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Aussie
Joined: 30 Apr 2011
Posts: 2
Location: Victoria, Australia
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 Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 12:24 am Post subject: dying electrics |
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I'm the proud owner of a 1999 K1100LT. Sadly, the electrics have been dying for some unknown reason. The battery goes flat after a couple of weeks of non-use. Now it won't even allow me to recharge it. The battery is reasonably new. The only sign of something wrong is the triangle light on the dash. I'm a technical novice - but my local mechanic doesn't seem to be able to locate the problem either. Any suggestions?  |
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drikko
Flying Brick Rider
Joined: 20 Nov 2009
Posts: 1966
Location: Brisbane, OZ
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 2:46 am Post subject: |
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Pity you aren't in Brisbane, I could come and have a look at it for you.
You need to see if something is draining the battery when everything is switched off. Do you have a mate with electrical knowledge and a multimeter? If you measure the current draw from the battery with everything shut off and it is still draining some current then try pulling fuses till it stops and that may isolate it.
_________________
K1100RS '97
Laverda RGS 1000 '84
Jim Young Trailer Sailer 5.7M WB
DISCLAIMER:- Anything I say may have been when I was drunk so please don't take it personally.
'Bigamy is having one wife/husband too many. Monogamy is the same.'
Oscar Wilde |
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robleyd
Flying Brick Rider
Joined: 23 Jul 2009
Posts: 398
Location: Murbko, Australia
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| Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 4:15 am Post subject: |
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Welcome aboard!
| Quote: | | The only sign of something wrong is the triangle light on the dash. |
That light is the rear light indicator - tells you if you have a problem with your tail light. the Owners Manual describes it thus:
o Switch on ignition, parking lights or dipped headlights
o Operate the handbrake and brake pedal
- Telltale light goes out:
Tail and brake light oerating
- Telltale light does not go out:
Bulb, cable or switch faulty
- Telltale lights up while on the move:
Fault in tail light
Others have found that faulty earth, and sometimes cheap globes, will cause problems.
However, this doesn't seem to be your problem at the moment  Under the tacho there is a little battery symbol with a red light to its left - that is the charge indicator; if that doesn't go out once the engine is started you may have found the problem - except if you have LED lights fitted in the dash, in which case you need to get the revs up to about 3K for the charge light to go out.
In addition to what drikko said, also chuck the multimeter on the battery and measure the voltage with the engine off, and with the engine running at about 2K rpm - you should notice an increase in the voltage if the charging system is working OK. If all that is well and you can't find any unexpected drain as per drikko's instructions, it might be a battery problem.
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David, owner of:
1996 K1100 LT |
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merlin geikie
Flying Brick Rider
Joined: 26 Dec 2008
Posts: 343
Location: Lismore far north coast nsw australia
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| Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 9:56 am Post subject: |
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Robleyd has you on the right track Aussie.
Maybe you have been a technical novice, but all that changes when you own a K bike.
Either you stay a technical novice and part with cash pretty often or you come here, get savvy and spot on advice and do the small odd K jobs. 
The K bike is low maintenance and a little quirky but given the wealth of knowledge here, anyone can get on top of the quirks and come out of various K tasks with a growing technical confidence... 
Welcome to K11OG
ATB (all the best)  |
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Aussie
Joined: 30 Apr 2011
Posts: 2
Location: Victoria, Australia
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| Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 8:37 pm Post subject: dying electrics |
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| Thanks for all the helpful advice guys. I'm having an auto electrician check the current loss. I think it may be connected to a fault in the back brake light or wiring. Hope to be back on the road soon. Cheers. |
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dwerbil
Flying Brick Rider
Joined: 18 Jun 2010
Posts: 224
Location: Round Rock, Tx
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| Posted: Sat May 07, 2011 10:41 pm Post subject: |
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There is such a thing of a bad battery.
_________________
93 K1100RS ~ 2004 R1150RT ~ 84 RS ~ 78 R100/7 ~ 65 R60/2
Click for pics
Randy at Round Rock, Texas |
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elecky
Joined: 20 Jun 2009
Posts: 10
Location: Dungay NSW Australia
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| Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 5:15 am Post subject: |
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| It is important the alternator warning light comes on when the ignition is on and then goes fully out once the motor is running above idle. The light is not just here to tell you it's charging, the globe is also used to assist the alternator in switching on and exciting the electro-magnetic rotor field winding with the assistance of the exciter diodes. Things like stop/tail lamps etc. are ignition controlled and unlikely to cause a battery drain. My guess would be a dud battery. |
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Scott_Anderson
Site Admin
Joined: 05 Sep 2006
Posts: 3122
Location: Central Iowa, USA
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| Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 7:04 am Post subject: |
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| elecky wrote: | | It is important the alternator warning light comes on when the ignition is on and then goes fully out once the motor is running above idle. The light is not just here to tell you it's charging, the globe is also used to assist the alternator in switching on and exciting the electro-magnetic rotor field winding with the assistance of the exciter diodes. Things like stop/tail lamps etc. are ignition controlled and unlikely to cause a battery drain. My guess would be a dud battery. |
Along that same line, it could be possible for one of the diodes in the alternator to have gone bad and be leaking current to drain the battery. I've had this happen on some of my cars in years past.
_________________
Ride safe.
1995 K1100LT 0302044
2017 FLHTK Ultra Limited
Garmin StreetPilot 2820
Garmin Zumo 550
Garmin Zumo XT
"One who does not ask questions is ashamed to learn" Danish proverb
1997 K1100LT 0302488(R.I.P.)
1997 R1100RT ZC62149(sold) |
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Phil Marvin
Rider in the Sky
Joined: 03 Apr 2003
Posts: 1389
Location: El Paso, Texas, USA
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| Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 10:55 am Post subject: |
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It may be a dumb question, but do you have a radio and is it turned off when the bike is not running? If not, it will drain the battery in a day or less.
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Ride Safe,
Phil Marvin in El Paso, TX
'94 K75A/3
'95 K75RTP |
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