Possible deaddying battery voltage questions

Ok, so I really have no idea how old the battery I have in my '03 is. I purchased the bike about September of last year. Anyway... the start of things:

Before I parked the bike for the winter, by friend took it out for a day trip. I think the temps were in the 80's or so that weekend. On his way back home, the bike wouldn't start. All the lights came on, but would not turn over. He push started it, and it fired up. I guess a little later sitting in traffic it just died on him. It did this a couple more times, and each time he had to push start it. He finally got it back to my house, and I parked it for the winter.

I started doing some research and read that during the summer you could possibly kill a weaker battery with the stress of the electrical requirements (or something to that effect), because with the headlights on, the tail light, then the fan kicking on and off, and then the added brake light and turn signals.

Fast forward to today: I let the battery sit on the battery tender off and on for the past month. Each time I go out to check the voltage, it's around 12.3-12.5. Most times it fires up. Today, after letting the battery sit for 2 days on the tender, I took the battery to Autozone to have them load test the battery. the guy said it seemed to be fine. So I took it back home and put it in the bike. Checked to voltage, and it was about 12.5. I turned the ignition on, but did not start it, and watched the voltage drop to 11.5. I tried to fire the bike up, but no dice.

I'm curious if that is a normal number, or if my battery is indeed toast.

Sorry if that seems like along post, but I'm, still new here. :)

Check the charging system to be safe.

Those are classic signs of a battery that no longer pulls its weight.

Replace it. :sleep:

Check the charging system to be safe.

Those are classic signs of a battery that no longer pulls its weight.

Replace it. :sleep:

I've been checking connections and such as I go. I know it had the recall done, and the stator and R/R connections all look good. I'm definitely going to save up for a VFRness, hopefully later this year. I was also thinking of pulling the R/R and making sure the stuff on the backside was new and working correctly. I have a tube of silver stuff used for computer heatsinks.

Get a new cheap battery, they should be 12.5~13V without ignition or anything.

If it drops below 12V by just turning the key on, then you know the battery is a goner.

The draw is far to low to lower the voltage that much.

Especially because you put a charger on it, then drops below 12V = bad battery.

When I had my Yuasa battery load tested at Batteries Plus, it had a static voltage of around 12.9, so 12.3 to 12.5 is maybe a bit low.  When they tested it, they used a carbon pile tester which allowed the tech to place a load on the battery specific to its capacity - hard knowing how the A.Z. counter guy performed the test - they're probably not trained up to the level of a battery shop.  IIRC, my good battery held between 10.5 and 11 volts after being under load for 30 seconds, so 11.5v with just the key on is weak.  In addition to checking the charging system connectors, be sure to check the chassis grounds and connections to the starter relay as well.   Good luck!

Thanks all for the tips.

What was the outcome?  Others with similar problems are curious as to what was the problem and fix. 

It will probably be at least another week or 2 before I get a new battery. Once I do, I will feel a lot better about starting to check for possible issues.

I have looked at and cleaned a few connectors and wires relating to the main 30A fuse. I will look more at the grounding connections this week probably.

I am betting on the battery as well.  Since you can get it to start, check the voltages with the bike running...most likely you will have voltages in the 13.x range.

I think I tried it running once, and it was in the upper 12's.

On a side note, I pulled the stator connectors and tested them today. They were all sitting around 1.7 ohm's, assuming I had my meter on the right setting. LOL

Would it matter if my battery was already sketchy, as to the ohm readings on the stator? (and yes, I need to look to make sure I had my meter on the right setting.)

Silly question, but did you get a new battery or not?

As there is no point going any further until you replaced the battery.

It's fairly simple to test the charging circuit on most bikes & the state of the battery.

Battery first, attach voltmeter direct to the battery, note no load voltage, then turn on ignition, fuel pump etc adds load, should only see minor drop until pump is primed then voltage should return to previous reading. Then on headlights & the voltage should drop a little, but stay at that voltage, if it keeps falling the battery is NOT very good.

Turn off the lights.

Charging system, start the bike, voltage should rise now if the charging circuit is working at all. Should be 13.5v+ at idle, rev bike the voltage should rise to 14v+ but NOT higher than 14.5v maximum. If it goes higher than 14.5v  then the Regulator/Rectifier (R/R) is broken, replace it.

Repeat this test multiple times for a few minutes, as the R/R can have a HOT failure, which requires power through it over time to stress it.

If the voltage does NOT increase then the charging circuit is faulty, test it (see next).

If the voltage rises as expected, turn the lights on, indicators & brakes, the voltage should NOT fall whilst revving @4000rpm+, it may fall a bit when at idle. If it does fall the charging system is faulty, test it.

To test the charging circuit, locate the R/R connectors & Stator wires, feel them for HEAT are they HOT ? if yes that's bad, means high resistance.

