Parasitic drain on the battery?

speirmoor

VIP MEMBER
Joined
Apr 11, 2010
Messages
1,628
Country flag
Was fully charged a fortnight ago but then over the past weekend nothing but click, click, click on the start button. Newish enough machine too so does it need to live on the tender or do I need a new battery. Is there a parasitic drain on the battery from the ECU or the gauges ?
 
They do seem to drain rather quickly. Put it on a tender. It will spring back to life.
 
speirmoor said:
Was fully charged a fortnight ago but then over the past weekend nothing but click, click, click on the start button. Newish enough machine too so does it need to live on the tender or do I need a new battery. Is there a parasitic drain on the battery from the ECU or the gauges ?

Good question , I will try and test mine with an ammeter and report back. I think Iwilson ran this test and there may be a small drain.
 
I think that there is a small drain on most EFI bikes.
The longer the bikes sits, the more likely you are to encounter this issue.
On the Triumph forums there are users with Hinckley EFI Bonnevilles that also experience this problem.

I use a battery tender on all my bikes and have never had this issue.
My 2013 CR still has the original battery which cranks over and runs fine.
 
Mine sat at the dealer for months untended. When I got it back, it was dead. Came back to life for another 2 years on a tender but finally died at 3 1/2 years old. If I left it off for 2 weeks, which was rare, it would not crank. Plug it in for a few hours and it was fine again. Amazing how much a little clock could eat up.
 
This is not Norton specific but more knock off denso starter specific. Or maybe all starters In general that are aftermarket. But the solenoid connections are set wrong or worn out. . They either wear out fast or don't make a strong enough connection to start the bike and you think its the battery dead or low. This is why we made the ONE07 starter solenoid tool. You can then SET the contacts and even replace if needed. We found a few that had this and set the contacts properly and solved this issue. Check out CNW website.

Please know that this may not be the case for this issue for everyone. Could be a draw or a shit battery situation.

If you buy a genuine denso starter they are good. Just like buying genuine Bosch electronics. I do not know the brand of Norton Starters but my dad has a genuine Denso on his after all his troubles while traveling and poor starter issues.
 
Ok good to know. I saw that on the CNW website but I thought it was more of an "after the damage is done" sort of item. Lets see what the parasitic draw test reveal. Its only infuriating because there's no easy way to jump out the battery where its located.
 
Hi gents,

Apparently Ducati provide a battery tender with their new bikes as they learned early in the piece that their engines needed to be hooked up to one to achieve consistent starting; maybe Norton should do the same.

It seems to me that the huge engine requires the battery to be fully charged and in tip top condition to turn her over. I had a battery changed under warranty only to find that the new battery would not start the bike unless routinely placed on a tender.

Also a factor for me was the changing of the ECU. Previously a poor starter, the new ECU resolved this and now she starts much more easily.

My thoughts only - loving my 916 CR despite the niggles and impending fixes.

Steve
Sunshine Coast
 
I have battery wiring tucked away in frame and pull out if needed.


Parasitic drain on the battery?


This has saved my weekends as bike is no where near a point for tender.

I find of the onboard battery does not have a decent charge I cannot even push start or jump start so there maybe a bad earth or when cold (damp) perhaps even a shot or starter going to ground.
 
GKRyder said:
I have battery wiring tucked away in frame and pull out if needed.


Parasitic drain on the battery?


This has saved my weekends as bike is no where near a point for tender.

I find of the onboard battery does not have a decent charge I cannot even push start or jump start so there maybe a bad earth or when cold (damp) perhaps even a shot or starter going to ground.


Do you have access to sun light?

http://products.batterytender.com/Solar/
Pete
 
Yes, that's what I meant by the battery harness. The only problem (which I found out too late) is you need to keep the original installed as well if you want to connect a battery tender. The heavy duty cable only allows voltage to flow in one direction - to the battery. So no sort of charger will work with it.
 
contours said:
Yes, that's it. I got both items at Revzilla.com.

You just connected this directly to your battery as well as the trickle charger connection? I'm still using SAE tender.
 
Britfan60 said:
contours said:
Yes, that's it. I got both items at Revzilla.com.

You just connected this directly to your battery as well as the trickle charger connection? I'm still using SAE tender.

No, I cannot use a tender with this SAE cable. Something the manufacturer failed to mention. :roll: So what I have set up for now until I remove the fuel tank again is an equivalent capacity battery connected directly to the cable. This battery is connected to a low current solar panel which, according to the controller, is at equilibrium with the Norton battery all the time they are connected. But if I go for a ride (eventually) I bring along the XP-5 jump starter just in case I park it for too long.
 
I've experienced a non start occasionally if I forgot to use the tender or it got knocked off. I put it on for an hour and the bike starts. Never have I got stuck even if parked for a few hours. It seems to refresh quite well from the charging system. That said, only got a little over three years from the lead acid, but since I ride a lot in the cold, I stayed with it. Too many bad reviews from the lithium ions in the Winter. Don't want to get stuck out in the cold, literally.
 
My original plan was to use the Antigravity jump starter for warming up the Shorai I installed in the Norton. But after a fiasco with charging it the first time I moved that battery to my Triumph where I can get at it just by popping the seat off.
 
The best approach is to get a Battery Tender with associated umbilical. attach the umbilical to the battery and keep the bike on the tender when not in use. Most dealerships install the umbilicals as a matter of course here in the states. Most auto parts stores carry the Battery Tender or you can order it from Amazon. It will preserve battery life and remove the stigma of going to your bike, turning on the ignition and hearing click, click click when you engage the starter.
 
Back
Top