[deadheadawakened]

So, this was a few weeks ago in Phoenix, AZ and I had to take a cruise from the NE side of town, down to the SW side and on my way back home, I made a stop to pick up some paperwork. Five minutes later, I threw my helmet back on and went to start the bike (2007 DL650a) and it was just dead!? I found a guy to help me get it jumped and got home fine(about a 10 minute drive). Later that night, went out to try to start it again and same story - dead battery.

So, here's where I am at now: Battery reads 12.5-12.6 volts while off, but still requires a jump to get it started. It will run fine for as long as I need it to until I turn it off, which at that point it will need another jump to get started... I just hope it's not the stator... Batteries are easier to replace and I've never worked on this kind of charging system before.

Any ideas on where to start looking? I'm heading back into the garage right now to check the current draw.

 

[bwringer]

With the key on but the bike not running, (thereby placing a moderate load on the battery) what does the battery voltage read?

If it drops below 12V right away, the battery is bad. If it drops to 12.4 or 12.5 or so and slowly ticks down, that's normal.

Also, check the connections. Might be that simple.

With the bike started, rev it up to 3,000 rpm or so and see what voltage at the battery reads -- should be around 13.5 volts.

 

[deadheadawakened]

....here's what I found:

Key Off: 12.5/12.6
Key On: 10.5 and slowing fallling
Idle(after jumpstart): 13.0-13.4, which slowly fell to 12.6ish
3K rpm: 14.31-14.34

I also noticed a slight sputtering sound... great.

Thanks for the help bwringer, I also checked all connections, I'm thinking it's the battery so far. Is that what you get out of my numbers too?

 

[deadheadawakened]

I'm heading back into the garage right now to check the current draw.

Forgot that I blew the fuse in my meter and don't have replacement right now, so didn't check draw.

 

[Big B]

Extreme heat is worse than the cold for batteries.

 

[deadheadawakened]

Extreme heat is worse than the cold for batteries.

Yeah, that's what I've heard, Big B. I've only lived in AZ for a year now, but have had this bike since I lived in Washington, Oregon, and South Carolina. So the way I see it, 4 years(to the day) on the stock battery isn't so bad, right?

I'm heading in to O'Reilly's today to pick up a few things and will get a battery while I'm there.


Any one have any suggestions out there for battery brand?

Thanks

 

[themastermike]

so far so good

Yeah, that's what I've heard, Big B. I've only lived in AZ for a year now, but have had this bike since I lived in Washington, Oregon, and South Carolina. So the way I see it, 4 years(to the day) on the stock battery isn't so bad, right?

I'm heading in to O'Reilly's today to pick up a few things and will get a battery while I'm there.


Any one have any suggestions out there for battery brand?

Thanks

I bought a 'motobatt' off flea bay or amazon, I don't remember which. Good price and good connection method. Have only had it on for 4 months so no long term report though.

 

[bwringer]

Yep, it's a dead battery.

The low number when it's moderately loaded (key on, engine off) is the smoking gun. The charging system seems fine.

If you want a battery locally (instead of waiting on one to arrive), check your local Advance Auto or Napa for an AGM battery.

Wally World has a nice sealed battery, but it's not an AGM.

The Motobatt batteries are indeed really nice, but you have to wait a few days for delivery.

Do NOT ride with this dying battery, or you'll soon be buying a stator and regulator as well. Each element of the electrical system depends on all the other elements functioning properly, and you'll easily burn up a stator trying to shove electrons into a dying battery.

While you're thinking of it, take an hour or so to clean all the electrical connectors in the charging system -- remove the side plastic on the left and take a apart and clean each electrical connection. Spritz a good plastic-safe contact cleaner into the connections, make sure everything is nice and clean, slather with dielectric grease, and reassemble.

 

[deadheadawakened]

Yep, it's a dead battery.

The low number when it's moderately loaded (key on, engine off) is the smoking gun. The charging system seems fine.

If you want a battery locally (instead of waiting on one to arrive), check your local Advance Auto or Napa for an AGM battery.

While you're thinking of it....

Yeah, I figured, but I was dumb and rode with it like this for longer than I should have... I got lucky and didn't do any damage to anything else though! I ended up getting an AGM from O'Reilly (although it isn't sealed???) for about $70 and just finished cleaning everything up.

While I had it all apart, I decided to install my headlight kill switch. I've been meaning to for a while, and just figured I might as well do it while I had everything opened up. As a heads-up, I'll post pictures and a vid later tonight in a new thread if you or anyone else is interested.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[ozart]

Do NOT ride with this dying battery, or you'll soon be buying a stator and regulator as well. Each element of the electrical system depends on all the other elements functioning properly, and you'll easily burn up a stator trying to shove electrons into a dying battery.

You know, I've been thinking about this with all the burnt stator threads and there's a possibility of a link, knowing what I know.

My battery is approching the end of its life (4.5 years). Think I'll consider a new one in the near future.