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Thread: Battery draining very slowly...

  1. #1
    Hey fellow buellers,

    I need some help. I suddenly have a small slow drain from my battery. I am new to this buell and bikes so I am not sure where to start.

    My bike is a 2004 Buell XB12R Firebolt. It has a brand new battery from batteries plus which is under warranty.

    Could I have a bad ground somewhere? If so, how do I narrow it down?

    Thanks,

    Anthony

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Posts
    1,613
    what exactly is happening? Temperature in garage?

  3. #3
    When the bike sits, it loses charge and the battery slowly drains. I plugged a voltage meter into it and I can watch the batter slowly drain / lose charge.

    If I charge the battery to full, then the bike will start and stay running. However after some mileage - eventually I lose my turn signals (stop flashing) and my dash lights and headlights start to dim.

  4. #4
    It also seems like the bike is not charging the battery when it is running.

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Posts
    203
    Quick questions:
    1.)Did you replace the battery yourself?
    2.)If so, was the battery charging before you replaced it?
    A.) If yes, when you swapped batteries, did you hook the regulator/rectifier wire up to the correct terminal? It is a black wire, but it should go to the positive post, not negative.
    B.)If no, either your regulator/rectifier is bad, or your stator is most likely bad.
    3.) Are your grounds tight? Both at the battery and at the engine
    4.) When you say it drains as it sits, is it running or powered down completely (key switch off)?

  6. #6
    Here are a few answers...

    1.) Yes
    2.) Yes, I tried charging the old battery before purchasing a new one. Will check the regulator wire tomorrow.
    3.) Grounds are tight.
    4.) When the bike is sitting and the key switch is off (completely powered down).

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Posts
    203
    My suspicion is the regulator wire. If it is hooked up to the wrong terminal, it can bleed the battery down and will not allow your bike to charge your battery

  8. #8
    Well, it is NOT the regulator wire. It was hooked up correctly to the positive.

    Guess I will look into the regulator / rectifier and stator. Any ideas or suggestions on that?

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    1,344
    03-07 models have a obsolete reg plug connector; it was updated/changed on the 08 and later bikes to a pin style plug b/c they had a tendency to melt/arc under certain voltage.

  10. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Posts
    5,146
    - Voltage & Stator Check - If you check those and all is good, move on to your wiring. Likely could be a wire rubbed through and shorting. Here's how to check for shorts:

    To ID the area of interest (after ruling out the obvious sources like bad/dead battery, kickstand switch, etc):

    - Pull the negative terminal cable off of the battery.
    - Set a multimeter to mA.
    - Attach the neg. cable to one lead and touch the neg. terminal on the battery itself.
    - If it reads 0, you don't have a short.
    - If it's anything but 0 then you have a short somewhere. Now start pulling fuses from the block one at a time until the needle drops to 0. That'll narrow it down.



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