itself after some time...
#5
Thanks, for the info. Being a bit thick when it comes to vehicle electrics, how do I go about testing this without checking all the wiring and connections?
I'll start stripping it down over the long weekend.
#6
look for melted wires and connectors first
#7
Batteries can suddenly fail, its happened to me a couple of times when I've been to the mall and the battery is dead when I try to come home. Stuff can drop off the plates and cause an internal short to one of the cells.
#8
Did you take a multimeter and see what kind of voltage you are getting with the charger on it and off? What amps are you charging it at?
#9
Thanks for the pointers.

I've just taken the seat off. No melted wires and nothing smells funny. The main positive from the solenoid seems a bit soft/pliable at the ends, I would have thought this should be quite stiff, given the thickness. The fuse on the solenoid is intact. The battery seems to be storing some power, I can occasionally get the dash lights on (seems to have a delay or something reseting).
After it trips? Sometimes, if I switch off the ignition unplug the connector by the solenoid and replug the connector, I can get the dash lights back, however as soon as I put load i.e main lights (low load from parking lights or indicators is ok) or hit the button there is a soft click from either the solenoid or something very near to it and the dash lights go off.
I'll do some more in depth fiddling tomorrow and try and get another battery.

Yoshi
11.4 V across the battery with charger off and ignition off.
13-13.5 V with charger on.
14.5 V with charger on and ignition on.

0.2 V across the battery with ignition on and dash lights off.


Thanks again
#10
Battery is most likely dead. If the voltage drops that much as soon as you try to draw power. You could leave it on the charger at a low amp setting and see if it crawls its way back up to 12.5-13V, but I don't think it's going to work.
#11
Thanks, I'll try and borrow a battery from a mates bike shop before splashing out on an odyssey as per wlodek's suggestion. I have these in my 888 and BM and they have given no problems.

Cheers
#12
You probably have an internal short inside the battery. When that happens, they go bad instantly.
#13
Thanks for all the pointers.
Borrowed a battery from a mate, started no problem. I must say I was really surprised a battery could fail that quickly.

Thanks again
#14
I was riding down the road one day, had been riding for hours with no problem. Stopped for gas, bike would not restart. Dead short between two cells in the battery. Boom! Done!
#15

[image: View Post]Veefer800Canuck, on 02 April 2012 - 12:24 PM, said:

I was riding down the road one day, had been riding for hours with no problem. Stopped for gas, bike would not restart. Dead short between two cells in the battery. Boom! Done!

Had the same thing happen to me. Started fine, rode 100 miles, stopped for gas, dead...
#16
You must have really bad "gas" in the colonies :laugh:
Thanks again to everyone for the help.
End of thread · 17 posts recovered Wayback Machine snapshot 23 May 2012