Bad battery or something else?

[turbofiat124]

Initially I used one of those 12aH batteries used on battery powered rides to power the starter on my Peace 110. I had it Zip tied to the rear rack. These batteries came from our fire alarm system at work and we still good but had to be replaced every so many years. So I grabbed them before they went into the recycling bin.

I noticed that after a week or so if the bike had not been riden the battery would go dead.

So I went to Wal-Mart and bought the correct size battery for it.

So far so good but once again, a week later that battery went dead. Brand new battery! I thought maybe my daughter had turned the key on and left it on like she did my Trabant a few years ago.

Normally this bike get's ridden almost every day when I'm off. We went to the beach a few weeks ago for a week and when I got home, my daughter wanted me to take her for a ride and the battery was dead.

I'm wondering if something is draining the battery. The guy who gave it to me said he couldn't keep batteries on it when he owned it and had to disconnect the wires when not in use.

I know I can hook a mulit-meter between the battery and the small red wire that goes to the ignition switch/alarm system and see if there is any current draw with the key off to see if something is draining the battery.

Providing it's not pulling more than 1 amp. I have smoked multi-meters in the past when I thought a circuit was not pulling more than 1 amp and it was.

If there is a current draw, then what could it be? My guess is the alarm system could be dragging it down. Maybe a bad diode in the magneto?

The battery does not go dead if used. It's when the bike sits for a week not being ridden. So I know the battery is being recharged by the magneto.

I removed the buzzer when I got this thing. Is there anyway to bypass the alarm system and the remote starter system? Or if these module are removed, the bike won't start? Can the harness be jumpered?

I guess the quick fix is to install a toggle switch in the small red fused wire coming off the battery. That should kill everything.

I wouldn't imagine that the thick red wire that goes to the starter would drain the battery.

[JerryHawk250]

The alarm system will drain the battery. You could disconnect it or do like I did. I picked up one of those cheap solar chargers from Harbor Freight about 2 years ago and put the panel on the roof of my shed. It will keep the battery charged. https://www.harborfreight.com/15-wat...ger-68692.html

[Azhule]

If the remote start/alarm is similar to the ones on the Chinese Dual Sports, this might help you bypass the battery drainer

http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=18495

[Weldangrind]

My guess is the reg/rec.

[turbofiat124]

I'm trying to figure out what the module looks like so I can first disconnect it and see if this is enough to stop the current flow.

There are several "black boxes" on this thing. My guess is the at least one of the wires from the CDI module would goto the ignition coil and the harness that went to the buzzer (or whatever noise it's supposed to make) goes to the alarm system box.

Is the alarm system and remote starter made into one box or two separate units?

I'll take some photos.

[Darth Racer]

My Rhino does the same thing. No alarm systems I know of on it. Did it with the stock battery and upgraded battery.

[Weldangrind]

Show us some pics,Turbofiat. We can guide you from there.

[leo in wv]

i got one of those $27 batteries from ebay, it lasted about a week or so...
traded it in on a decent battery from advanced auto and haven't had a problem since.

[turbofiat124]

Originally Posted by leo in wv

i got one of those $27 batteries from ebay, it lasted about a week or so...
traded it in on a decent battery from advanced auto and haven't had a problem since.

I'm going to have to double check my meter against something else to be 100% sure, but I found out my meter has a 10 amp setting so I disconnected the fuse and placed my leads on each side of the fuse holder and my meter showed no current draw with the engine not running. I did not check it on the milliamp setting. I'll do that today.

[FLASHLIGHTBOY]

a lot of times it is the regulator or stator... disconnect the regulator when you let it sit to try it... you can change parts like crazy but it would be nice to know what it was... baby steps... first regulator then it if drains,... dis-connect the stator wires next..

[turbofiat124]

HMMM. I had an issue with the starter the other day. So I checked the battery voltage. 12.6 volts. OK so why won't it start?

The problem seems to be related to the brake light switch. The brake light no longer works so I just disconnected the brake light switch and connected the wires together so the brake doesn't have to be on before the bike will start.

My daughter and I hadn't ridden the bike in over a week and it fired right up today. So I'm not sure if the parking brake had anything to do with the battery draining or not. I did measure the current across the smaller red wire my meter never showed a current drop. My guess was the alarm system or remote starter was draining the battery.

Both of these issues were unrelated. The battery was actually being discharged for some reason. This time it was the brake light switch.

The turn buckle in place of the shock is still holding up! It's quite a bumpy ride but since then I haven't had to work on the rear end like I had been with the shock.

[humanbeing]

Originally Posted by turbofiat124

...My guess was the alarm system or remote starter was draining the battery...

http://www.chinariders.net/showpost....95&postcount=8
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Take extra care when measure current, those cheapy multimeter isn't that safe...