Batttery going dead

[branson0319@att.net]

I am having problems with my 2004 1800 battery going dead after sitting around for over a day ..Could it be in my alternator ??? I have extra lights but they are wired to a light trio and I have them set up to work only when turned on .. so there should be no draw unless they are on .. Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to provide .. I have a battery volt meter and it shows charging at about 14 volts .. Also have a battery monitor or. it shows good also.. The battery is also brand new .... In fact it is the second one in a year as I thought that was the problem ..It,is not ...

[Steve F]

Would you by any chance have an MP3 player installed? There was once a problem with a certain brand of MP3 players that would draw the battery down, even with the bike turned off and the key removed.

[branson0319@att.net]

As a matter of fact I do .. What brand is causing that or is it just any mp3 player ...Have had it for a few years now . never happened before .. But will unplug it and see what happens ..Just hate running my battery dead testing ...

[jinx]

Do you have a meter that will monitor current ? If so disconnect the + battery cable and connect the meter between the cable and the + battery post. Do not turn the ignition on or allow the meter lead connected to the + cable to short to ground or you will probably damage the meter. Now check the current draw . I haven't check the draw in a long time but it should be well below .1 A depending on addons that are drawing power with the ignition off. If the draw is high start pulling fuses until you find the problem.

It is also possible that the new battery is bad.

[branson0319@att.net]

I,m convinced the battery is fine if not they sent me two bad ones in a row ...still will check to see what the draw is ..Thanks for the information .. I normally have it on a battery tender but for get to plug it in at times .. Never ran it dead over night but after that it is probably going to be low enough where it won,t start ...

[Mh434]

It is possible to get dud batteries.

But, it's more likely IMHO that one of your accessories is draining the battery. Some aftermarket GPS units draw a LOT of juice, even while turned off (but still plugged in). That happened to me - I traced it to my GPS, which turns out to have been drawing almost 1 amp in standby mode (unit turned off via the switch on it). On my GL1500, I had a combination temp/clock/volt meter that shorted internally, and was drawing current full time.

[Steve F]

Using an AMMETER to check for current as mentioned above is a good suggestion, but you can also accomplish the same thing, and pinpoint the circuit by simply pulling a fuse and probing the fuse contacts for current flow. Easier than putting in series with the battery.

[branson0319@att.net]

Never leave my GPS on the bike ..The batteries [BOTH ] are fine .. It is something else ..taking it to mechanic to have him chase it down ... thanks ...Steve

[baumedagn]

Have the battery load tested. Almost any auto parts store can do this. If it's gone dead a couple of times, it may be toast. Once you're sure the battery is fine, follow the above mentioned steps to trace down what's draining it.

[branson0319@att.net]

Unless the battery monitor is a piece of crap the battery is not the problem and I,m convinced it is not the problem .. on the other hand it could be a number of things I also have a XM radio .. it could be that it could be any number of things ..as I said I,m going to turn loose a guy who is great at these things ..Convinced it,s one of the after market things on my bike and I have several ..as most of us do ... ..

[branson0319@att.net]

Does anyone think my battery monitor could be the problem ..???? It has been suggested to me it could be as it is monitoring all the time ..

[Steve F]

Does anyone think my battery monitor could be the problem ..???? It has been suggested to me it could be as it is monitoring all the time ..

If it's on all the time, it's likely drawing current, but at what rate? Are there lights or some other feature pulling a significant amount? Cut it out of the circuit or wire it to a key-switched circuit to be sure.

[branson0319@att.net]

Thanks to all of you who have responded to my questions ,,it is greatly appreciated ...Steve