Battery draining very slowly...

[antrobmar]

Hey fellow buellers,

I need some help. I suddenly have a small slow drain from my battery. I am new to this buell and bikes so I am not sure where to start.

My bike is a 2004 Buell XB12R Firebolt. It has a brand new battery from batteries plus which is under warranty.

Could I have a bad ground somewhere? If so, how do I narrow it down?

Thanks,

Anthony

 

[gtp3800]

what exactly is happening? Temperature in garage?

 

[antrobmar]

When the bike sits, it loses charge and the battery slowly drains. I plugged a voltage meter into it and I can watch the batter slowly drain / lose charge.

If I charge the battery to full, then the bike will start and stay running. However after some mileage - eventually I lose my turn signals (stop flashing) and my dash lights and headlights start to dim.

 

[antrobmar]

It also seems like the bike is not charging the battery when it is running.

 

[Bullxb12r]

Quick questions:
1.)Did you replace the battery yourself?
2.)If so, was the battery charging before you replaced it?
A.) If yes, when you swapped batteries, did you hook the regulator/rectifier wire up to the correct terminal? It is a black wire, but it should go to the positive post, not negative.
B.)If no, either your regulator/rectifier is bad, or your stator is most likely bad.
3.) Are your grounds tight? Both at the battery and at the engine
4.) When you say it drains as it sits, is it running or powered down completely (key switch off)?

 

[antrobmar]

Here are a few answers...

1.) Yes
2.) Yes, I tried charging the old battery before purchasing a new one. Will check the regulator wire tomorrow.
3.) Grounds are tight.
4.) When the bike is sitting and the key switch is off (completely powered down).

 

[Bullxb12r]

My suspicion is the regulator wire. If it is hooked up to the wrong terminal, it can bleed the battery down and will not allow your bike to charge your battery

 

[antrobmar]

Well, it is NOT the regulator wire. It was hooked up correctly to the positive.

Guess I will look into the regulator / rectifier and stator. Any ideas or suggestions on that?

 

[07Bolt]

03-07 models have a obsolete reg plug connector; it was updated/changed on the 08 and later bikes to a pin style plug b/c they had a tendency to melt/arc under certain voltage.

 

[Stevenc150]

- Voltage & Stator Check - If you check those and all is good, move on to your wiring. Likely could be a wire rubbed through and shorting. Here's how to check for shorts:

To ID the area of interest (after ruling out the obvious sources like bad/dead battery, kickstand switch, etc):

- Pull the negative terminal cable off of the battery.
- Set a multimeter to mA.
- Attach the neg. cable to one lead and touch the neg. terminal on the battery itself.
- If it reads 0, you don't have a short.
- If it's anything but 0 then you have a short somewhere. Now start pulling fuses from the block one at a time until the needle drops to 0. That'll narrow it down.

 

[antrobmar]

Ok, I am going to have to look into the stator or the regulator / rectifier because I took it for a drive again tonight and I am still having issues after a full charge last night.

I tested it when I got home from work today and the battery was fully charged and holding. I went for a ride at dusk and quickly noticed my dash was dim and then when I used my high beam my turn signals would not flash. I carried a volt meter with me and constantly stopped to test the battery... every time I stopped the battery had gotten a lower reading with my last and lowest reading being under around 11 or so.

I really don't want to bring it to a dealer to get ripped off in labor as I am quite handy with a wrench but not with any electrical.

Stevenc150 - thanks for the link above. I am going to have to follow those instructions this weekend when I have more daylight.

 

[antrobmar]

Oh, and to add one more thing... my dash did get bright at one point and the battery seemed to be charging really nice but it quickly diminished and then everything went dim to almost no light at the end of the quick trip.

 

[07Bolt]

its ur reglator; the regulator is not letting voltage thru from the stator

 

[Stevenc150]

^Yeah, the connector probably and very easy to check. - Voltage Regulator Connector (#77)

 

[antrobmar]

Thanks Stevenc150!

I checked the Stator Voltage and it looked good. Checked the 77 connector and it looked brand new. Ordering a regulator tonight and will let you know if that fixes the issue.

Anthony

 

[Rays]

When you order a new regulator it will almost certainly come with the new type of Deutsch '77' connector and service kit that I have shown at the end of the document that is linked off my profile (- same one that Steven linked to).
Make sure you get those crimps done properly because the early XB regulator can supply up to 30amps (depending on electrical load, battery charge etc).

 

[RT Performance]

If you don't want to do a factory regulator road cycle.
Has a couple more bullet proof r/r's.
I ran a Shindoe f00 in my 1125 it is a popular choice for a beefier replacement.

 

[zdawg123]

I ran a Shindoe f00 in my 1125 it is a popular choice for a beefier replacement.

Thought you ran a Mosfet, RT?

 

[antrobmar]

I ordered the stock regulator from ASB and it arrived today! Installed it, my new ASB Open Airbox kit, breather re-route and now she is running great! However it seems to be running higher RPMs than before... probably just needs a tune. That will have to wait thought cause tuning is so expensive and I don't dare do it myself the first time.

Thanks everyone!

 

[zdawg123]

Running an open airbox will definitely make her run more lean. You're intaking a lot more air throwing off your A/F ratio. A tune will fix you right up, but yes, they're just a little expensive. Just save up slowly lol. It's certainly worth it. I wouldn't worry about it right now. Keep ridin it like you stole it!