Ducati Monster Forum

Moto Board => Tech => Topic started by: COOPERSDAD on October 26, 2009, 03:58:21 PM

Title: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 26, 2009, 03:58:21 PM
hey guys got a 1998 600 monster.new battery in it and when i got it it seemed to hold charge over night then i had starting issues due to washing it and fouling plugs up then a  brand new battery went in and it will start all day long but if u leave it over night its dead flat.something must be draining it,any ideas on what it could be? where to start looking?
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: Ddan on October 26, 2009, 04:25:32 PM
Take all the fuses out. if it holds a charge put one back in, if it holds, put in another until you find the circuit causing the problem.  That should narrow it down a bit for you.
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 26, 2009, 04:57:46 PM
thats a good idea dan,with the light fuses?(tail light/head light) could it still nbe draining the batt even tho i cant see the lights on?
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 26, 2009, 06:52:22 PM
is the master fuse meant to have power constantly even when its not on or no key in it? i checked it and seems that the fuse always has power going to it
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 26, 2009, 08:08:57 PM
found some water in a loom thats the only thing i could see that could be draining the battery,also when i plug the multimeter in and rev the bike i only get 11.43? shouldnt i be getting more? or does it only go up when u ride the bike under load?
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 26, 2009, 09:05:48 PM
i just noticed sitting there with the bike being off and key out the rectifier/regulator is getting hot? what the hell? is it stuffed? i know its not meant to be getting hot so what is going on? :'(
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: Speeddog on October 26, 2009, 09:22:37 PM
The regulator will get warm/hot when you're running the engine, but it should start cooling off as soon as the engine is off.

It may take a little while to get cold, but it shouldn't be continuously warm.

The fact that you're not getting more voltage at the battery when you're running the engine isn't a good sign.
*However*
I've found that the older charging systems like yours will not play nicely with some multimeters.
I've run into the situation where my multimeter won't give the same reading as the one the guy next door has, when the engine is running.
They will agree when the engine is off.
I think there's some AC voltage coming through that confuses my multimeter.
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 26, 2009, 09:41:21 PM
OK GETS HOT WHEN IT OFF,SPOKE TO A GUY THAT REKONS THEY GOT A ONE WAY DIODE(SPELLING) AND THEY BRAKE AND THATS IT.IVE ALSO TRIED PUTTING THE MULTIMETER ON THE STAOR WIRES(YELLOW) WHILE THE ENGINE IS ON AND I GET NOTHING? SHOUDL I BE GETTING SOMETHING?
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: Speeddog on October 26, 2009, 09:48:36 PM
You should be getting an AC voltage directly off of the stator wires.
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: Howie on October 26, 2009, 10:00:20 PM
Hmmm, never thought about it, but I suppose AC ripple from the single phase could affect the reading of some meters.  Anyway, yes, it is possible the regulator could be draining the battery.  With the key off, disconnect the regulator, then disconnect the negative battery cable.  Place a volt meter between the cable and the battery terminal.  You should read 0 volts unless you have an alarm, if so, disconnect the alarm.  Reconnect the regulator.  If you now read battery voltage the regulator is the drain.  If you were reading battery voltage with the regulator disconnected, pull the fuses one by one until the voltage goes to 0.  The circuit that fuse protects is the culprit.

How are you hooking the volt meter up to the stator wires?  It seems wierd (but possible) you are getting 0 out of both.
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 26, 2009, 10:12:16 PM
OK DONE THAT WITH NO REG ON IM GETTING 0.02 AND WITH THE REG PLUGGED IN AND THE MULTI METER ON THE NEG BATTERY SIDE AND CABLE IM GETTING 11.78 DOES THIS MEAN MY REG HAS PACKED IT IN? ITS NOT GETTING HOT ANY MORE WHEN THE BIKE IS OFF IVE NOTICED.IM WORRIED WITH THE BIKE OFF IM NOT GETTING ANY POWER COMING FROM THE 3 YELLOW WIRES ON THE STATOR,THANKS HEAPS FOR UR HELP GUYS
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: Howie on October 27, 2009, 08:21:12 AM
Quote from: COOPERSDAD on October 26, 2009, 10:12:16 PM
OK DONE THAT WITH NO REG ON IM GETTING 0.02 AND WITH THE REG PLUGGED IN AND THE MULTI METER ON THE NEG BATTERY SIDE AND CABLE IM GETTING 11.78 DOES THIS MEAN MY REG HAS PACKED IT IN? ITS NOT GETTING HOT ANY MORE WHEN THE BIKE IS OFF IVE NOTICED.IM WORRIED WITH THE BIKE OFF IM NOT GETTING ANY POWER COMING FROM THE 3 YELLOW WIRES ON THE STATOR,THANKS HEAPS FOR UR HELP GUYS

Am I reading this correctly?  With the engine not running you will have 0 volts since the rotor is not spinning.  If you have three wires then you have a three phase alternator.   Actually, now that I think about it, since I have no schematic of the internals of the regulator I am not sure how they isolate the regulator.  A better test would be to use an ammeter with a milliamp scale.  If you see more than, well Ducati has no spec, 2 milliamps you have a problem.  As far as your stator working, you want to see 27 volts + 10 % at 2000 RPM and 78 volts + 10 % at 6000RPM.  This is AC voltage, so you will need a meter that reads AC.

