DRz400sm battery keeps dying

[Dave2292]

hello, so let me just start by saying I have had a quick read through the big topic about this but figured I would write my own just I could get a quick answer.

So the bike I owned has killed about 4 batteries since I have owned it in the past 2 years, just from being sat in the shed between uses, pretty sure one died within a week.

 

Now I put a fresh battery on 2 days ago and thought I would test it a couple of ways from going through that other topic about this and the new battery is 12.6v with everything off, the max I seen when the bike was running was 13.6v which included up to about 5000rpm and I checked for parasitic draw and got a reading of 1.38ma (i am assuming its milliamps, not great with electrics ha).

 

I didnt go through the rest of the parts about testing the wires as I am not great with multimeter settings and what not, just want to know if these readings are okay.

 

thanks for reading.

[deweym21]

Partzilla has a couple of good videos on how to test rectifiers and staters. It seems like the OEM staters and flywheels have some weak points in them especially some of the older ones that call for what is referred to in DRZ land as the loctite fixes. Additionally the wiring on the charging system from many perspectives is lacking. That's why on every DRZ that comes into my garage I perform what is called the free power mod. DC power does not like to be ran a long distance because you have voltage drop. You can combat this with a larger wire which Suzuki did not do while they were running the charging positive all the way through the entire wiring harness. If your stator and rectifier check out is okay I would consider running your outlet of your rectifier directly to your battery with a fuse on the positive side there are many videos showing this procedure. I also would recommend putting a battery tender on your machine when it's going to be parked. Lastly I would choose good quality batteries such as YUASA. Early on in my riding career I went with the correctly sized batteries that were available at the box stores and local parts stores with disappointing results in longevity I have a before mentioned battery brand in my track bike that is always been on a tender that is 12 years old. I know I'm pushing the limits but you can't argue with the quality of that brand. They are not light like the lithiums but they are much less likely to catch fire. Back to the free power mod measure your voltage before and after at idle and check back in. If you choose to do it

[Dave2292]

4 minutes ago, deweym21 said:

Partzilla has a couple of good videos on how to test rectifiers and staters. It seems like the OEM staters and flywheels have some weak points in them especially some of the older ones that call for what is referred to in DRZ land as the loctite fixes. Additionally the wiring on the charging system from many perspectives is lacking. That's why on every DRZ that comes into my garage I perform what is called the free power mod. DC power does not like to be ran a long distance because you have voltage drop. You can combat this with a larger wire which Suzuki did not do while they were running the charging positive all the way through the entire wiring harness. If your stator and rectifier check out is okay I would consider running your outlet of your rectifier directly to your battery with a fuse on the positive side there are many videos showing this procedure. I also would recommend putting a battery tender on your machine when it's going to be parked. Lastly I would choose good quality batteries such as YUASA. Early on in my riding career I went with the correctly sized batteries that were available at the box stores and local parts stores with disappointing results in longevity I have a before mentioned battery brand in my track bike that is always been on a tender that is 12 years old. I know I'm pushing the limits but you can't argue with the quality of that brand. They are not light like the lithiums but they are much less likely to catch fire. Back to the free power mod measure your voltage before and after at idle and check back in. If you choose to do it

definitely can't argue with a battery lasting that long.

 

Okay i will give the free power mod a try and go from there  , so i want to check the voltage before i do the mod and then after i do the mod?

thanks for the reply.

[deweym21]

Yes check it at idle. 

https://youtu.be/1ofB8ef-Jzo gets a link to my YouTube channel of me doing it

 

 

[Dave2292]

10 minutes ago, deweym21 said:

Yes check it at idle. 

https://youtu.be/1ofB8ef-Jzo gets a link to my YouTube channel of me doing it

 

 

I just watched that video and noticed it was you, will get the parts and give it a go, hopefully this helps.

 

So my current charging at idle was around 13.6v when I check earlier but will do before and after I do this.

