My battery loses charge every 3-4 days!

[jafran456]

Is it time for a new one? If I let the bike sit for more than 3 days without starting it, the battery loses its charge. It will start to crank and then go completely dead. I noticed the clock and trip meter reset themselves too. I'll charge the battery for about an hour and then everything seems fine. It's been doing this for about 2-3 weeks now. However, if I start (and ride) the bike everyday, then it seems to be fine.

My bike is a 2008 ST purchased new in January 2009. It still has the OEM Yuasa battery.

 

[SteveST1300]

You should give it a slow charge over night. If it is still losing power maybe you have a drain on it from something. A 1 hour charge is not doing much for the battery.

 

[sennister]

If you pull the battery I think a lot of auto parts stores will do a load test for free. Give them a ring first but they do around here.

There is also an article in the latest Popular Mechanics going over how to find a power drain. I guess the same info could be used on a bike. I looked online but I didn't see it. I guess it won't show up until the next issue is out.

 

[wjbertrand]

Check your leakage current. Disconnect a battery lead and with everything completely turned off, insert an ammeter. Should be no more than a few milliamperes, there's a spec in the book (can't remember, is it ~25mA?).

If you measure more than that and can't immediately identify something left on (farkles, alarms, etc.), start pulling fuses to isolate the circuit causing the drain. You'll have to dig a bit deeper one you find an offending circuit to get at the root cause.

If the leakage current is within spec, it's probably time for a new battery.

 

[st1300r]

Well it's not normal so somethings up. The clock reset is a normal symptom of a drained battery.
Could be the charging sytem, the battery or an abnormal load.
As mentioned I'd check current load with the bike off.

The oem battery is rated at 11.1amphours at iirc 1.1amp load. aka 10hrs. (that's totally flat you wouldn't start long before that)

BTW what's the voltage with the bike running?

 

[jafran456]

I don't have a meter to check voltages or amperages. I should probably invest in one, though. I'm going to remove the battery one evening after work and have it checked at a battery place or maybe even the dealer.

 

[jafran456]

I called the dealer. They told me to bring the battery in and they would check it for me for free. I explained what the bike is doing and the service rep said that it's most likely a bad battery. We'll see.

 

[st1300r]

If they are going to load test it, it needs to be fully charged.
fwiw the dealer is about the most expensive place to by the replacement.

 

[nakerr]

My battery was doing the same thing and I almost replaced it. Grabbed a meter and did some testing and it turned out that one of my always turned off when not riding accessories, Adaptiv TPX radar detector, was just actually just going to sleep. Constant current draw.

Many devices when turned off are really still running . . just external indiucators are off.

 

[BuddingGeezer]

Auto Zone will load test a motorcycle battery for free.

Ralph Sims

 

[NCrider]

Sounds to me like a drain on your battery.
Do you have any aftermarket accessories?

If you buy a battery, keep the reciept.

 

[Paul]

I called the dealer. They told me to bring the battery in and they would check it for me for free. I explained what the bike is doing and the service rep said that it's most likely a bad battery. We'll see.

The battery should be covered under warranty.

 

[jafran456]

Raced home after work, hooked up the battery to the battery charger for about an hour and a half, then raced over to the dealer before they closed. Service rep brought out the portable battery tester, connected it to my battery, tested it, and the display showed "replace battery". No charge for the test. So, I guess I need a new battery, right? Not so fast....

On my way home from the dealer, I stopped at an Advance Auto Parts store and asked the guy if he could test the battery. Sure, no problem, he says. He connects it to the (bench mounted) tester, tests it, and the printout shows "Good Battery!" The printout also shows 12.64 V, 78 degrees temperature, and 209 CCA. The guy says that my battery is good.

Should I go for 2 out of 3 or just replace the battery???

I don't have any accessories on the bike. The most recent work I did (a couple of months ago) was change out the 45/45W headlight bulbs for some 60/55W bulbs, installed a powerlet outlet, and also installed a Stebel horn. I haven't used the powerlet outlet at all (only tested it by running a 12V portable inflator for about 20 seconds right after I installed it to make sure it worked). I occasionally toot the Stebel at an inattentive driver every now and then.

By the way, the dealer that the battery is not a warranty item. I've had the bike for about 16 months.

 

[jafran456]

By the way, the dealer that the battery is not a warranty item. I've had the bike for about 16 months.

The dealer "said" that the battery.....

 

[NCrider]

Either of you installed options could have a problem or you could have wired something wrong. A common thing people do is to hook relays up wrong and they will drain your battery.

Find someone with a voltmeter and check to see how much current you are drawing with the switch off.

Put a meter, set on the current scale(start on A and move to mA if the draw is low) between the battery and ground or postive.

If you will let me know what kind of meter you can access I can tell you exactly how to hook it up.

Good luck.

 

[Tom Mac 04a]

Agreed with above... someone else here had their Steibel relay hooked up wrong ( always energized ) and that will run down the battery quickly.

 

[Silver Bullet]

That Dealer is wrong , The battery is warranted and they should replace ! My new 07 last year had a bad original battery , I took in old battery and they replaced , no problem !By the way you should only be slow trickle charging your battery, any thing else is not good for it !

MIKE

 

[jafran456]

I'll doublecheck the Stebel wiring tomorrow after work. I purchased the plug-n-play harness for the horn and if I remember correctly, the harness was already assembled right out of the box. The relay is exposed right now since I have the battery cover off of the bike so it will be easy to check the connections on the relay.

Anyone else here agree that the battery is a warranty item???

 

[wjbertrand]

I think the battery is only warranteed for 12 mo.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[jafran456]

Update: I left the battery on the trickle charger overnight. It charged for a good 8 hours. The solid green light on the charger was on this morning so the battery was fully charged. I stopped at an Auto Zone on the way to work and had the battery tested. The display showed "Good Battery, 12.70 V, Battery Near End of Life".

I'll check the wiring connections on the Stebel this evening. If they're correct, then I may just move forward with replacing the battery. There are no other accessories on the bike.

BTW, after the service department at the dealer checked the battery for me, I went over to the parts department and inquired about a new battery. The price for a new OEM Yuasa battery.....$190 + tax. Thanks but no thanks! The Diehard Gold battery in my Chevy truck costs about half that much. I'll certainly look into the aftermarket batteries mentioned in this forum.