This may also help you:
http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/fault-finding-guide.php (http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/fault-finding-guide.php)

Oh, here is a real weird product specific Ducati problem that I haven't heard of in years.  There were some Monsters that came out of the factory with  a strange defect.  If you lift your seat you will see rubber pieces holding your flasher and main relay.  Some of the rubber pieces had a high enough carbon content to work as a poor conductor.  Add some dirt build up that is also a poor conductor and you have a small parasitic draw [bang]  Dirt on the battery case can do the same thing.  Like I said small, so I doubt this is your problem.
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 27, 2009, 04:06:18 PM
ok heres yet another update,i left the battery plugged in over night with the rectifier plugged in aswell.i dismounted the rectifier from the frame and let it just sit on the motor.battery did not go flat over night,woke up checked the multi and it said 11.60 which is what i left it at last night.hit the starter button and it started right away.but when the multi is on the battery and i give it a slight rev it dosnt seem to jump much,it will jump up and down a few numbers and thats it.is it my stator thats had it?
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: ducpainter on October 27, 2009, 04:08:19 PM
Did you run the tests in the link howie posted?

http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/fault-finding-guide.php (http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/fault-finding-guide.php)
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 27, 2009, 04:57:26 PM
im off to the shops to buy a new multimeter,the 2 ive tried here are giving me 2 diff readings on everything :-( will post up what i can find
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 27, 2009, 07:24:47 PM
ok i think the rectifier is stuffed,for some reason it started getting hot again so its either that or wiring,either way i dont think its charging.is there meant to be constant power going to the RECT without the ignition on?
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: ducpainter on October 27, 2009, 07:40:37 PM
Quote from: COOPERSDAD on October 27, 2009, 07:24:47 PM
ok i think the rectifier is stuffed,for some reason it started getting hot again so its either that or wiring,either way i dont think its charging.is there meant to be constant power going to the RECT without the ignition on?
I don't know if it's supposed to be live with the key off, but it seems your R/R has a short to ground based on the fact it gets warm with the bike not running and the fact you can stop that by removing the ground (unbolting it from the frame). Even if it wasn't supposed to have voltage it shouldn't short to ground.  Try unplugging the ignition switch and see if it changes.

R/R failures are fairly common on Ducs...I've replaced mine.

Stator failures are much less common.

Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 27, 2009, 08:12:02 PM
i was reading that trying to start the bike with a very low battery will stuff ur rectifier.plus i washed the bike plus its a duke plus its my luck ohh well i just hope buying another rect will sort it out :-) fingers crossed
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: Langanobob on October 28, 2009, 01:38:55 AM
Quote from: COOPERSDAD on October 27, 2009, 08:12:02 PM
i was reading that trying to start the bike with a very low battery will stuff ur rectifier.plus i washed the bike plus its a duke plus its my luck ohh well i just hope buying another rect will sort it out :-) fingers crossed

None of the above should fry anything.  It's your money of course, but I'd do more testing to make sure exactly what the problem is before I started buying new parts.
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 28, 2009, 02:08:50 AM
this is where i got the info from

anyway update is second hand rec got here just then,plugged it in and its charging as it should be,will take it for a ride 2morrow and see how we go but looks to be the go :-)  i got a second hand one from metro for $150,new was $208 but wouldnt see it for a week.the one from metro is from a 748? NOTE***** DONT WASH UR DUCATI AND DONT TRY AND START IT IF THE BATT IS LOW

will let u fellas know 2morrow when the bikes back together and ive gone for a ride
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: seevtsaab on October 28, 2009, 12:38:36 PM
Ought to be prett easy to measure current across each fuse location - with fuses removed of course - I would think only whatever circuit the immobilizer is on should draw any current and that should be mighty low.

The meter should look like a short (fuse) when switched to measure current, methinks.
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: 64duc on October 28, 2009, 02:10:33 PM
  Make sure your meter is capable of measuring the suspected amount of amperage. Every meter I've ever had (this includes the Fluke 777 i have now) is unfused , and is only rated for 10 amps.
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: seevtsaab on October 29, 2009, 08:42:23 AM
Quote from: 64duc on October 28, 2009, 02:10:33 PM
  Make sure your meter is capable of measuring the suspected amount of amperage. Every meter I've ever had (this includes the Fluke 777 i have now) is unfused , and is only rated for 10 amps.

I should clarify, I'm talking about finding a current draw with the bike OFF - that's seems to be the real dilema here, draining a battery overnite.
For current measurents with the bike ON I would only suggest a clamp on inductive sort but I don't believe that amount of curiosity is warranted here.
Title: Re: battery going flat over night
Post by: COOPERSDAD on October 29, 2009, 04:54:43 PM
ok heres the update,ive change the rectifier and the battery seems to be charging and its not getting hot and its not going flat over night so i would say that the rectifier was buggered