Battery issues query..

[Tigerlea]

So I reinstalled the Duc battery after recharging it using a mains power charger thing. Started her up before putting the tank panels back on and all was good. Let her run for about 5 minutes then shut her off so I could finish cleaning and putting everything back as normal.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4658/38998124195_6fe61a3d9b.jpg

Started her up again to go for a ride but a neighbour began talking to me, so I turned it off. Checked the lights with the engine off and then when I tried to restart realised there was no charge whatsoever.. No panel on (like earlier in the week), nothing. So I now have a completely flat battery. Checked over everything just to make sure the kill switch hadn't been hit, but all seems fine.

This is my first experience charging the battery up, as it was never an issue before.
Did I short it somehow? Or is it dead because I ran it twice without going for a ride?

I'll be taking her apart again and putting the battery on charge.. again.. but I want to know why this happened so there's no repeat..


Also.....
Discovered this while I was reinstalling the battery:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4652/25025617307_e8b7f6941d.jpg

Think it may be an external charging source?

What would I plug into this?! Didn't even realise it was there as everything was under the tank. Have now left it out so that it could be used.


PS ~ TV table makes for a great tank prop

[raesewell]

It's a Tamiya connector.
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Yamaha FJR 1300 Normanton West Yorkshire

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

That's a handy connector for an Optimate or other battery charger.
Check the fuses, but I do think it's just possible you've taken enough charge of the battery by starting a couple of times, running on idle for a long while (there might not be enough poke at low revs to charge the battery back up) and leaving the lights on. The best thing would have been to check if the bike would jump start from another battery. If it started then there's nothing wrong except the bike battery. Recharge and try again.

Edit: Also check the battery connections are clean and firm.

[Howling Terror]

@raesewellWhich does what..EXPLAIN MAN.

OP

Without using a multi meter you won't know much.
No you haven't shorted it otherwise you'd be watching a nice sparkly display of sparks.
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[Islander]

First thing, buy a multimeter and learn to use it - it'll save you a lot of grief diagnosing problems like this.

I've had a similar thing happen with one of my bikes, freshly charged battery, bike started fine, switched it off to do something, no start and control panel lights going dying when the starter button was pressed. A quick check with a meter showed that the battery appeared to be fully charged at 12.5v, but as soon as the starter button was pushed, the voltage dropped to virtually nothing and was slow to recover. It was a dead battery - something internal had failed and was presenting a high rather than low resistance to the terminals.

I'd suspect the battery.

The connector is a TM71 type typically used by early Optimate models - later models use an SAE71. It saves having to disconnect the battery to charge it.

[raesewell]

[Copycat73]

i suspect a current drain .. dissconect the live positive red lead and connect an ampmeter between the now seperated terminals ....
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[colink98]

get a yusma battery.

they are so good you can ride all the way home just cranking the starter while in gear.
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Ride it like you stole it.
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[Polarbear]

I would say your battery is fucked.

Get a multimeter, put it on dc volts and measure across the battery terminals.

With no load on a battery if it's at 12.8v it's fully charged, if it is 12.2 volts it's basically flat but that doesn't tell the whole story as it doesn't show capacity..

With meter still connected, turn on ignition, lights. If the volts drop seriously away it's fucked. The problem with lead acid batteries is they can be destroyed with just one full discharge. For battery longevity they should never be allowed to drop below 60% charge.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[Robby]

If the battery is OK, the next place to look is the cables. Billy's Ducati was cocking around like this, one of the battery cables had separated the connector from the wire. Still look fine externally, and still worked if bent at just the right angle.
New cables are cheap on ebay.

[Nobby the Bastard]

I'm with the multimeter crew. I would lend you mine buit you are just that little bit too far away that it would require a whole separate journey across the country.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Sprint ST 1050

[MCN]

Fucked battery. Google lead acid battery

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead–acid_battery

You can get a rough estimate of condition via a hydrometer sg test or a voltage test bit the only real test is by a discharge test. Places who sell batteries can sometimes test and most bike/car/truck workshops 'should' possess a High rate Discharge tester. (Or they are not really serious )

Batteries can fail over time due to aging or through neglect.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[P.]

Ollie just had exactly the same. Battery swap fixed it. Weird you get absolutely zero too.

Put ign on and wiggle both cables gently. Robby could be right with a dodgy cable. otherwise, battery.

[Tigerlea]

Cheers guys
Glad to know it's likely not that I completely messed up the job!

Any suggestions on where to get this multimeter from? Is it just a straight up Amazon search or do people recommend a certain one?


Re: charging cable... if that's for the old Optimate, is it worth just completely removing it from the bike? I obviously don't own one and if they've swapped for a different cable I don't see the point in keeping it.



I would have dealt with all of this by now if not for the stinking cold I've gotten :'(

[Nobby the Bastard]

Anything £6 or up. It doesn't need to measure to scientific accuracy.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Sprint ST 1050

[Polarbear]

As he says ^^^ anything that does AC/DC volts and Ohms is more than adequate.

Something like

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ULTRICS%C2%AE-Digital-Multimeter-Voltmeter-Ammeter/dp/B00TM0W8ZY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1517406343&sr=8-2&keywords=multimeter

Maplins if you want to have a fiddle and chat with an expert (idiot in a maplins shirt)
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[MCN]

I have had hundreds of volt meters.

The only warning with cheap shite is that the leads can melt and cause the next apocalypses or worser.

And the lead plugs may not be as secure as you would like them to be which may indicate 0 volts on a live circuit.
Just a word of caution. I use a shite one at work but I am aware of its peculiarities now.

I have a nice Durite one for real work on bike, car, hoose.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Fizzer Thou]

I bought my £11 digital multimeter from B&Q and it is more than adequate for everything.The leads work okay but I have supplemented those with some longer ones that I made up
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Just talk bikes.What else is there?

Always have a 'Plan B'

[Howling Terror]

A tester for all seasons and long leads. I got this 2nd hand for £30.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DU-H2ewWkAEKht4.jpg

I'd prefer an analog one for certain things like maybe stator outputs or how quick the ohms rise on guitar pickups but this bugger doesn't mind getting dropped occasionally.
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Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Unless I'm very much mistaken that's one of the old Fluke 25s - been a good while since I saw one of those. Iirc they'll fetch anything up to fifteen quid on the open market!
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Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Howling Terror]

I was robbed trev? Well I blame brexit and racists of course.

Had it for 3 or 4 years so maybe fleeced not robbed.
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Polarbear]

Flukes are really the industry standard. I have a couple from when I was at sea and they are lovely bits of kit but obviously for a DIY person totally over the top. Mine had to be calibrated every year for my job and that cost way way more than a cheap meter though.

I would be happy if I picked up a working Fluke for £30.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Howling Terror]

Ewe don't mean that.
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[Fizzer Thou]

The very first multimeter that I had experience of was an Avo Meter back in 1975 when I worked on radio and radar

https://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv23/WiNot_Rhencullen/Workshop/Universal%20Avo-Meter%20Model%208_zpsahuzpqmi.jpg~original

This meter was ideal in its day because of the high current measuring ability of 10 amps.

As for the lead that you found attached to your battery Tigerlea,that connector goes with a trickle charger called an Optimate (ignore the torque wrench).The lead can also be modified to accept other connectors to make it easy to charge the battery without having to remove the seat

https://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv23/WiNot_Rhencullen/Workshop/2016-02-07%2018.02.31_zpsj0cdg2ds.jpg~original
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Just talk bikes.What else is there?

Always have a 'Plan B'