Battery drain... revisited.

Discussion in '3rd & 4th Generation 1990-1997' started by ThickToast, Mar 12, 2013.

  1. ThickToast

    ThickToast New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2008
    Messages:
    170
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Location:
    Springfield,Illinois
    Map
    I'm looking for solved stories dealing with battery drains when ignition is off. I did some multimeter hunting to no avail and would like to hear some fresh ideas... here's the back story.

    It's draining the battery in about a 1 - 2 week time period. Since I've owned this bike it has always been the case. The easy fix was a battery tender and a good memory. Last weekend I intended to do some carb syncing in preparation for spring time but the battery was dead.

    Studying the wiring schematic i noticed there is only three paths the dc current has access to when the ignition switch is off ; back to the rec/reg, to the ignition switch and the clock. I found my clock wasn't exactly a factory installation. They had used ink pens as standoffs to mount the clock and then cleverly covered up the fascia to make it look OEM.

    Time will tell if this was the problem but it would be nice to hear some other possibilities.

    Thanks,
    Tim
     
  2. SinNH

    SinNH New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 11, 2012
    Messages:
    128
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    The way I would troubleshoot that issue is get a multimeter with a ammeter setting and check the three wires that you mentioned with the ignition off, isolate the parasite leakage wire and then visually trace it out to it's end, looking for rubbage, etc. If a hot wire has a very small "leak" to ground it is no different than a small actual load (i e clock). A regular ammeter has to be hooked up in series is each circuit, a clamp on is much easier but it would have to be a non-cheepo to read <1 amp with any precision.
    Good luck.
     
  3. ThickToast

    ThickToast New Member

    Country:
    United States
    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2008
    Messages:
    170
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Location:
    Springfield,Illinois
    Map
    Thanks. I'm going to run it for a while and see if taking the clock out of the circuit didn't solve the problem. I really want to get on the road. COME ON SPRING!!!
     

Share This Page