Battery Drain

[CruisingDog]

Hi all! Has anyone done a check to see how much current is drawn from the battery when the bike is switched off. Obviously the Clock on the dash is powered but is there anthing else ?

The reason I ask is that I had my battery go low on me (one crank and it was dead) and I was trying to figure out why.

I have a couple of power adapters which take about 50mA each (to light an LED and maybe power the internal circuitry for the PSU converters) but nothing major that would lead me to expect a flat battery.

The Bike was left standing for a 2 week period. 04' model. Weather has been typically above 45F since I'm in California.

The 2 LED thingies would have had a power drain of 100mA * 24 * 14 = 33.6Ah.

BTW, does anyone have knowledge of what the stock battery capacity is ?


:Chair1:

[CruisingDog]

I think I figured out why:

http://www.mcnews.com/mcn/model_eval/Model_Evaluation03034.pdf

Apparently the battery is rated for 11Ah !!

That means if you have a cigar/powerlet adapter, don't leave anything plugged in for more than 9 days! Maybe I'm wrong in my calcs (since I'm assuming worst case 50mA per power plug!). If you have 2 devices then its 4.5 days 'till battery is dead!!

[dannyk]

One other thing to consider is how was the battery preped when new, most only put the fluid in and put them on the floor, which without the proper charge will kill the battery, or shorten its life, had it happen to me on a maint. free battery in my 650L dualsport. The best thing to do if at all possible is to take the battery and hook up a trickle charger to it after filling it to make sure it is fully charged before using it.

[SteveST1300]

Wow I can't answer your question but I am a huge Hawkwind fan I don't see many of us in the US I spent 3 years in England and saw them several times. I have many their albums how did you hear of them?


Steve
STOC # 5079

[NormanPCN]

Apparently the battery is rated for 11Ah !!

11-14 is typical for bikes. The battery is actually rated at 14Ah. It is a "high capacity" battery. Meaning it has the form factor of a 11AH battery.

I relaced my battery a year ago. I killed the battery. I messed up my back while on a mountain bike and did not ride for a few months. The battery was never the same after that so I replaced it. Expensive battery.

[CruisingDog]

Steve, Hawkind have been my favourite band since I was 14. Glad I'm in good company. I've seen them toooooo many times :-) Still love their stuff and have quite a few albums [20ish]. Won't say all of them since new ones keep coming out of the wood-work every week! I've even converted my old records to MP3 for my iPod!!!

I left the UK 7 years ago where I was born. Hence the Brit. comments and occasional spelling !!!

BTW, you'll probably like Monster Magnet then if you're a die hard Hawkwind fan.

Also a topic of interest, Silver Machine was written about a silver bicycle! Quite funny really. I was reading Bob Calvert's biography and he stole the idea from a French Poet and came up with the song!!

[CruisingDog]

Norman, I noticed the price also. Ouch. Now I know why there is a "power whilst running" option cable from the expansion harness. Might change to that when I take the tupperware off next time.

[OldSuperSport]

More on battery drain.. surprise!

My wife and I went on a 1 1/2 hr ride today. Its finally 70+ out! When I got home, I didn't turn off the key, usually I pull in the garage and the headlight on the wall reminds me. I parked outside and helped my wife with her helmet and walked away. About 1/2 hr later I came out and noticed the headlight was on. At this point the battery was dead, and all I got was relay buzzing from under the passenger seat. This is a pretty short period of time, and I can see an embarrasing situation requiring jumper cables, if this happened out on the road. The DMM showed 12 volts no-load but the fuel pump and headlight drew it down to around 7 volts after key-on. Seems like a pretty lousy 700 mile-old battery. 2004 model bought in January.

I need an indicator...

Maybe a voltmeter module mounted somewhere so I can "see" the volts drop as soon as the engine stops, with a load still pulling heavy amperage. I'm sure there is a thread here somewhere about voltmeters. I have several DMMs around but a more simple volts only module must be available from Radio Shack or one of the parts houses.

Or maybe I'll work up a zener based comparator circuit that will flash a brite LED on the dash if the voltage drops below say 11.5 volts, as an idiot light.

[dond]

I have a simple LED indicator from elec connections and have had it on a couple of bikes. Green is above 13 and yellow appears at about 12.5 then to red as it drops. I have flattened my battery once also. I is alomost 3 y/o so I've STarted looking. I will replace before summer.

:-) Jeff B is working a deal for an excellent price for STOC members. STay tuned, it may happen soon. :-)

[creakyneck]

Just an FYI on lead-acid batteries in general...

Even "deep cycle" batteries should not as a rule be discharged much below 50% of capacity before recharging. A 20-30% discharge then recharge is optimium for even these batteries.

"Shallow cycle" batteries as we use in our BeaSTs and cages are even more sensitive to over discharge then the "deep cycle" sorts. They are engineered to provide a high current for starting for a short time then immediately recharged. If not kept in a full charge state, all lead-acid cells will tend to "sulfate" which means an accumulation of sulfur compounds on the plates which reduces capacity, so that 11-14 ah battery when new, might end up a 2-4 amp hour battery very quickly over-discharged or not properly charged.


Since I hit 50 myself here pretty soon, that probably whats wrong with me, I've "sulfated" :D

[dond]

FIFTY!!!! Holy Crap no wonder you have a creaky neck.












I will never see 50......Again :eek:

[MNwing]

and I will never see 60 again.... the age thing is all in your head. Ride, Ride, Ride.

[creakyneck]

"Creakyneck" addendum...

yea thats why I picked up riding again for one last harrah before "uncle arthur" gets me the rest of the way :) So far he's taken up residence in my neck, lower back, both hips, little "creaky" in the finger joints depending on the weather etc. :eek:

I think I "excercised" Uncle Arthur" just a little this evening- had my first "tipover"(right side) whilst driveway manuvering prior to parking for the evening. The rest of the news is all good! A. Nobody saw me :D B. The "back to seat, left hand on front brake, right hand on rear grab rail, then with a visual recall of the Grinch lifting the sleigh with the "Power of 10 Grinches" heave mightily and up she goes (slowly). C. Made nice "three point landing, with only scuff to the tipover cover :o:

Should I leave the scuff as a reminder, or wait till I have a scuff on the right one too as a matched set before replacing?


PS...the tilt switch works quite nicely :D

[dond]

Creak...I've had joit trouble since childhood. About 2 years ago I started a Glocosamine/Chondroitin regimen and it does help. Well worth it for me. If I suck water constantly on long rides it makes a big difference too. Mine is relatively minor compaired to some folks.

Everybody's got sumthin'.

[SporTnTR]

Ya, I have that too guys. You're right, drink lots of water, and along with the Glucosamine with Chondroitin, I've heard [haven't tried it yet till i run out of the bulk batch i bought last year] that if used with MSM is good also. When i buy next i'm gonna look for it.

I'm happy for you that no damage and no one saw you, creakyneck. There are some good topics on centrestand use either on here or the other one, if you're questioning your technique.