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Post by pinkscoot on May 30, 2018 20:47:11 GMT -5
I have had a problem with my Scarabeo draining batteries so I installed a Battery Tender harness and used the Battery Tender. I found a post on another site that someone found if they disconnected the Battery Tender harness the problem went away. I then Googled it and found this and this. Though it makes no sense I was wondering if anyone here has had this problem. Maybe one of our electrical wizards has an explanation. |
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Post by greginisn on May 30, 2018 23:00:07 GMT -5
Just the battery tender harness, in my case two wires with round lugs to the battery and a plug at other end, is an open circuit therefore no current drain. UNLESS it was installed badly and there is a leak to ground thru the positive lead. So in a word, the harness normally can't be causing problems, unless. . .
Greg
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Post by tiny on May 31, 2018 6:56:41 GMT -5
Ive had a tender on my 150 & 50 for the last 4 years without it ever draining the battery or any other issue.
Keeps them ready to go even during winter hibernation.
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Post by tocoo on May 31, 2018 8:29:59 GMT -5
can you quantify in Volt the leakage ?
I am in the same situation and just started metering this morning. SO far with the harness, I go from 13,34v to 13,12v in 7 hours
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Post by GrumpyUnk on May 31, 2018 10:21:03 GMT -5
The harness should not be connected to anything other than the battery + & - terminals. If done that way, it is just two wire 'extendsions' at the plastic insulated connector end, and in no way could it discharge the battery.
To test, remove the connections at the battery terminals, check the voltage. Wait the appropriate time for a good comparison, and test the voltage again. You may be seeing 'surface charge' going away. Bubbles and such can indicate a higher voltage charge on the battery than there actually is. I think turning on the headlight or another load can remove the 'surface charge'. That could be the reason for the voltage drop.
The tender wires are 'floating' in air, unless they are accidentally connected to something else, and should have zero effect on battery charge.
tom
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Post by jmkjr72 on May 31, 2018 10:35:54 GMT -5
I have years of leaving battery tender connections on batteries the leads themselves can not drain the batter
Now if you have a cheap tender like the ones from harbor freight and leave the tender hooked to the batter without it plugged in the led light on the tender stays on and will draw the battery down
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Post by pinkscoot on May 31, 2018 19:00:55 GMT -5
I have exactly what you all describe and no it isn't logical. When I did Brents check for battery drain I had no amps. I just got a new starter relay, which is the thing I suspect was causing the problem, it goes on tomorrow. I will put a different battery tender harness back on and see what I get. I'll let you know Monday so it has plenty of time to leak voltage.
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Post by snaker on May 31, 2018 21:51:38 GMT -5
My guess would be that the pigtail is being blamed for some other cause, but you never know. Try disconnecting the pigtail for a bit and compare with all else being the same.
Is the pigtail two completely separate wires or is it a molded pair.
Any chance that there is some kind of built in component across the wires?
You can disconnect the pigtail and measure resistance between the wires. Run the ohm range up to the highest the ohm meter has to check for insulation breakdown.
Look closely at the connector pins. Use a magnifying glass, Sometimes a sloppy crimp can have a loose wire strand bridge across to the other pin.
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Post by greginisn on Jun 1, 2018 2:41:06 GMT -5
I came across a spec today regarding a scooter's allowable battery leakage rate as less than .5 ma. I don't know how this would translate an actual battery voltage change in any given amount of time but it can't be too different from scooter to scooter. Off should be off unless you have a burglar alarm or something else that's always on. But the .5 ma is a target value and a greater current flow will give you something to troubleshoot.
Good luck, Greg
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Post by tocoo on Jun 1, 2018 5:33:15 GMT -5
Long time ago,before I used the harness, I remember that after at least 1 week of non-use, my battery went from around 13,3V, charged by the optimate6, to 12,9V.
After a quick metering yesterday, I have metered the voltage over this night with the wire attached, and it started with 13,26V to end with 13,11V twelve hours later.
Then I screwed the wire on the battery and 7 hours later, the tension has dropped only 13,10V from the 13,11V right after removing the harness.
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Post by GrumpyUnk on Jun 4, 2018 9:24:48 GMT -5
FWIW, a fully charged battery should have voltage of about 12.6-12.7 volts == 2.1X 6. From what I understand of flooded electrolyte lead-acid batteries. AGM and gel may be different. I think voltage over 13 is on the verge of over-charging. I would expect the voltage to drop off(surface charge dissipates) in a short while.
tom
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Post by pinkscoot on Jun 4, 2018 14:03:35 GMT -5
I put the old gel battery back in and trickle charged it for a few days. I checked it and it had 13 volts I went to start it and it dropped to 8 volts and didn't have enough to get it cranking. I think I killed it with the HF charger I was using before I got the Battery Tender jr. Time to order a new battery and get it going again.
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Post by greginisn on Jun 4, 2018 22:12:00 GMT -5
I think you need to change gears and think more in terms of current flow instead of voltage changes. You can chase current drains much easier than voltage drops because it more of a constant thing. And think and measure milli amps instead of amps cuz it it were amps the problem would have shown itself by now with a burned up wire or device.
Change your tactics before blindly changing parts.
Good luck, Greg
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Post by pinkscoot on Jun 4, 2018 23:34:14 GMT -5
Let me look at it tomorrow. What do you suggest I do to check amps? One thing with this scoot is when you turn the key on all of the lights come on so the battery has to compete with that. I have time before work to try some things to see if I can Isolate the problem.
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Post by oldgeek on Jun 4, 2018 23:39:32 GMT -5
I put the old gel battery back in and trickle charged it for a few days. I checked it and it had 13 volts I went to start it and it dropped to 8 volts and didn't have enough to get it cranking. I think I killed it with the HF charger I was using before I got the Battery Tender jr. Time to order a new battery and get it going again. I have had several gel batteries do that with me. |
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