| Author | Message | ||
     Salamiflavoredspider |
First I want to say that I just bought my first Buell this weekend. So Hello everyone. I bought an 05 XB12R It has a magical electrical fairy that uses quantum mechanics to steal electricity from the battery, but only when not being observed. I did the Milliampere draw test and am getting a reading of .01 mA or 10 μA for us nerds. This seems kinda low since the high end of the limit is 2.0 mA. I figured I would see somewhere around .5 or 1.0mA. I also did the Voltage output test and that passed as well(stator and Regulator are good). I don't have a load meter to check the Total Current draw so I just rode it around for about 2 hours to see if it would die, checked voltage after my ride and 12.8VDC. It's a 12 amp hour battery, and it's dying in under 8, but I'm seeing almost no current draw when I test it. I've heard people mention the grounds, but I'm not super familiar with the bike. Where are all the grounding stations located? I have a service manual but I can't find the actual GS locations, just plug locations. To give a little background I am a former aircraft electrician, and am familiar with wiring diagrams, as well as performing various electrical tests. I DON'T however have very much experience with this particular motorcycle so I'm hoping that someone can take what I've said and point me in the right direction. Also this is a brand new battery as well and I have a battery tender, but it will literally not start the next day if I don't hook it up. It makes me worried to ride it anywhere far and leave it over night.} | ||
| Nobuell |
What kind of new battery and how old? | ||
| Salamiflavoredspider |
Super start platinum from* O'Reilly, AGM and about 2 days out of the box. Brand new. *EDIT:Spelling (Message edited by Salamiflavoredspider on May 06, 2014) | ||
| Teeps |
How did you measure the draw? I.E. how is the meter connected. What type of meter do you use? Never mind I just reread the original post and see your past job experience. Well, .01mA or even 10mA is not killing the battery over night. Something else is going on. Does the bike have altered wiring, from installation of any accessories? Like a power supply for a phone or nav unit. | ||
| Salamiflavoredspider |
Nope, It's stock. The only thing added to the wiring was the pigtail for the tender that I installed. This problem existed prior to that. What is the location of all the grounding stations on this bike. So far I've only been able to find the one under the seat. The Wiring diagrams say that there are at least three. | ||
| Dwilson357 |
Whats the voltage of the battery after running the bike? My battery I just replaced would be 12ish...New battery is 14 | ||
| Sifo |
Just a thought here, but if you can't measure a drain that's causing the problem, how certain are you it's not the battery itself. Being new doesn't mean it's good. Try disconnecting it overnight and you will know for sure if the fault is in the battery or the bike. | ||
| Salamiflavoredspider |
Dwilson: A normal battery will only have that 14V charge on it for a few min after running because of the remaining voltage from charging. This surface charge should go away. They should all settle to around 12.8v after that time (which isn't very long). Sifo: Both batteries tested good on the tester, including the old one. The old one only had 180 CCA which I thought to be a bit low. So I bought the new one. This also would eliminate a bad battery that tested good. I understand that new doesn't mean good, but I would expect out of two batteries that test good one should be actually good. I haven't tried disconnecting the battery overnight and seeing what happens, I can try that tonight. Let's assume that the battery is good for this thread and continue with other options. I'm still trying to find the grounding stations, I suppose I could take the bike apart and just start looking for them, but I was hoping someone could tell me where to start looking. I'd rather not take off anything that I don't have to. | ||
| Damnut |
Are you locking the steering at night? If so you may be turning the key too much and turning your parking lights on. DAMHIK. | ||
| Dwilson357 |
three grounding points are right under the seat, One on each side of the battery and one up front towards the air box. It might be under the air box now that I think of it. I Believe the fourth is for the engine so probably under the airbox as well | ||
| Salamiflavoredspider |
Not locking the steering as it's in my garage, when I do lock it I make sure not to put it in park because that's way easy to do. I'll have to look again for the other one Under the seat. I only found the one on the negative side (because the neg wire goes right to it) Thanks for the help. Hopefully with our powers combined, we can figure this out and I don't have to be worried about long trips. | ||
| Froggy |
By any chance is there anything aftermarket on it? Alarm, power commander, etc? | ||
| Salamiflavoredspider |
See Above | ||
| Damnut |
Start pulling fuses till you find the circuit the draw is on and go from there. | ||
| Ducbsa |
When you see the .01 mA draw, is the ammeter in series with the battery? I see your work experience, just wanting to clarify. If so, the drain down is a mystery, for sure. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I think you guys are off by a factor of magnitude. .010 mA is 10nA pretty much nothing. I think you are talking about .010 Amps, 10mA. I'll measure mine when I get home tonight if my wife/twins let me. | ||
| Teeps |
Natexlh1000 Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2014 I think you are talking about .010 Amps, 10mA. My thinking as well. Even so 10mA is not killing the battery over night. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I just measured my uly. 1.5mA with nothing turned on. Clock? With key on, ignition off, about 5A. With ignition on, pump priming, about 10A. |
