Newish battery went dead / need help using multimeter

[FB400]

Hey all -
So the battery I replaced in April 2011 (scorpion) went dead today. I had ridden the bike probably 10,000 miles with it and had no problems. It normally lives on a battery tender but about a month before my trip to the dragon (september 2012 did 2500 miles) I took it off the tender to test if it would hold a charge. did well no issues then put it back on the tender.

Today I commuted to local locations with starts maybe 3 times when changing locations and a couple stops on the way home. Then did about an hour of mixed riding with very heavy traffic followed by a good cruising speed for maybe 20 minutes. I stopped about a mile from home and the bike wouldn't start. the pump primed and I got display but when hitting the start button the button just clicked.

Luckily I was able to easily roll start the bike and get home.
Once home I I hooked up this multimeter to the charging connector and
got 12.4 volts. When hitting the start button (clicks again) and drops volts down to 5.4 and won't start. After about only an hour on the tender the bike starts like nothing was ever wrong

Sorry for the long post but looking first off for advice on using this multimeter
1. The setting as shown in photo gives me voltage. What are the other settings used for?
2. Would a simple test of battery tell me if it is the battery or something else? ( it is entirely possible I just got a crappy battery off ebay).

Any help would be appreciated. I am pulling the battery out tomorrow morning to have it tested.

 

[Motogiro]

Hey all -
So the battery I replaced in April 2011 (scorpion) went dead today. I had ridden the bike probably 10,000 miles with it and had no problems. It normally lives on a battery tender but about a month before my trip to the dragon (september 2012 did 2500 miles) I took it off the tender to test if it would hold a charge. did well no issues then put it back on the tender.

Today I commuted to local locations with starts maybe 3 times when changing locations and a couple stops on the way home. Then did about an hour of mixed riding with very heavy traffic followed by a good cruising speed for maybe 20 minutes. I stopped about a mile from home and the bike wouldn't start. the pump primed and I got display but when hitting the start button the button just clicked.

Luckily I was able to easily roll start the bike and get home.
Once home I I hooked up this multimeter to the charging connector and
got 12.4 volts. When hitting the start button (clicks again) and drops volts down to 5.4 and won't start. After about only an hour on the tender the bike starts like nothing was ever wrong

Sorry for the long post but looking first off for advice on using this multimeter
1. The setting as shown in photo gives me voltage. What are the other settings used for?
2. Would a simple test of battery tell me if it is the battery or something else? ( it is entirely possible I just got a crappy battery off ebay).

Any help would be appreciated. I am pulling the battery out tomorrow morning to have it tested.

Charge it completely and have it load tested.
The volt meter is set in the 20 vdc range. That's perfect. You should read about 13 plus VDC when you have the battery charged and the rpm past 2000 rpm. Definitely have it load tested. The other features are for small amperage measurements, AC volts, Ohms and it has a transistor tester! LOL Only Harbor Freight! LOL I have the same cheapo tester test knocking around in my car. They're cheap enough you could buy one for each room! And for what they are they do work!

If you can get a cheap 12 test light. The kind that has the sharp probe and an alligator clip.Make sure all power and key is off when doing this test. Take the negative lead off the battery. Put the alligator clip on the end of the negative wire . Touch the probe to the battery negative terminal. The test light is now in series. Does it light? If it does light, keep the probe touching the Neg Battery terminal and touch the negative wire lead the the negative terminal on the battery. The light should go out. Now remove the negative lead keeping the test light attached as before. If the light goes out and stays out there is no leak, meaning current is not flowing and draining the battery. If the light stays on there is current leaking and this is discharging your battery.

 

[FB400]

Thanks Moto.. will definately give this a shot today

 

[FB400]

Thanks again Moto. I tested the negative lead as you said.

Good news no leak. The battery is the probable cause.

After a full charge the battery registers 13.2 volts. I suppose the load test will be telling.

 

[Jmnielsen]

Just for a heads up, nearly all places you take it will use an electronic tester to "load test" the battery. it actually doesn't load test it, but rather analyzes it and gives its best guess. I know this because i work at interstate batteries. We have an electronic tester and they are a selling tool. they are only about 50-60% accurate.

 

[Motogiro]

Just for a heads up, nearly all places you take it will use an electronic tester to "load test" the battery. it actually doesn't load test it, but rather analyzes it and gives its best guess. I know this because i work at interstate batteries. We have an electronic tester and they are a selling tool. they are only about 50-60% accurate.

Thanks for that info! I didn't now they were that inaccurate. Interstate used to be one of the best batteries when I used to wrench.

 

[pookamatic]

Just a quick thought if the battery is toast: Have you ever plugging in your tender and had it indicate that it was charging for extended periods of time?

I say this because I've seen this with mine. It believe it has 3 indications:

Charging (flashing red: battery under 80%)
Trickling (red: battery ~81-98%)
Maintain (green - occasionally trickling battery to keep near 100%)

Typically, it "charges" for under 30 minutes, maintains for under 30, then goes green until I unplug it. Anyway, I have seen on more than one occasion where the tender indicates that it's charging after many hours, and the tender itself is hot. I've unplugged it in these situations. If you've had this, maybe the tender has cooked the battery?

 

[FB400]

Just a quick thought if the battery is toast: Have you ever plugging in your tender and had it indicate that it was charging for extended periods of time?

