Electrical Drain ???????

[Bugsplat]

I own a 2006 RSV(Black Cherry) and have a electrical drain problem that has plaqued me for several months now. The bike has been to the local dealership four times over the past few monthes for this issue but nothing has been found???? The 1st time in the shop they said it was just a bad battery (2 yrs.old) and charged me over $100 for new battery and labor. Less than two weeks later it was totally dead again. Back to the shop and they kept it almost 2 weeks with a volt/ohm meter hooked up to it. Nothing found, they said it might have been a bad battery and gave me another one at no charge. A few weeks later the same scenario.................... Went to ride and nothing, no juice????

Back to the shop for another week and nothing was found to be at fault. They charged the battery and left it hooked up for a week with no drain?????

I spent last week in the mountains in and around Tellico Plains, Tn (The Snake, The Devil's Triangle, The Dragon and Wayah Road) I took my Suzuki Boulevard C90 on this trip as it it lighter and really handles the twisties much better. Anyway, upon returning home I went to clean the RSV and turn the key and................................... Nothing! My volt meter read 3.5 volts.

I monitor this forum daily and believe that the knowledge and expertise is truly right here to resolve this puzzle. I plan a 6000 trip to Montana in July and do not want to take the RSV unless this problem can be fixed.

Has anyone else experienced a similar situation and shed some light on the fix?????

Help !

 

Bugsplat

[GeorgeS]

Do an ohm meter check of the Ignition Switch, " On-Off " contacts.

 

These Switches are notorious for going bad.

 

Is the battery Actually going bad, or is is just looseing contact with the rest of the bike ??

Have you checked the Main 40 AMP fuse??

 

Has anybody checked the battery cables for being Installed correctly? ie: are both ends of both cables makeing good contact ??

 

Has Anybody checked ALL of the Fuse Holders on the bike, for good contact ? with the fuse itself. ??

 

Have you check the little curtisy light in the Trunk ( if you have one ) to make sure the Light Is Actually turning "" OFF "" when you close the trunk lid ??

This is a fairly common problem, at least on the 1st gen bikes !!

 

Have ANY, AFTERMARKET ACCESSORIES BEEN ADDED TO THIS BIKE ?? IF so, was a RElay added that is positivily turned OFF, when the Key is put in the OFF Position ???

 

If none of these items, give you a clue, I would do the following.

 

1. Disconnect the Red Pigtail wire ( Red, #12 wire ) this wire feeds power to All Electrical circuits, except the Starter.

 

2. Get a Digital Volt/Ohm meter, Hook it in series from battery to the wire you disconnected, and set meter to the Current Reading Scale. See what if any current Draw you may or may not see. ( Read the instruction sheet that came with the meter if you don't know how to do this, you may have to sellect a different plug position on the meter, for the meter leads. )

 

---- Remember when cars and truck used to have an Amp Meter?? This is what you are doing here.

 

3. If you see a current Draw, then start pulling fuses one at a time untill the current draw stops.

 

Now at least you know which circuit if any is drawing current from the battery.

 

 

RE-CAP.

 

IF your battery is good, AND HAS BEEN FULLY CHARGED WITH A BATTERY CHARGER!!! NOT, a trickle charger, then if it is discharging, the current has to be flowing thru One of the fuses.

 

So the test method above should tell you which system on the bike is draining the battery.

 

Also---The problem Could/Might be internal to the Voltage Regulator itself. ( ie: its always connected to the battery )

One of the Rectifier Diodes internal to the unit, might have gone bad. ( This would be extremely rare, but possible )

 

 

One more thing to check---- Find the Regulator itself, pull the plug out of it and Inspect the plug for Wet, dirty, corroded Electrical pins.

As I recall sombody sait the Regulator's on the 2nd gen bikes, are mounted in a position that Road Water Wash, hits them. Several fellows have had problems with that plug, becomeing corroded.

 

OK, these are all just possibilities, a witch hunt so to speek !!!

[CMIKE]

You ought to be able to use an amp meter to find this...I mean digital ampmeter not one like you see in the dash of a car but a test meter in series with the positive lead from the battery or a clamp on that will read a really low scale of amps or milliamps in DC. You ought to be able to see if anything is draining the battery while it sits. Finding where the drain is coming from may be more of a problem.

I am just wonder if your key switch is not causing some of this problem. Do you remove the key when you park the bike for a long time? I know I have left mine in the ACC position not realizing it...and killed the battery.

IT could be there is a short in your key switch also. You know they are a known problem with the RVS 2nd gen but they are mostly just make it not start.

