Sealed lead-acid battery woe,s

[Billybream]

This is the 2nd new battery in a week, something must be draining the battery, although lights are off, and no discharge shown on ammeter, black magic maybe

[berger]

i know nothing apart from when i put a low amp hour battery on mine something happened to the dvr2 , since upping the ah from 3 to i think it is 9 now no problems in years

[Worty]

i know nothing apart from when i put a low amp hour battery on mine something happened to the dvr2 , since upping the ah from 3 to i think it is 9 now no problems in years

Mine was 13ah and is now 8ah (because I had it lying around), no issues so far.

[Swarfcut]

 There must be a wiring fault or a short somewhere. A test meter or bulb from the earth side of a charged battery to the earth connection on the loom or frame should  show no current with everything turned off. If you do find a leak, then it's a case of searching until something is disconnected or moved that stops the drain. I'd suspect the DV2R. Charge the battery off the bike, leave and see if it holds charge. The high rate of charge is not what you would expect. A check of the wiring may reveal a mistake in the connections.

 Swarfy.

[Billybream]

Thanks Swarfcut, yes the battery is off and on charge now, been for a ride this morning with out battery, rode with lights on and showing healthy charge on ammeter. Surprised if there is a wiring fault as its been untouched for years, but will test later, thanks for your help and advice. Sent note to Dynamo Regulators for advice also, although the company has changed hands.

[Swarfcut]

  Normal ammeter wiring is such that the unit only measures current flow to (Charge) or from (Discharge) the battery. The fact that riding without a battery but lights on still shows a reading is a puzzle, as the ammeter must be indicating current flow through the lighting circuit.

  With headlights, rear light, horn and brake on, engine off,  that is the maximum discharge current from battery that the ammeter should show. Still suspect you have a wiring or component fault somewhere.

 Swarfy.

[Billybream]

Hi Swarfcut, got response from new owner of Dynamo Regulators on a Sunday, he,s puzzled and wants the unit back to test, so off the bike and packed up ready to go. Elimination should
sort my issue out, battery still so far holding charge on bench.

[Black Sheep]

Swarfy, horn and brake light don't go through the ammeter. As you say, with the battery removed, the ammeter shouldn't show any charge or discharge. There is a significant wiring fault. Time to dig out the wiring diagram!

[Swarfcut]

    Blame the booze. Black Sheep is correct. In the usual set up  horn and brake light don't go through the ammeter. But with this bike the electrics are certainly behaving strangely, defying convention.  See how long the battery holds charge in isolation. If it seems OK, worth refitting the charged battery now the regulator is off, see what happens.

 Swarfy.

[Worty]

This is where I went wrong with having a few duff (new) batteries.  I thought that if the battery was completely dead, it still should show an 'attempted' charge to the battery.  Once I understood that the ammeter ONLY dealt with current to and from the battery - all made sense.  With a dead battery, the battery wouldn't show charge or discharge, but the electrics would work direct from the dynamo.  I have also run a couple of earths around the bike that I probably didn't need when trying to fix/understand the problems - I am no sparky!

[Billybream]

Received the DVR2  back from Dynamo Regulators, tested all ok, and returned FOC, excellent service. The battery is still holding charge, so must be wiring issue, will start with brake light and horn wiring. I have a digital meter and now have to learn how to check for current drain. One thing I did notice when originally connecting the battery, was a small spark, not sure which order I connected the terminals.

[chaterlea25]

Hi Billy,
The spark indicates that current is flowing if connected,
connect a bulb between the battery and its lead, bulb will light or glow,
start disconnecting components until the light goes out, that will indicate the faulty component

John

[Billybream]

Back from hols and had a session tracing the short on my bike, working through checking individual  components when I removed the stop light switch, cleaned it up and fitted new rubber boot, then set about setting up the brake light operation with double filament bulb, after a few minutes I must have accidentally touched the DV2R which was red hot. Looking at the wiring diagram the only path through is via the ammeter, could this be the short I,m looking for? . Have not switched the lights on or even ran the engine during this session.

[Worty]

I'm no good at electrics but, obviously, there must be a path back to the DVR2 from the battery (being the only source of power to make the DVR2 hot and especially as the engine is not running to create power via the dynamo).  This is a weird problem and has to be either a short circuit or something has been wired up incorrectly.  Why would the battery feed back through the DVR2??

[limeyrob]

The DVR2 will have a very small reverse current - milliamps - and they say it will drain a battery in a few months.  This will not heat it up, but if the electronic component has failed and is allowing a bigger reverse current it will get very hot and flatten the battery.  I think you need to get the DVR2 on the bench and check its reverse resistance.  Electronic components do fail, even quality ones, so it is possible.