Stop the engine, disconnect the R/R, check the state of the pins in the connector & the connector itself, has it melted or discoloured from heat ? If yes, then the R/R my be faulty. Next use an Ohm meter on its lowest resolution & measure each stator wire to earth, should be NO reading indicating isolated from earth. Then measure between each wire & the other wires, there should be between 0.1-1.0 ohm reading (@20c ambient temp), if all good the R/R is faulty. If there is a zero reading on any wire, then the stator/alternator has a winding or wiring fault, Check the wiring from the connector to the coils in the stator, you will have to remove the left engine case to test this !

Hope that helps. Batteries do die over time, but most will survice 10+ years on a bike if the charging system has been working properly.

10 years is a lot for a bike battery.

Mine never lasted that long, at best 5~6 years.

If you start the bike during very cold conditions, it drains it too rapidly and it's easy to kill it.

Happened to me a couple of times.

Check you Run/Off switch on the right handlebar switch pod. Ran into undervoltage problems recently and it turned out that the switch just needs to be cleaned. A bad functioning contact in that switch might also cause arcing in it and maybe eventual failure of the switch contacts.too

Beck

95 VFR

I have one too but since I earn the money I spend it but we all understand your a young couple. Time will solve these problems. Hope you get the bike running, I have shorai, really like it.

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Young? Nah, we've been married for 14 years.

Well, I guess that's young compared to some...

On a side note, I should be getting some Ox-Guard in on Friday. Needless to say, I will be going through ALL the connectors I can get to and cleaning them and applying this stuff.

I don't see how it would hurt, but it should be OK to put small amounts on the ground connections too, right?

Oh, lots of good input here. Let me try to adress some of the comments...

spud786 - I did a ground test, and there was no reading at all - which I read was a good thing. Although, I didn't have it on the highest setting, only 200, IIRC. I will go back and test it again.

bassie - I don't have a new battery yet. I have to wait for my tax return before I can order one, so hopefully this week. I'm still debating on a Yuasa YTZ14 I've seen on ebay, but it doesn't come with a warranty, or a Motobatt equivalent with a 2 year warranty and 4 posts.

mohawk - When I tried it before, yes the voltage rose, but nowhere near 13.5 at idle. I was going to wait and do a more thorough testing of the electricals once I had a good battery in the bike. I am going through and checking/cleaning as many connectors as I possibly can. I still need to get some oxguard somewhere... Also, I was reading about adding more grounding points, which I may look into.

Beck - hey, thanks for that idea! I hadn't thought of looking there.

Man, this forum is awesome in regards to tech support. You all based in India? (was that ofensive? LOL)

You need a taxreturn for a 30~40 euro/dollar battery?

Simply get the cheapest battery you can find, as those lead batteries are all the same and all die somewhere after 6 years.

I fail to see why you keep searching after a problem when you know you battery is 10 years old and needs replacement anyway.

And warranty on batteries is very limited to construction problems, I doubt they give it after a year as a construction problem would have shown way before.

These are 30~40 euro/dollar devices :cool:

I'm pretty sure you are fine with a new one.

Playing with a broken one can lead to far more serious costs, like a burned charging system, I would not risk that over a pretty cheap part that is old and probably broken.

You need a taxreturn for a 30~40 euro/dollar battery?

Simply get the cheapest battery you can find, as those lead batteries are all the same and all die somewhere after 6 years.

I fail to see why you keep searching after a problem when you know you battery is 10 years old and needs replacement anyway.

And warranty on batteries is very limited to construction problems, I doubt they give it after a year as a construction problem would have shown way before.

These are 30~40 euro/dollar devices :cool:

I'm pretty sure you are fine with a new one.

Playing with a broken one can lead to far more serious costs, like a burned charging system, I would not risk that over a pretty cheap part that is old and probably broken.

Unfotunately, my finance manager - AKA the wife - has decided that the funds cannot be used for the bike until the tax return comes back in.

The bike hasn't moved since I parked it in November, which is fine, since I didn't have a chance to properly look it over after I bought it in June or July. I've been cleaning, changing, and checking things as I go.

I have such a manager too, but luckily she's a biker too and rather let the children starve then leave the bike in the shed for an extra sunny day :bliss: :laugh:

I have such a manager too, but luckily she's a biker too and rather let the children starve then leave the bike in the shed for an extra sunny day :bliss: :laugh:

:beer:

Mine usually does as well, but I bought too many things without looking at the finances this winter. hehe

Picked up a new battery today. Out of the box voltage was about 12.4. Letting it sit on the battery tender overnight, and then let it sit tomorrow.

Out of the box about 12.4 seems right.

Don't expect it to be much higher, as an idle battery can be anything between 12.2 and 12.9, it should be higher after a ride but drops after a while.

However, your charging should be anywhere between 13.4 and 14.4V depending on the RPM you are doing.

I would have installed it right away and let the engine run for about 15 minutes and measure the results at various RPM to see what happens.

Modern batteries are already charged and ready to be used after a fill and wait for 15~30 minutes.

I put the battery in the bike, and let it sit on the tender overnight, and then rest for a day. Checked the voltage, and it was at about 12.7. Much better! I went out today and worked on the bike, and it was sitting at a steady 12.6.

I have been pulling, cleaning, and applying Ox-Guard to just about every connector I can get to. LOL

I hope to have it all put back together and out running in the next couple of days.