Draw through circuits

[ryanclark111]

Hoping to gain a bit of information from the group. I think I might have an electrical issue with my bike, it is often difficult to start on the cold mornings. I think the battery is draining while off. I have tested the charging, maintains about 14.4v across the rev range, so I think it is charging fine.

Bike is 2010 SMT, no additional electrical bits and pieces.

I have tested the bike for current draw. It is pulling about 45mA total when off, which sounds high to me but I can't find anything to compare with. This is made up of 20mA on the ACC1/Clock circuit and 25mA on the Ignition and fuel pump (every other circuit is 0). Does anyone know/have values for what the draw should be on these circuits?

The other issue is that my commute is quite short and it may not charge enough for the big draw from starting on cold mornings. But there isn't a whole lot I can do about that. I don't have a garage so there is no option to attach to a trickle charger overnight without taking the battery out.

[Nickhk]

How old is the battery - these things don't like 'old ones' ...

[oldf4rt]

Hoping to gain a bit of information from the group. I think I might have an electrical issue with my bike, it is often difficult to start on the cold mornings. I think the battery is draining while off. I have tested the charging, maintains about 14.4v across the rev range, so I think it is charging fine.

Bike is 2010 SMT, no additional electrical bits and pieces.

I have tested the bike for current draw. It is pulling about 45mA total when off, which sounds high to me but I can't find anything to compare with. This is made up of 20mA on the ACC1/Clock circuit and 25mA on the Ignition and fuel pump (every other circuit is 0). Does anyone know/have values for what the draw should be on these circuits?

The other issue is that my commute is quite short and it may not charge enough for the big draw from starting on cold mornings. But there isn't a whole lot I can do about that. I don't have a garage so there is no option to attach to a trickle charger overnight without taking the battery out.

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[oldf4rt]

I have a 2011 SMT. If I leave it a couple of weeks it won't start. If I keep the battery topped up it's fine. These bikes need maximum charge to start. With regular use it's OK.


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[Random00]

Track down your draw with the fuses. Pull one fuse at a time until you find your draw current go down.

[ryanclark111]

How old is the battery - these things don't like 'old ones' ...

Not even a year old yet

[ryanclark111]

I have a 2011 SMT. If I leave it a couple of weeks it won't start. If I keep the battery topped up it's fine. These bikes need maximum charge to start. With regular use it's OK.

I use it as a daily commute, albeit a short one (10-15 min each way). And the charging circuit seems to check out ok

[ryanclark111]

Track down your draw with the fuses. Pull one fuse at a time until you find your draw current go down.

I did, see the paragraph in the OP

"This is made up of 20mA on the ACC1/Clock circuit and 25mA on the Ignition and fuel pump (every other circuit is 0). Does anyone know/have values for what the draw should be on these circuits?"

I am just not sure if that is an OK draw or excessive. My guess is that it is excessive on at least one (ignition and fuel pump) if not both.

[Newjerseyduke]

Next time I'm in the garage I'll check my shop manual.

[Nickhk]

These bikes are pretty fickle when it comes to batteries and I recently had similar issues with a [then] 16 month old battery. All the usual checking and fiddling, followed by giving up and 'jump starting' from one of those new fangled power bank things. IN the end I gave up and replaced the battery - hey presto, problem sorted.

Bike had regular periods of lying up (I was getting lazy with coming to work .. ) and short commutes only. Now I use more regularly and take the long way to work, which the bike seems to like.

Worth considering. Good luck.

Nick

[Thirdway]

Yep, you get to learn that big twins need perfect batteries to start them. I never, ever leave the bike without connecting it to an Optimate charger.

The other thing to watch out for is corrosion on the terminal blocks Around the headstock area.

[ryanclark111]

Turns out the Regulator/Rectifier was intermittently failing. Installed the aftermarket one mentioned in Kev's book. Running fine now with no battery issues.