Current Leakage / Datatool Alarm?

[JohnD]

Hello all

Well following on from my last post about a suspect reg/rec, I replaced it today with a new one, and I still have the same problem - bike won't start (might turn over reluctantly once) - similar symptoms to a nearly dead battery (however battery was fully charged before hand, & I checked it was holding charge with volt meter).

Battery voltage dropped to 12.75v (from 13.10v) after a couple of attempts to start the engine. When I tried the starter button, voltage dropped very low to around 5v if i remember correctly.

So I suspected that there is an electrical shortage problem somewhere, so I checked the current leakage, & i'm getting around 9mA which is loads according to the Haynes manual! Pulled all the fuses in the fuse box one at a time whilist doing this, & no change...

..then noticed this other 10A fuse down by the starter relay (which I think is something to do with the Datatool S4 alarm - see photo) - & pulled this one out, & then leakage went down to like 0.5mA or something like that.



Am I correct in thinking that my Datatool alarm system/circuit is faulty & is massively draining current to the battery when attempting to start the engine?
Or am I overanalysing it & is it just my battery that is fooked? (it was new about 5 months ago).

Can anyone offer me any advice, as I'm pretty stuck when it comes to electrical stuff!

Any help greatly appreciated....I need my trusty Storm back!

cheers
John

[marlbororman]

reg rect might of fried your battery, datatool alarms are quite thirsty. it flattens my battery in a couple of weeks, others have said within a week, i store my vtr on an optimate now 24/7 for this reason.

[Phil-VTwin]

Either the battery is U/S or the starter motor needs a good clean and check, remember a good voltage on the battery doesn't mean its good at supplying current!

[sirch345]

John,
If you've not already, check the main heavy duty cable connection on the starter motor itself. The starter motor sits across the front of the engine, if you look there is a rubber boot covering this connection. Lift it up and have a look, you'll see if it's needs attention.

Chris.

[pariah]

I have this alarm on mine. I think that it has it,s own battery power supply in a small black box. I would check to see if these are ok and don't require replacing.
If these are gone then it will use all it's power supply from the bikes main battery.

You could e mail them direct and ask them, I have and there rather good.
Info@datatool.co.uk
Rick

[JohnD]

UPDATE:

Well it appears my fully charged battery is losing around 0.02V per day just sitting in my living room! So have ordered a new battery & hopefully that will be the end of this chapter!!!

Also some info from Datatool (which I thought might be useful to someone else at some point):

"The alarm draws around 2.8mA in its armed state. However, if the
internal battery is recharging the current draw will be higher. The
internal battery starts its charging process from the moment the alarm
is powered up. Therefore, check the current draw without interrupting
the power supply to the alarm. The charging process can last for 24 - 36
hours."

Will keep you updated

cheers
John

[JohnD]

New battery has solved the problem!

Reg/rec must have fried the old one.

Thanks for all your help folks.

I can now ride my black beauty again

John

[Jazzscot]

Nice 1 glad you sorted it out.


Jazz