Hi,

I have now experienced this a couple of times.
After riding 200 km, I put my Beemer in the garage, the next morning it's dead.
First time my Neighbour connected a booster, but then my computer died, and it was rather expensive to get fixed. I also put in a new battery.
Now 1 month later, exactly the same problem, but no booster this time, I just connected a ctec charger, and after 8 hours it showed that the battery should be full, but still no power
Does the motorbike kill the batter

My first guess would be a intermittent functioning ignition switch, if all is completly dead.

Have you measured the voltage at the battery?

It turns the engine, a few times and then dies.

I tried the charger again, and now it springs on.

But any ideas why it discharges the battery over night?
And why only sometimes?

Cheers
Peter

If don`t have a ampère meter at hand.

A simple test could be carried out (assuming that the fault is present)............

Disconnect one of the battery connectors, and remove all fuses (notice the ratings).
Touch the battery connector on the pole several times, and look for tiny sparks.
Put back the fuses one by one, and repeat the test.
That way you find out which circuit that is the reason to the problem.

It`s easier to check for spark, when it`s not that much light present in the working area.

Excellent suggestion from Inge (as always) but can I suggest please go get a meter they are not very expensive. Look in the auto discount shops for a car meter which will include a rev counter with inductive clamp for the ignition leads or if that ~ 75 Euro for a nice one is too dear then a cheap digital meter small enough to carry in the tail box under the seat will be ~10 Euro and will have a decent current range on it that will enable you to buy one of the adaptors for the fuse socket, and plug that into the fuse block and look for what are called parasitic drains.
Regards,
K-BIKE

But my problem i periodical, so i can measure the currents from now until next spring, and there will be no problems, that's why I would like some indicators on possible faults.

I do have a amperemeter, but would like one permanently on the bike, to be able to monitor it every time i turn it off. Is there one that fits?

Maybe i should mention that I'm a trained Electronic engineer.

im with inge on this one .....definately sounds like a faulty main switch .....unless there have been modifications to the wiring from a previous owner .

i guess you could always measure one of the fuses that isnt suposed to come live untill the ignition switch is turned on ...a simple voltmeter would suffice for this .

or even a low current (high brightness led current limmited to just a few milliamps ) wired in to the power circuits ...would pretty simple to do and would confirm that the power is definatly off and if there was some leakage ...would still illuminate .

i have a feeling that the ignition switch could contain slivers off brass/copper that bridge the connections periodically ...

just thinking aloud

hope this helps

What voltage do you measure when your battery is fully charged by your charger and how do the voltage drop when/after you start? Charging a battery might show you a good value after, but the battery might be faulty if asked to deliver the amps. This is off course in relationship to the condition (resistance) of the starter motor brushes and its ground connection. Got a clamp meter??

Peter_Skov wrote:But my problem i periodical, so i can measure the currents from now until next spring, and there will be no problems, that's why I would like some indicators on possible faults.

I do have a amperemeter, but would like one permanently on the bike, to be able to monitor it every time i turn it off. Is there one that fits?

Maybe i should mention that I'm a trained Electronic engineer.

Peter I don't think tou will get an amp meter that will do the job, that is will handle the big currentsd that it needs to and register the small one that is draining the battery.
I have a similar problem with the K75 RT but its a bit slower and takes 2 weeks to kill the battery.
This is the thing K Bike is talking about, http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/180908509761?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2648 I have just bought one hoping that it will help find the gremlin.

Try didconnecting the battery overnight and then next night disconnect it for 5 minutes and reconnect and see if there is a difference.

Peter,

Check the battery by charging it fuly, and let it stand disconnected overnight. It should read better than 12,4 volt. Try to start - and check the voltage afterwards. If it is lower than the 12.4 volts, it's a new battery.

Agerbundsen wrote:Peter,

Check the battery by charging it fuly, and let it stand disconnected overnight. It should read better than 12,4 volt. Try to start - and check the voltage afterwards. If it is lower than the 12.4 volts, it's a new battery.

Yes that right, it IS a new battery

Yesterday it started, and I went for a short trip (just got home when the rain started )
I'll try monitoring the battery voltage, and also try borrowing a clamp amperemeter, here at work, to see how the drainage is.

Cheers

Peter

Peter Inge is very helpful and I will add just one comment. Twice in the last five years I have bought new batteries which have turned out to be faulty within a few weeks. This happened with car batteries. On both occasions the cars were checked and found to be in order, a cell failed within the battery. Both were replaced without any problem.

I Now just got the time to take out the battery, which now is 2 months old.
I just used the mentioned ampere-meter, but couldn't measure any drain current.


Fully charging, measure 13V, then just by connecting a fog-lamp, the voltage dropped to 11.5V, tryed it once more, recharging and connecting the lamp, same result.

So I've just ordered a new one.
Varta Batterie

Thank for all your advice, I must say that I'm surprised, that the new was defect.
And now back to the store complaining about the old/new cheap battery.

Hi Peter,

Now we will be waiting to hear the success story with a new FUNCTIONING battery.

BTW: Charging voltage from either the MC or a separate charger should be around 13.8 volt up to no more than 14.0 volt.

Yes, but is was after charging the voltage was around 13V.

So no charger attached, just measuring standing on my kitchen table.

I did understand that

Peter_Skov wrote:I Now just got the time to take out the battery, which now is 2 months old.
I just used the mentioned ampere-meter, but couldn't measure any drain current.


Fully charging, measure 13V, then just by connecting a fog-lamp, the voltage dropped to 11.5V, tryed it once more, recharging and connecting the lamp, same result.

So I've just ordered a new one.
Varta Batterie

Thank for all your advice, I must say that I'm surprised, that the new was defect.
And now back to the store complaining about the old/new cheap battery.

Some of the batteries that don't sell well can sit round for 2-3 years before they are sold and they deteroriate despite what the wholesalers say.

A friend of mine did put in a brand new battery on his K11LT this spring,
it wasn`t even able to turn the starter.

For all those who are not electrical engineers most low cost clamp ammeters will only read load currents of an amp or more because they are intended to measure high currents like starter loads and the other point is most will not measure DC they only measure AC current. Clamp meters that will do DC tend to be a bit expensive, good but expensive.

The best way to measure current drain is to use a meter adaptor in place of the fuse and plug the leads into your meter to check to see if there is current drain through any of the fuses as you check them one by one, leaving them out as you check down them. If there is only a few milliamps on the fuse that powers the clock that's OK the drain there is just the clock current. If you don't see any significant drains then disconnect one of the battery terminals and put the meter in series with the lead because there are a few wires that are still live when the bike is switched off.

When measuring current always start on the highest current range the meter does say two or ten amps and work down from there switching to progressively lower ranges until you either see a drain or verify there is no drain for each fuse. Don't forget to switch the meter back to high current before moving on to the next fuse. When you check with the meter in the main battery lead having left the fuses out the clock load is disconnected.

Do not turn the ignition or lights on with the meter connected especially if it is set to measure say 100 milliamps otherwise the increased load will overwhelm it and possibly do damage to your meter. Do not ever try to turn the starter over with the meter in place in series because the load will fry your meter.
Regards,
K-BIKE