Charging system or Battery puzzel??

[divebiker]

Ok I spent half the morning reading threads on dead batteries and I am now stumped after working on the bike all day.Heres the problem.. Batt looses power after a couple of weeks even if I ride it on the weekends.I brought the battery to the shop and they charged and tested it it tests fine they say. I checked all conections and put that electrical grease on the connection for good measure. This morning I know she would be slow cranking I could tell it was cranking slower last night so I tested the volage at the bat key off, 12.4 volts, key on 10 volts, bike running 14.3. By the way this all started after My friend cranked it for quite some time after stalling it not realizing he needed to switch to resurve. He killed the battery before I got to him.

Questions..Any chance the starter windings are causing the power problem? I dont see how they could even if he burnt them the starter would crank slow all the time not work fine when the batt is totaly charged.

I conclude that the charging system is charging wouldnt you? Where and how do I test for a drain in the system? I havent done the free power mod for the bike came with an extended warentee and I dont want to mess with that. Another funny thing is that I finally bought a good batt charger today and charged it all day. The thing has a meter and it basicly says thats its charged up. Its an automatic cycle charger so I figured Id leave it on over night just to be sure.

I know I could take it to the shop, here in the spring and wait 2 weeks and get it fixed. I rather fix it myself with your guys help. Plus I trust you experts better than my shop. My guess its either a power drain (I doupt it for everything electrical is stock) or it sounds like the battery is bad ( the show says its fine). Im stumped.. Help please!! 06 DRZ 400s

[mojide]

ok, I am no wizard but Ill try and help u out. Your charging system sounds good. It should pump 13-15vdc running. Make sure your battery is a yuasa. Drz batteries die fast if you dont use them and if they arent a yuasa. ALWAYS put it on a trickle charge. Get the adapter so you can just plug it in to your bike (if you dont have one already). The only load the bike has with the key off is a clock. Unless you ride the thing about every other day, the battery will die from sulfation. Weekends is not enough, so leave it on a tender whenever you arent riding it. I've been through 4 batteries. Problem is, I let it sit and 2 of them weren't yuasa. I got a new bat in mine, I ride evey day, I keep it on a tender every night and no problems since. Some import batteries are weak sauce. The drzs especially. how long have you had your current battery for?

[William1]

Sounds like a battery that is entering its' sunset year. Had a hard life and is dying. Letting a battery get low on charge and sit for a few days can quickly kill it. Your charging system sonds fine, the periods betweeen riding and not keeping a tender on it is most likely what did it in.

Get a new battery, get a Battery tender. If the bike is going to sit all week unridden and out venture out on weekends, make a habit of putting the tender on when you stable the bike on Sunday.

[divebiker]

The battery is new with the bike about a year and a half. The bummer about this is that the dealer tested the battery and said it was fine. Thats the part that is throwing me off. Ill check and see what the brand is I am pretty sure its a Yuasa.

[William1]

Voltage drop like you stated is a sign the battery is dying. Just becasue you can charge it and has 12.5+ volts means little. After a charge, a load might bring the voltage down a little but it should bounce right back up. simply having the key on should not drop the voltage so much. I have seen them go bad in six months if not properly taken care of.

Buy a new battery.

[mkorn]

I am experiencing the exact same thing as the original poster.

my battery went low and would not start the bike ... so i bought a tender and hit has been on a Battery Tender Jr. for the past 3-4 weeks ... it worked great at first .... this weekend i went out there to go for a ride and it would barely roll over ... even after a 45 minute ride, it would barely roll over enough to start.

I also checked it off the charger and just sitting it was 12 volts ... then after sitting on the charger over nite ... it read 10 volts. It registers 14 volts when running.

the guy at the stealership told me that the battery might not come back after i ran it low even with the tender ... i guess he was right.

Looks like an other delay in getting my rack, jacket and boots due to replacing crap that should not fail in the first 9 months.

[Noble]

Batteries that get discharged to very low levels really need to be recharged with a proper charger to get them full again. Cheap tenders don't have the electronics to cycle the battery to the higher voltages needed and neither does the on-brand charging system. It sounds like both posters need new batteries. And if you can still buy the GS brand battery that came with early DRZ, I would go with that over Yuasa. Ask your dealer if it can be ordered.

[divebiker]

Bummer About your problem it sounds like your a couple weeks ahead of my same problem. Have you guys heard anything about charging the battery to its fullest then draining it and then charging and draining it again it get the battery back in shape?