 

thanks again

 

 

[GuyGraham]

13.6v is pretty low..you should be seeing 14v and even 14.5 after rhe free power mod

Usual failure mode is shorting to ground of the windings....put your multimeter on to the ohms range...touch the probes together to confirm meter reads zero then test the continuity between the yellow wires at the disconnected stator connector block. Each yellow to yellow wire should show open circuit ie no contnuity....if they show continuity then your stator is dead and needs replacing or rewinding

Edited December 25, 2022 by GuyGraham

[dad2u]

21 hours ago, Dave2292 said:

I just watched that video and noticed it was you, will get the parts and give it a go, hopefully this helps.

 

So my current charging at idle was around 13.6v when I check earlier but will do before and after I do this.

 

thanks again

 

 

13.6V is enough to charge, even at idle.  Any system voltage over 12.5 ish is enough to push charge back into a battery...

You say that your bike has "killed" 4 batteries in 2 years...what do you mean by killed?  Would these batteries not hold a charge anymore...did you have them tested?  Or did they simply get to the stage that they were discharged and would not start the bike?  

If they were discharged/wouldn't start the bike...did you try putting them on a battery charger overnight and seeing if they worked the next day?

It is inconceivable that your bike could "kill" 4 batteries, meaning that they were rendered unable to hold a charge, in 2 years...this is just not possible.  I surmise that you have a parasitic draw that causes your batteries to be drawn down while sitting with the bike off.  If you put a battery charger on them overnight, the next day they would perform great again.  

I know you measured and posted your parasitic load, and you thought it was 1.36ma....which is nothing and would not discharge a battery except over a very long period.  You also, however, said you are not good with electronics.....I suspect you have not correctly measured the parasitic draw, and for some reason there is a significant current draw when your bike is off, and this discharges the battery in a relatively short time, (week or two).  This is not "killed" as the battery could be charged up with a charger and would work fine.

You need to find a friend that does understand charging/batteries/parasitic load and confirm that this is the issue, and then track down the culprit that is drawing power with the key off.  

[DrzDick]

17 hours ago, GuyGraham said:

Usual failure mode is shorting to ground of the windings....put your multimeter on to the ohms range...touch the probes together to confirm meter reads zero then test the continuity between the yellow wires at the disconnected stator connector block. Each yellow to yellow wire should show open circuit ie no contnuity....if they show continuity then your stator is dead and needs replacing or rewinding

This is wrong... each yellow wire should read very low resistance when tested to the other yellow wires.

To test for ground short you should test any yellow wire to the engine casing, if that shows low resistance (or a short) then there is a problem.

[Dave2292]

1 hour ago, dad2u said:

13.6V is enough to charge, even at idle.  Any system voltage over 12.5 ish is enough to push charge back into a battery...

You say that your bike has "killed" 4 batteries in 2 years...what do you mean by killed?  Would these batteries not hold a charge anymore...did you have them tested?  Or did they simply get to the stage that they were discharged and would not start the bike?  

If they were discharged/wouldn't start the bike...did you try putting them on a battery charger overnight and seeing if they worked the next day?

It is inconceivable that your bike could "kill" 4 batteries, meaning that they were rendered unable to hold a charge, in 2 years...this is just not possible.  I surmise that you have a parasitic draw that causes your batteries to be drawn down while sitting with the bike off.  If you put a battery charger on them overnight, the next day they would perform great again.  

I know you measured and posted your parasitic load, and you thought it was 1.36ma....which is nothing and would not discharge a battery except over a very long period.  You also, however, said you are not good with electronics.....I suspect you have not correctly measured the parasitic draw, and for some reason there is a significant current draw when your bike is off, and this discharges the battery in a relatively short time, (week or two).  This is not "killed" as the battery could be charged up with a charger and would work fine.

You need to find a friend that does understand charging/batteries/parasitic load and confirm that this is the issue, and then track down the culprit that is drawing power with the key off.  

I was able to charge the batteries yes but then it happened again and then they would not hold a charge. 

It does sound unbelievable but the most recent battery to give up was run flat, I charged it and went for a ride for a few hours and about a week later it was flat again. 

 

Maybe you are right about me not knowing how to use a multimeter correctly but i followed instructions online and the garage i use got the same reading for the apparent parasitic draw.

[The Agitator]

1 minute ago, Dave2292 said:

I was able to charge the batteries yes but then it happened again and then they would not hold a charge. 

