2009 Tiger 1050 Battery Drain Woes

[Scotty Dog]

Hello, new member here, i joined to help out my Father who has recently bought an 09 plate Tiger 1050. He was a Honda man for 43 years, so this change of heart was suprising to say the least, but i had a go and i can see why he likes the Tiger.

A few weeks after picking the bike up the battery went flat, but once jumped it worked fine, until you turned the bike off and then went to turn it straight back on again it was dead, so we put a new battery on, a YUASA YT12B-BS and all was Fine . . . or so we thought.

Then the Bike sat for a couple weeks, Turned the key and it was completely dead.

On the 25th November, after we charged the battery it was @ 12.70V
Ignition On was 12.09V
While cranking it was all over between 10V & 11V
While Idling its was 14.30V
Then 10 minutes after turning off it was 12.72V, straight after we un-hooked the battery from the bike.
In 24 Hours un-hooked on the 26th it had dropped too 12.67V
Then hooked back up on the bike and another 24 hours on the 27th it had dropped too 12.52V
On the 28th it was 12.43V
On the 29th it was 12.30V
On the 30th it was 12.21V
On the 1st of December it was 12.13V
On the 2nd it was 12.05V
On the 3rd it was 11.96V
On the 4th it was 11.87V

In comparison i have an S1000RR and on 2nd December my bikes battery was 12.82V and on the 6th it was 12.81V

While the Bike was off we pulled Fuses 1 by 1 and the only Fuse that had any current flowing to it (through it) was Fuse 4 (Turn Signals/Alarm/Horn/Tail lights/Sidelights/Diagnostic Plug)

Me and my Father are Practical blokes, but Vehicle Electrics arent our strong point, and were struggling to find out why its Draining like it is, and its not fun seeing my Dad looking and feeling dejected by things, especailly as he seems to really like the Tiger, so any help would be Greatly Respected and Appriciated.

Thank you

Scott

 

[Greyfell]

While the Bike was off we pulled Fuses 1 by 1 and the only Fuse that had any current flowing to it (through it) was Fuse 4 (Turn Signals/Alarm/Horn/Tail lights/Sidelights/Diagnostic Plug)

In that sentence, you have a partial answer, if you are stating what you measured correctly. If you measured voltage then, yes, that is correct that circuit should have voltage even with the bike off. If you measured current (amperes) then you've got trouble, mate.

In case you don't know, voltage is the force, or potential, for providing current; amperes is the actual flow of electrons (current). With the bike and lights all off, you should read voltage but not current/amperes. Otherwise then something, like an earth wire touching metal or something, is draining the battery.

 

[Scotty Dog]

In that sentence, you have a partial answer, if you are stating what you measured correctly. If you measured voltage then, yes, that is correct that circuit should have voltage even with the bike off. If you measured current (amperes) then you've got trouble, mate.

In case you don't know, voltage is the force, or potential, for providing current; amperes is the actual flow of electrons (current). With the bike and lights all off, you should read voltage but not current/amperes. Otherwise then something, like an earth wire touching metal or something, is draining the battery.

Thank you for Clarifying my mistake, i shall check again

 

[triumph david]

Scotty Dog, even with the battery showing 11.87 will the M/C crank and run ok? My truck sits long enough to go down to 11.03 and still cranks up and runs ok, like Greyfell said the voltage "pushes" the amps.

 

[Scotty Dog]

Scotty Dog, even with the battery showing 11.87 will the M/C crank and run ok? My truck sits long enough to go down to 11.03 and still cranks up and runs ok, like Greyfell said the voltage "pushes" the amps.

I shall try next time it gets that low. but in reality after 9 days it shouldnt be that low should it

 

[triumph david]

My truck (full size V8 GMC) will drop down to that in less than7 days sometimes, i don't know why, cold weather? I used to chase shorts when i worked as a mechanic. The first thing you do is discount the battery cable and hook a ohm meter up, one lead to the cable end and the other to the battery post, when you do you will see electrical flow of about 7-9 on the volt scale if the system is ok. If there is more draw than that you have a short or something is turned on ( like a accessory not wired through the switch ) and don't forget that a aftermarket radio has a wire that has to be wired "hot" at all times or the preset stations will not stay active and be deleated when the power is turned off, and there other things as well the computer for example. I even have a special connector powered by a 9 v battery that i hook up to a car when i take out the battery where the computer will not have to "relearn, reset or whatever" when the new battery is put back in. It goes on and on, i don't do much work on this kind of stuff anymore, its mostly all circuit boards now that give people fits. If the thing cranks up and runs ok with the battery down like that, and the alternator is continuing to charge at 14.3 - 14.7 +/_ i would not worry about it, the more you learn about this subject the more insane you will become. Those people that are up in those elevated places with high powered rifles killing people are really x-mechanics that worked on electrical problems!

 

[triumph david]

I should have said about 3-5V,,,, see what that stuff does to u.

 

[Scotty Dog]

While the bike was Off, we disconnected the Earth and put the Multimeter from the Earth terminal to the earth wire and it showed 0.002A.

We also disconnected the Live and put the Multimeter from the live terminal to the starter solinoid relay, on the Power wire and the starter feed wire and again it flicked from 0.001A too 0.000A.

We also noticed that the Reg/Rec got rather warm.

 

[Scotty Dog]

Reg/Rec rather warm while running, sorry for the mistake

 

[Scotty Dog]

Bench Test Result
We fully charged the battery on Saturday the 8th up to 12.87v
On the 9th it was 12.80v
On the 10th it was 12.78v
On the 11th it was 12.76v
On the 12th it was 12.75v
On the 13th it was 12.74v
On the 14th it was 12.74v

I Then put the Battery on its side, to mimmic being on the bike, then hooked up a 21w Bulb and left it for 4 Hours and it dropped down to 11.60v

24 hours later on the 15th it was 11.65v
And on the 16th again it was 11.65v

A Healthy battery & 2 milliamp draw on the bike shouldnt reduce the voltage such like i explained in my first post . . .

Just doesnt add up ?? any ideas ??

 

[Greyfell]

Hmmm. Battery is good, the bike has a drain you haven't found, yet.

 

[Scotty Dog]

Hmmm. Battery is good, the bike has a drain you haven't found, yet.

When the battery is attached to the bike and the bike is off, we found that the Battery had a draw on it of just 2 Milliamps

 

[triumph david]

Scotty Dog, did you ever solve your battery drain problems?