discharging battery

[cosmicknome]

Hi i have aproblem with my s4,it keeps running the battery down if left for a
week or so.
the battery is new (ducati original costly) and i have replaced the regulator/rectifier too.
I did the because their was no charge going into the battery.
I know have 14.2 volts going into the battery when running.
Can anyone help?

[stef]

check how much current you are drawing with the ignition off (disconnect the + of the battery (carefull not to touch anything metal on the bike with the exposed lead !) stick a multimeter in mA between the + of the battery and the lead, and check how much current is flowing, you should be very, very low...)

[gary tompkins]

Is the S4Rs not still covered under 2 year warranty?

[cosmicknome]

Er it's not the S4RS thats the prblem it's my beloved s4,bot thanks Stef iwill try that.

[sadbiker]

Is an alarm fitted or any wiring mods been done ?

[cosmicknome]

No i haven't fitted an alarm, but i did powder coat the frame last year so i did have to strip the bike down.
I think it is inpossible to put the wiring loom back together wrongly because
every thing has it's own socket.

[russ77]

My M750 lives outdoors and this time last year was pretty much lifeless every time I uncovered it. Try a battery trickle charger that you can leave plugged in all the time. You get a trailing socket which you leave connected to the battery for simplicity. I actually only plug mine in a few hours prior to or the night before riding. Not had any problems yet this winter.

Don't worry about the loom. You'd have to be fairly incompetent to re-assemble it any worse than it was when it left the factory. If everything works, then it's wired correctly.

[cosmicknome]

Cheers thanks for the tip,but my S4RS lives inthe same conditions and is fired up on the same infrequente occasions and allways starts.
Any way i am going to try stef idea and see if some thing is no connected
propperly so heres hoping.

[bod]

Frame painted? did you clean mask off the earth points between loom and frame when refitting?

[bod]

Also double check the battery(as it sounds like the fault)

If you are sure it is ok and the alternator is charging 14.2 volts sounds fine then I would suspect a drain...do as Stef mentioned with a multimeter if you know what you are doing!

Owt above 0.05 of an amp would be a problem.

[stef]

i'd say that even 0.05A would be big numbers.. i would think above 5mA there is a probleme

[cosmicknome]

I finally got round to chequeing my beloved S4.
I did as stef said and got a reading of 0.01 mA which is spot on.
I then did another running cheque and found the was a charge of 14.68 volts
going in which seems ok.
So the conclusion i have come to is that i should RIDE THE BLOODY THING!
Anyway thanks every one for you help and i hope to se some of you out on the road when the weather inproves.

[stef]

I finally got round to chequeing my beloved S4.
I did as stef said and got a reading of 0.01 mA which is spot on.
I then did another running cheque and found the was a charge of 14.68 volts
going in which seems ok.
So the conclusion i have come to is that i should RIDE THE BLOODY THING!
Anyway thanks every one for you help and i hope to se some of you out on the road when the weather inproves.

10 mA sounds a lot to me..

if the bike is off, it shouldnt drain any current.
even an alarm shouldnt draw morethan a couple of mA(once charged)
any idea what is draining so much ? (cant be the clock...)
where did you see that 10mA is ok ? (i am still open to be corrected !)

[cosmicknome]

O eck! I'am only an umble toolmaker and am no electronics expert so maybe
i need some help wth my meter.
When i checked the bike it was set on A~ 10 and i got a reading of 0.01
Is this wrong?
I did not wish to give offence, so which seting should it be on?

[Sparky]

O eck! I'am only an umble toolmaker and am no electronics expert so maybe
i need some help wth my meter.
When i checked the bike it was set on A~ 10 and i got a reading of 0.01
Is this wrong?
I did not wish to give offence, so which seting should it be on?

Looks like you had the meter set to measure ac current where as you need dc current, that's what this ~ symbol means. You should have another setting that has a symbol --- with a solid bar above it for dc current. If you post a piccy of the meter I can point you in the right direction, I'm an electronics engineer so use these things all the time.

Chris

[cosmicknome]

Cheers thank you Sparky i have found the setting you mentioned do i set it to
10, 20m or 200m?
Unfortunatly i will have to try this out tomorrow as i rent space in a friends
garage so i will not be able to try until then but iwill keep you posted.

[Sparky]

Cheers thank you Sparky i have found the setting you mentioned do i set it to
10, 20m or 200m?
Unfortunatly i will have to try this out tomorrow as i rent space in a friends
garage so i will not be able to try until then but iwill keep you posted.

When measuring current you should always start with the highest range available then if the reading is low move to a lower range. Multi-meters are usually fused on the current range so passing a high current through a low current range will cause the fuse blow. This can be vary misleading as the meter will simply read 0 until the fuse is replaced.

Just in case you don't know the m after the number stands for milli which is 1 thousandth of an amp so 200m = 0.2 amperes. When set to the 200m range the meter can measure upto 200mA amperes but no more on that range.

Hope you get it sorted.

Chris

[cosmicknome]

Right so i reset my multi meter to the DC setting 200m and connected it to the bike.
As i had disconnected the battery the imobilize light began to flash.
the reading i got alternated between 2 and 6 i think this was because of the flashing imoblize light.
I then checked my S4RS in the same way and got a reading that alternated
between 1 and 7 also because of the imoblize light.
So i think every thing is ok unless any body else can think of another reason
for this loss of power i will have to stick to my first idea and just ride the thing.
I must thank everybody for there input with this problem i may or may not have had, i have learned something new and that can be no bad thing.
Cheers:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[stef]

2mA when every thing is off is more like it..
(just the immobiliser is on)
still not a very clever design by japanese watchmaker standards, but reasonable...
it just means that if you leave it standing for too long, the battery will eventually go flat.