[mojide]

yeah, I've heard of people trying that drain/charge method. It wont work. Once the battery is screwed, it's screwed. The DR.Z's battery is lame. Just make sure you get a Yuasa. Make sure you have this trickle as well: http://batterytender.com/product_info.php?products_id=4

some trickle chargers are junk. This is the best, plus it's not too costly.

Once your battery goes south, there is no way to cycle it back to its original shape. Yuasa uses better lead and lead oxide plates. It's just a better battery in my opinion. I never thought I'd have to deal with changin so many batteries out of a 3 yr. old bike. Makes me wanna put a kick on it.

[mkorn]

I broke down and got a new Yuasa battery yesterday and the dealer told me it was just prepped 2 days before and sat on thier charger till full.

it tested 13 volts on my lil analog meter and started the bike like it did when it was new.

When i am not riding, it will have the Battery Tender Jr. plugged into it.

I hope i can get 2-3 years out of it like the dealer told me.

[FARfetched]

OK, here's a stupid question: did you make sure the battery terminals are clean & screwed down tight?

I won't go into details why I ask this, except to say "half an hour ago."

[divebiker]

OK, here's a stupid question: did you make sure the battery terminals are clean & screwed down tight?

I won't go into details why I ask this, except to say "half an hour ago."

Oh no... Yea I checked and cleaned them. Sounds like you dont need a new battery.

[markjenn]

We've discussed this in other threads. The DRZ has a fairly high self-discharge rate through the clock and rectifier and any sitting for more than a few days takes its toll on the battery. I'm sure it varies from bike to bike, but if I don't ride mine every few days to a week and/or take longer riders to get it fully charged again (or keep it on a charger), I eventually have battery problems in a few months.

If I had a dime for every battery that was tested and said to be Okay by dealers, I'd be a millionaire. Once a battery gets weak, just replace - they never come back and I don't think the testers the dealers use can really tell if they're good or bad.

If your DRZ is used sporadically, I think you either keep it on a charger or replace a lot of batteries. It's a very marginal system.

- Mark

[skull]

what you need to do is install a cut off switch on the negitive wire leading from the spedo. head. its the black with white stripe one. it can sit 6 months and still start the bike. the memory is always draining the battery...... i did the same on the hi beam side of the headlight. the increase in cranking speed with a 1/2 dead battery is a life saver.....my battrey is 3 years old and shows little sign of giving up.. just remember to switch the headlight back on or the man will get you......skull.....

[divebiker]

Thank you for your responses. Just to rap it up. So I charged the battery for 2 days and when I go to crank her she cranks slow and tired. I went for a ride today but was afraid to get too deep in the woods just in case I stalled it and it wouldnt crank. If you ever tried to bump start a bike on wet leaves and moss you know it aint gona start without a good size hill. I was thinking of milking what life I have left in the batt with the charger but since I ride off rode by myself 95% of the time with no kick starter I think Ill chuck that battery. Thanks alot for everyones help. You guys are the best!

[markjenn]

what you need to do is install a cut off switch on the negitive wire leading from the spedo. head. its the black with white stripe one. it can sit 6 months and still start the bike. the memory is always draining the battery...... i did the same on the hi beam side of the headlight. the increase in cranking speed with a 1/2 dead battery is a life saver.....my battrey is 3 years old and shows little sign of giving up.. just remember to switch the headlight back on or the man will get you......skull.....

On my bike that drain from the clock in the speeod unit was only 0.4 mA, but the regulator/rectifier was another 1.4, so disconnecting the instrument cluster may not gain you that much. Spec is supposed to be 1.0 mA total, but at least one other has confirmed drains similar on their bike, so many probably are over spec. That's probably the reason why some are Okay and others are having battery problems.

Do the math and it looks like a 9AH battery should be good for at least a month or two before a problem develops (9AH = 4500 hours at 2 mA current) but the battery will have problems cranking the engine long before it gets that low and I think the constant drain reduces the batteries capacity from the moment you start using it and letting the bike sit much.

As I said earlier, just a marginal system, at least for some of us.

- Mark

[Decembermouse]

Good math! Very useful info, I'm in the same predicament many of you are. My Yuasa seems to have died. Won't even crank at all, but reads semi-ok by the Kawasaki dealer in town. A couple things I have come across:

1. arejaysee suggested putting a kick start on it, and not having to worry about the battery. Where can I find a good one of these, and do they come in kit form?

2. I think someone else had success removing their battery from the system altogether, and even got the lights to work when idling.

3. The "free power" DIY

and any other genius ideas to avoid these annoying and expensive battery problems? I'd really like to try one of these and not be stranded again, because that shouldn't happen.