That amp meter will tell you if you are draining the battery. Find that out first then go look for the problem by pulling fuse till you find the circuit that is draining it.

[Sailor]

I had a similar problem. I found that if I used the tape deck/cb/radio and did not turn it off before shutting off the bike it would slowly drain the battery. I had assumed when you cut off the ignition it cut off everything, apparently the radio/cb/tape kept drawing somehow. No problems since I shut them off.

[bar836]

I had an add-on CD player that did the same thing to mine. Dead battery after about 2 weeks.

[saddlebum]

I had a similar problem. I found that if I used the tape deck/cb/radio and did not turn it off before shutting off the bike it would slowly drain the battery. I had assumed when you cut off the ignition it cut off everything, apparently the radio/cb/tape kept drawing somehow. No problems since I shut them off.

 

I had an add-on CD player that did the same thing to mine. Dead battery after about 2 weeks.

In maney cases the reason for the above 2 situations is because they have 2 voltage supply wires 1 from the ignition which is turned on and of with the key and a 2nd which is live all the time this second one is used to retain your settings in the memory. A motorcycle battery does not have enogh reserve capacity to support this memory feature for a very long time thus draining the battery. the solution here is to A) move that second wire to the ignition source. unfortunatly you will loose your preset stations each time you turn the bike off but it beats a dead battery every time you want to start the bike or B) put a switch on this wire and remember to switch it off when you park the bike for extended periods.

[kbran]

In maney cases the reason for the above 2 situations is because they have 2 voltage supply wires 1 from the ignition which is turned on and of with the key and a 2nd which is live all the time this second one is used to retain your settings in the memory. A motorcycle battery does not have enogh reserve capacity to support this memory feature for a very long time thus draining the battery. the solution here is to A) move that second wire to the ignition source. unfortunatly you will loose your preset stations each time you turn the bike off but it beats a dead battery every time you want to start the bike or B) put a switch on this wire and remember to switch it off when you park the bike for extended periods.

Or c) use a battery tender when parked for extended periods.

[kwisor]

Hello

i had a similer problem with my 99 rsv the dealer fouNd i needed a new rectofier and thay hard wired it i have not had a battery drain since you may un plug the retofier to see IF the connection is corroded if so that may be to problem i think ruffy had the same proble also it was a corroded conection at the rectofier

bumble bee

kevin wisor

1999 rsv

jax fl

[Bugsplat]

Thanks for everyones ideas and suggestions!!! I knew this was the place to get the best and most accurate responses to this or any problem with a RSV. I will start checking out all items listed. The dealer was using a digital volt/ohm meter but he had it set on DC volts? He would read a fully charged battery and use that data for a baseline figure and then review the meter reading daily. After one week it had dropped in the area of .o3 volts only. Do I understand correctly that it should be set on Amps?

Yes, I do leave the key in most of the time. The dealer thought maybe I was leaving it on the ACC. setting so this last time I pulled out the key and then put the key back ib the ignition switch. Is it possible that by inserting the key alone it is energizing something?

As for the battery, I do not believe any of the batteries were truly bad. I think the dealer was grasping at straws also.

The dealer thought at one time it was the combo. radio/cb/tape deck not shutting off but he said that after a few minutes it did shut down. It is the factory installed unit so how does it keep it's memory without power? Also, the same must apply for the clock.

I have installed a digital voltmeter but I tapped into a swithed positive for the power source. My GPS is plugged into the 12v accessory plug on the front left side of the inner cowling. I do leave it plugged all the time but it shuts down when I turn off the key. Or it apperas to shut off just as the radio does.

Thanks again for all the help. This is the greatest bike forum I have every belonged to.

 

Bugsplat

[saddlebum]

Thanks for everyones ideas and suggestions!!! I knew this was the place to get the best and most accurate responses to this or any problem with a RSV. I will start checking out all items listed. The dealer was using a digital volt/ohm meter but he had it set on DC volts? He would read a fully charged battery and use that data for a baseline figure and then review the meter reading daily. After one week it had dropped in the area of .o3 volts only. Do I understand correctly that it should be set on Amps?

What the dealer is doing is monitering how much the battery discharges over a period of time and for that he is using the correct setting. However if he is looking for parasitic drain then he should have it set on DC amps ( Preferably with multiple scales so you can measure in milliamps if it is a small drain or amps if it is a large drain ) and place between the ground cable which he would disconnect from the battery and the neg battery post. you then systematicly pull fuses until the amp draw drops to pin down the circuit that is guilty