anyone ever use batteries plus? i can get a new battery for 44.50 with exchange (give them my old one) and it has a 6 month warranty, motobatt is $70 ish with a 2 year warranty and i have no idea about Auto-zone, i'll find out.

any recomendations?

i'll probably upgrade to shorai next year or so

#5092

Sledge: I just wanted him to verify the meter was working. zero volts is odd.Minus one very odd and he tried measuring the voltage when on the ohm setting. Yes - aware of what you say. A meter may not say the battery is really good, but it will say if it is bad.

Thought: Internally, the battery broke connection. He says he jump started it. Don't these type of batteries have an internal fuse to prevent a total melt down if the terminals are shorted? The jump start could have fried that - so now you get zero volts. While the battery cells may be good, internally the battery is busted big time.

Okay, i think i'll go and get the cheaper batteries plus battery for 44 bucks, it's somewhat local and i'm upgrading to shorai hopefully around christmas (c'mon santa im counting on you  ) so the 6 month warranty will last me that long

Quote from: iclrag on July 18, 2012, 11:25:18 AM
Okay, i think i'll go and get the cheaper batteries plus battery for 44 bucks, it's somewhat local and i'm upgrading to shorai hopefully around christmas (c'mon santa im counting on you  ) so the 6 month warranty will last me that long

Why buy a battery now and then another in 6 months? If you don't have the funds for a shorai now, buy whatever and use that until its life is done for. Otherwise you're paying more than you need to for no real good reason.

Michael

#5093

Quote from: mister on July 18, 2012, 12:00:38 PM
Why buy a battery now and then another in 6 months? If you don't have the funds for a shorai now, buy whatever and use that until its life is done for. Otherwise you're paying more than you need to for no real good reason.

Michael

Since he is buying a "whatever" for now, it won't be wasted when he gets a Shorai. He's a long distance member of the West Seattle GS500 Club. Someone will be able to use it when he upgrades the battery.

I think he's making wise choices and hope he's back on the road really soon. Be good so Santa brings you a Shorai.

I don't think you knew he was a member. The West Seattle Bike Cave is like a parts exchange for GS500's.

Quote from: adidasguy on July 18, 2012, 12:12:17 PM
#5093

Quote from: mister on July 18, 2012, 12:00:38 PM
Why buy a battery now and then another in 6 months? If you don't have the funds for a shorai now, buy whatever and use that until its life is done for. Otherwise you're paying more than you need to for no real good reason.

Michael

Since he is buying a "whatever" for now, it won't be wasted when he gets a Shorai. He's a long distance member of the West Seattle GS500 Club. Someone will be able to use it when he upgrades the battery.

I think he's making wise choices and hope he's back on the road really soon. Be good so Santa brings you a Shorai.

I don't think you knew he was a member. The West Seattle Bike Cave is like a parts exchange for GS500's.

I'll also put up a review on the battery so other people can decide if it's a good choice for them, since BatteriesPlus gives you discounts for trading in your current battery when you buy a new one it seems like a good deal! plus the 6 month warranty is nice.

Quote from: adidasguy on July 18, 2012, 11:18:56 AM
#5092

Sledge: I just wanted him to verify the meter was working. zero volts is odd.Minus one very odd and he tried measuring the voltage when on the ohm setting. Yes - aware of what you say. A meter may not say the battery is really good, but it will say if it is bad.

Thought: Internally, the battery broke connection. He says he jump started it. Don't these type of batteries have an internal fuse to prevent a total melt down if the terminals are shorted? The jump start could have fried that - so now you get zero volts. While the battery cells may be good, internally the battery is busted big time.

My friend at work (a very smart engineer) said he thinks the battery shorted out internally based on what happened.

Quote from: adidasguy on July 18, 2012, 11:18:56 AM
#5092

Sledge: I just wanted him to verify the meter was working. zero volts is odd.Minus one very odd and he tried measuring the voltage when on the ohm setting. Yes - aware of what you say. A meter may not say the battery is really good, but it will say if it is bad.

