Thumper Club Forum
Technical => Bike Problems/Questions => Topic started by: Steffan on November 15, 2012, 01:10:04 PM
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Hi,
I recently changed the battery on my Skorpion, the old one was ten years old, but she continues to flatten the battery with the ignition off if left for a few day to a week.
Does anyone have any idea what this might be and how one might begin testing to see where the problem lies.
Many thanks
Steff
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Dodgy earth strap thingy....?
Rob.
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I don't think that would lead to the symptoms described. Do you have heated grips on the Skorpion ?
Subject for discussion in the pub tomorrow I think ;D
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The old one probably died of natural causes: 10 years is pretty good. If the new one is a Yuasa, it may have been prepared improperly. If it's not a Yuasa, it might just be a crap battery. A new dry-charged battery needs to be filled to the lines with electrolyte, charged at no more than an Amp for an hour or so, tapped smartly with a screwdriver handle, then re-filled with electrolyte because the initial filling will have left bubbles of air between the plates. Continue charging at less than an amp for several hours. Keep an eye on it and if a cell suddenly loses electrolyte (because there was a big bubble), refill it. When it holds at 13 Volts or so, it's good. Sometimes you have to take it for a ride to shake out all the bubbles.
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assuming youve not got a clock, an alarm or imobiliser fitted you have one of two problems. eiher you have a duff new battery, or you have a wiring or electical fault in the loom. now in practice, if the ignition is turned off then everything will be dead. so, disconnect the battery and pit a bulb in between the terminal and the lead youve just disconnected. if everything is correctly working in the loom, the bulb will stay off. if the bulb lights up even at the dullest glimmer, then youve a fault in your loom. if the bike has a fuesbox it might be worth removing each fuse in trn to see if the bulb will go out and thus identify the circuit required. it might also be worth checking to see if the bike has a main relay or conactor, if this is being energised with the ignition off, then that might drain a battery over a period of ime.