Battery/charging help - Sportbike Addicts

Mike295 · 04-17-2008, 10:25 AM

Have a little problem with my 2005 Kawasaki 636. Looks like the battery can not hold a charge? or something is draing the battery. It went completly dead and was unable to hold a charge last year so i replaced the battery. This year it went dead in the winter putthe trickle charger on and that worked fine. Couple days later rolled it off the truck and wouldent turn over and then eventtually died (battery wise) put it back on the trickle charger and with a jumper started it let it run for a while and then had no problems with startup. Now I dont know how or what will happen in a week or so. But it seems to not want to start up when it hasent been use for a while. Kinda seems odd for a new battery. Anyone else have a problem like tht?

soda7o · 04-17-2008, 10:42 AM

r3ectifier or what ever that thing is called
my friend has the same problem, his f4i got a new bat at the end of the seaosn was on atrickel chareger at my hosue all winter came to get his bike and bat is completely dead while my bat is stock 04 gix bat and i dont even use a tender... try the rectifier first u can ge tone on ebay for liek 20 bucks

Mike295 · 04-17-2008, 10:52 AM

yeah i was kinda thinking that might be it i had a bike like that before

Mike295 · 04-17-2008, 11:04 AM

actually i dont think its the rectifire casue its charging when the bike is runnig. it just drains power when it is not running.

ffejtable · 04-17-2008, 01:05 PM

time to remove the neon lights

if the battery is fine as long as you run it every now and then, but draining pretty quickly when left to sit, I would normally think there is a load on the battery, but without the key in the ignition I dont think there is anything "on". On some of the old bikes (my 01, for example), if you turned the key all the way to the left and take the key out, it would keep the "parking" lights on, but i didnt notice this on my 06 636.

Did you replace the stock battery with one with a smaller mAH rating? I never use a tender, and I think all my bikes still have the stock battery in them, which includes the 96 that I rarely use these days. I started that one up last night, and it needed a charge first, but even after sitting at least 6 months the battery still had enough juice to crank it over for a few seconds.

I believe the alternator/stator on bikes (in general) actually need the engine to get to 2500ish or so RPMs to charge the battery, so running the engine at idle is actually draining the battery (spark plugs, etc) faster than the alternator is able to recharge it.

Mike295 · 04-17-2008, 01:24 PM

well i leave the key in the ignition. u think the battery tender is taking a charge out of it?

***Cakes206*** · 04-17-2008, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike295

actually i dont think its the rectifire casue its charging when the bike is runnig. it just drains power when it is not running.

How do you know. Getting 14+ volts when revving?

Mike295 · 04-17-2008, 01:45 PM

i would be able to chck the volts when reving?

***carl_g*** · 04-17-2008, 01:46 PM

yeah with a volt meter

ffejtable · 04-18-2008, 10:40 AM

I dont think having the key in and in the OFF position turns on any circuits, but to be safe just take the key out completely. You sure you arent leaving it in the ON position? Even with the bike not running, if you leave it in the ON position, I am sure something is powered up, ECU, etc... Thats enough of a slow drain over the course of a few weeks or so to "kill" the battery.

In the off position you are probably ok, but I cant be 100% sure of that unless I see a wiring diagram. In your car, in the OFF position, the circuit for the DING DONG chime when you open the door to let you know the key is in the ignition is "powered" assuming a relay is being used.

Just take the key out.

And safety wire it to something so you dont lose it....

IrocRob · 04-18-2008, 11:35 AM

You said that you replaced the battery, did you get one that
shipped dry and you had to add acid to? Batteries need a full
charge to operate correctly, and a "tender" won't really do it.

If there is any way to verify the acid level in the battery, that's
the first thing to check. Most "sealed" batteries can be opened
even though you aren't supposed to. If the acid level is low
the battery won't hold much of a charge.