It does sound unbelievable but the most recent battery to give up was run flat, I charged it and went for a ride for a few hours and about a week later it was flat again. 

 

Maybe you are right about me not knowing how to use a multimeter correctly but i followed instructions online and the garage i use got the same reading for the apparent parasitic draw.

Sorry I have not read this post from the start.

what type of battery(s) do you have and do you have the correct charger for them?

Do you have a analog or digital multi meter and is set to for DC voltage (usually something like 50 DC which would be 0 to 50 range)?

I start by testing and noting the battery voltage.

Bike should start fine then go for a ride,. get home stop the bike and it should crank fine again,

Then at home disconnect the battery, test and note the battery voltage.

Leave it disconnect and next day again test and note the battery voltage  and it should be the same as the last test or say max -0.1 V.

This confirms the battery battery is good.

Then repeat at home but leave the battery connected and next day test and again should be the same or say max -0.1 V. If not there is a parasite drain on the battery  which you can methodically check with the multi meter set the same as V DC or an ohm meter with will check continuity.

I'm my no means an expert on this but its a process and start with the simple things to check first cus then it may get into the bike not changing during a ride or even more complicate parasite drain.

Good luck dude.

[GuyGraham]

14 hours ago, DrzDick said:

This is wrong... each yellow wire should read very low resistance when tested to the other yellow wires.

To test for ground short you should test any yellow wire to the engine casing, if that shows low resistance (or a short) then there is a problem.

Yes....got it wrong way round....was half asleep when posted this

[Dave2292]

16 hours ago, The Inquisitor said:

Sorry I have not read this post from the start.

what type of battery(s) do you have and do you have the correct charger for them?

Do you have a analog or digital multi meter and is set to for DC voltage (usually something like 50 DC which would be 0 to 50 range)?

I start by testing and noting the battery voltage.

Bike should start fine then go for a ride,. get home stop the bike and it should crank fine again,

Then at home disconnect the battery, test and note the battery voltage.

Leave it disconnect and next day again test and note the battery voltage  and it should be the same as the last test or say max -0.1 V.

This confirms the battery battery is good.

Then repeat at home but leave the battery connected and next day test and again should be the same or say max -0.1 V. If not there is a parasite drain on the battery  which you can methodically check with the multi meter set the same as V DC or an ohm meter with will check continuity.

I'm my no means an expert on this but its a process and start with the simple things to check first cus then it may get into the bike not changing during a ride or even more complicate parasite drain.

Good luck dude.

The charger i have does a bike setting on it but it is some cheap charger i got many moons ago but it does get them back up to 12.6v atleast.

 

I have a digital multimeter.

That is a good idea and something simple i can follow that makes sense haha thanks for the input, i will give that a go other the next few days.

Thanks again

[DrzDick]

Sounds to me like the bike isn't charging the battery well enough.

13.5 volts with the engine running is low and although may be enough to top the battery up it could be indicative of a fault. Either you have too much voltage drop at the connector between the R/R and the main loom (do the free power mod) or maybe you have a failed phase in your stator (do the stator resistance tests).

My mate recently had the stator burn out on his VFR800, once replaced he noticed that his lights no longer dimmed at idle and his heated grips didn't keep turning off due to low voltage either, something that it had been doing for the last few years.

[Dave2292]

9 hours ago, DrzDick said:

Sounds to me like the bike isn't charging the battery well enough.

13.5 volts with the engine running is low and although may be enough to top the battery up it could be indicative of a fault. Either you have too much voltage drop at the connector between the R/R and the main loom (do the free power mod) or maybe you have a failed phase in your stator (do the stator resistance tests).

My mate recently had the stator burn out on his VFR800, once replaced he noticed that his lights no longer dimmed at idle and his heated grips didn't keep turning off due to low voltage either, something that it had been doing for the last few years.

Think i shall try the stator resistance tests firsts and then go ahead with the free power mod if all seems okay.

[bumtarder]

The free power mod should be done regardless to improve charging reliability imho. It only offers advantages. You can use the leftover end to attach a charger pigtail to monitor and conveniently charge the battery without seat and panel removals.