Battery Losing Charge

[110%]

I jumped on the bike on Saturday, put the keys in the ingition and turned it on but everything was dead. I checked the battery and it wasn't even reading a voltage. I put in on a trickle charge until the voltage was above 14V, connected it all up and still nothing, so I checked the voltage again and it was gradually falling at about 0.1V per second!
I then disconnected all of the leads to work out what was drawing power, but it still kept falling. I presume the battery is completely knackered, but even when connected a second battery in parallel to jump start it, once I took the 2nd battery away the voltage of the knackered battery was jumping all over the place, to the extent that when I turned ON my lights or heated grips etc, the voltage went up to over 12V, and when I turned them OFF it was going down to 10V.

Is it purely a knackered battery or might there also be a fault with the regulator?? I don't want to buy a new battery to knacker that one as well if something else in the circuit is causing a failure.

[tweetytek]

What's the voltage when engine running and electrics off and battery connected in bike?

What's the ampere draw (multimeter in series in between +terminal and to the thick red wire naturally not connected!

Be sure the multimeter can handle 40A !

?

[110%]

When the engine is running and everything such as lights etc turned off the voltage flickers sporadically between 10 to 12V which means it's taking a charge from the stator like it did from the trickle charger but it's just not retaining it.
I can't test the ampere draw as it's now completely flat again!!

[darrsi]

Rechargeable batteries do charge between 13.2v to 14v, depending on the charger and battery condition.


I use batteries and chargers a lot at work for film camera equipment which are virtually the same as bike and car ones, and a good battery will normally drop down to between 12.8v and 13.2v when idle after charging, and when you remove the charger it's normal to watch it slowly drop down until it settles.


It does kind of point to a dud battery to be honest.

[tweetytek]

Rechargeable batteries do charge between 13.2v to 14v, depending on the charger and battery condition.


I use batteries and chargers a lot at work for film camera equipment which are virtually the same as bike and car ones, and a good battery will normally drop down to between 12.8v and 13.2v when idle after charging, and when you remove the charger it's normal to watch it slowly drop down until it settles.


It does kind of point to a dud battery to be honest.

Sealed and open lead acid batteries, in camera equip?My Nikon and canon use LiIon never had to top mine up with distilled water 

anyway Im 110% sure it's a dudd battery on the OP bike

[darrsi]

Rechargeable batteries do charge between 13.2v to 14v, depending on the charger and battery condition.


I use batteries and chargers a lot at work for film camera equipment which are virtually the same as bike and car ones, and a good battery will normally drop down to between 12.8v and 13.2v when idle after charging, and when you remove the charger it's normal to watch it slowly drop down until it settles.


It does kind of point to a dud battery to be honest.

Sealed and open lead acid batteries, in camera equip?My Nikon and canon use LiIon never had to top mine up with distilled water 

anyway Im 110% sure it's a dudd battery on the OP bike

I didn't say "in" camera equipment, i said "for" camera equipment.
When at all possible film cameras are run off block batteries on the floor.
The same applies to video cameras, although they're a bit more geared up for onboard batteries.


I'm not on about stills cameras, i'm on about cameras used for tv & movies.

[tweetytek]

Ah. That will be the proper pro stuff then. Wow! Im impressed.

[110%]

Cheers guys. My concern was there might be a deeper fault such as the regulator, but it appears that it's just a knackered battery from from what you are saying.

Down to the local battery store for me (if such a place exists!!)

[darrsi]

Yuasa tends to be a good make, just shop about online for the best deal.


YT12B, you will pay £10+ more than others, but you get what you pay for, and they're tried, tested and trusted! 

[tweetytek]

Cheers guys. My concern was there might be a deeper fault such as the regulator, but it appears that it's just a knackered battery from from what you are saying.

Down to the local battery store for me (if such a place exists!!)

Regulator just "regulates" [and smooths] out the voltage from the battery source; nothing to do with your barttery not holding a charge and dropping charge rapidly. You can thest the regulator very simply but you dont need to as this is a dudd battery issue. As darrsi says, go for a trouble free battery as it is worth the extra money particularly if you ride in dark winters and have the lights running - mind you most bikers keep the lights on anyway 24/7 ??

[Fazerider]

You undoubtedly have a knackered battery, but the behaviour once you'd got the bike running is still a bit suspicious.
I'd check all the contacts are clean and tight before installing a new battery and then make some measurements with the new one just to make sure the charging circuit is OK.