I say this because I've seen this with mine. It believe it has 3 indications:

Charging (flashing red: battery under 80%)
Trickling (red: battery ~81-98%)
Maintain (green - occasionally trickling battery to keep near 100%)

Typically, it "charges" for under 30 minutes, maintains for under 30, then goes green until I unplug it. Anyway, I have seen on more than one occasion where the tender indicates that it's charging after many hours, and the tender itself is hot. I've unplugged it in these situations. If you've had this, maybe the tender has cooked the battery?

Pook -
yeah for sure. I noticed the tender took much much longer to charge to full green last January after I upgraded to 55w ballast (from 35w) for my HID Xenon system. I have the deltran JR. tender which I think charges at .75 volts and is supposed to have a microchip to know when to stop charging

 

[FB400]

ok so I had both the newer (scorpion) battery checked and also the original yamaha equipped battery (yuasa) checked.

Both are good!!

1. scropion holding 100% charge (18 months old)

2. yuasa holds 89% charge ( took off the bike 18 months ago..it's about 6 years old)

Next step is to check the stator output (again).
Before leaving on this trip back in September it was putting out 13.xx at idle (really good) and increased slightly by maybe a volt when revving to 4,000 rpm.

 

[ebk02]

I suspect the charging system. If the battery is fully charged, it will read 12+ volts. Right after charging it may be as high as 13, but should drop back to about 12 volts or so.
Leave the meter on the battery terminals, and start the bike. The voltage should only drop a little bit as starter motor is turning, and once started, the voltage should go to 13.5+ or so when you rev the engine slightly. If you do not see the voltage increase as rpm's increase, it is not charging the battery.

 

[FB400]

The scorpion battery actually clocks in at a higher voltage (13.1 vs 12.xx) with the bike not running and it is newer than the original so I put this one in the bike.


I then ran the bike and checked the voltage output at idle, 3.5k and 4k rpms (don't ask me why the weird rpm intervals.. I dunno )

at idle (around 1,300rpm) : 12.24 volts

at 3,500 rpm: 13.36 volts

at 4,000 rpm: same at 13.36 volts.

Seems like plenty of stator output to me. Will ride it and see how this goes. The traffic jam I experienced yesterday was pretty uncommon for me and I usually do not split lanes. Maybe it is wishful thinking that all the idling killed the battery charge.. Will have to see

Thanks for all who chimed in to help... greatly appreciated. :thumbup:

 

[Gelvatron]

Your out put from any ac generator should be designed to keep the bike idling on any motor vehicle unless you over load it with extras, if you have not i would suspect you have an issue and start trouble shooting at step one with a TM this would give you the quickest results in finding your issue or at least isolating problems or components based on your tools.

 

[FinalImpact]

Update?

Does it have dual HID 55W, and if so, does the system draw that much or is that the equivalent output (55W)?

 

[2007Fizzer]

Before you rely on this Harbor Freight multimeter too much, open the case using the 2 screws at the bottom rear, and check/replace the internal battery. I very recently checked my FZ6 battery voltage, and got a reading of 16.x volts! That reading was pretty consistent over several checks. Made me a little nervous. Ran downstairs, grabbed my expensive analog meter, and the average of 3 or 4 readings was "about" 12.6 volts (analog not as "exact" a meter).
Turns out the Harbor Freight meter comes with a really cheap OEM battery. Mine failed after about two years of mostly storage and very light use (your mileage may vary). For whatever reason, I got crazy voltage readings (crisp, digital readings but absolutely dead wrong) as the battery started to fail. Took a few minutes, replaced the battery with a Duracell using the two screws at the bottom rear of the case, and now no problems with the meter whatsoever.
Note that Harbor Freight seems to sell these meters for anywhere from $2.99 to $11.99 or so. I picked up several at the $2.99 price, and they're absolutely identical to the more expensive ones. In fact, at my local store if they have them in 2 different locations within the store, they're likely to be at 2 different prices. I do have an excellent analog multimeter which I've had for more than a decade, but when you need a digital mulltimeter and want it on the cheap, you simply can't beat this Harbor Freight gizmo. Would make a fine Christmas gift for your riding buddies. You don't have to tell them it cost less than $3.00!
- - - Jim
Most problems can be solved with a suitable application of throttle.

 

[04fizzer]

You say you ran into a traffic jam. Was your radiator fan running, and were you idling/low rpm's for extended periods? This can wipe out a battery pretty quick.

 

[Nelly]

Multi meter

I've got myself a multimeter and it came with some fantastically detailed instructions.





Sadly they are in Chinese.
All I want to be able to do is test a circuit and check the battery.
What setting do I use?

Neil:thumbup:

 

[Nelly]

Re: Multi meter

Picture

Sent from my HTC One X

 

[SteveH41]

Re: Multi meter

Picture

Sent from my HTC One X

DCV 20 range for checking battery with probes plugged into the ones they are now. Same for continuity but low ohms range instead

 

[Nelly]

Re: Multi meter

Thanks for that,

Neil

 

[Gelvatron]

Change the red lead where it enters the multi meter when checking for ohms and change it back when testing vdc

You are only as good as your test equipment if you don't use it right I will give false results causing you to trouble shoot incorrectly