Point taken,......however its pretty obvious that the OP is not familiar with test equipment or diagnosing electrical faults. Therefore help and advice on a level he understands and can realistically accomplish is going to be more beneficial to him. I cant see the point in complicating the issue by saying `do this do that` when its obvious he is out of his depth 

In addition and as the more knowledgeable amongst us are well aware the vast majority of issues such as this are caused by dead batteries, nothing else, so it makes sense to determine if the battery is at fault right at the start of the fault finding process by conducting a simple go/no-go load test on it, this as you know will remove any doubts regarding its servicability.

Quote from: sledge on July 18, 2012, 12:59:26 PM

Quote from: adidasguy on July 18, 2012, 11:18:56 AM
#5092

Sledge: I just wanted him to verify the meter was working. zero volts is odd.Minus one very odd and he tried measuring the voltage when on the ohm setting. Yes - aware of what you say. A meter may not say the battery is really good, but it will say if it is bad.

Point taken,......however its pretty obvious that the OP is not familiar with test equipment or diagnosing electrical faults. Therefore help and advice on a level he understands and can realistically accomplish is going to be more beneficial to him. I cant see the point in complicating the issue by saying `do this do that` when its obvious he is out of his depth 

In addition and as the more knowledgeable amongst us are well aware the vast majority of issues such as this are caused by dead batteries, nothing else, so it makes sense to determine if the battery is at fault right at the start of the fault finding process by conducting a simple go/no-go load test on it, this as you know will remove any doubts regarding its servicability.

It may be true that i almost never use testing equipment, but he is speaking english and i do understand it, it may not be second nature for me to pull out this equipment as my local auto-zone does this for free, but i can use it when i need to.
I will disagree on the dead batteries part, This could easily have been a grounded wire where there shouldn't have been, two wires touching that shouldn't be, or even the voltage regulator or perhaps the stator not re-charging the battery. I assumed it wasn't the battery because it's new but there's a good chance it is.

I checked AC volts on highest setting working my way down to lowest, and DC the same way, i checked ohms on all possiblities as well and didn't get anything there either, that was more of a last ditch effort hoping to get something.  i'll swing by auto-zone (again) on my way to batteries plus and we'll see what they say, probably going to say re-charge and try again (like last time) at which point i'm replacing it (after all its been "charging" since 7P/M. last night (automatic tender, so it won't over-charge or dis-charge)


A quick thought on the re-wiring topic,is it really that bad to re-wire a bike? i'm not saying i want to, but i've re-wired an F-250, a ford ranger, and many many R/C cars (those expensive ones people race, not sure if that's relevant though, i didn't diagnose the problem's just fix them)

Quote from: iclrag on July 18, 2012, 02:30:22 PM

I will disagree on the dead batteries part, This could easily have been a grounded wire where there shouldn't have been, two wires touching that shouldn't be, or even the voltage regulator or perhaps the stator

Perhaps..but the faults you mention are rare in comparison to battery faults, hence my use of the term `vast majority`When trouble shooting starting/non charging faults you need a logical approach and a good place to start. Everything comes from the battery so rule it out first.

#5098

As for rewiring, if I were to do it I would buy a used wiring harness from a reputable bike breaker. There are too many connectors to deal with to string new wire. For $25-$75 you can get a great wiring harness. Pinwall on ebay has good deals on them. Make sure it is 2006 or newer. There was a wiring change from 05 to 06.

You had mentioned your bike was once wrecked before you got it? That could make a new wiring harness a possibility. A swap could be done in a couple hours - tops. Someone helping you and a bag of black zip ties will make it go fast.

The wiring harness in a bike is one long thing all tied together. If you rewired a car the way a bike is wired, you would be removing everything to the steering column, key, doors, rear lights, head lights, etc. A car has many separate wiring things. A bike is one long snake with 20 or more connectors and all taped up. It is nothing where you could easily rewire one section with new wire. Look at what's under the right side of the fuel tank. Nothing you would want to attempt to re-do from scratch. Buy a harness (loom for the brits out there) and swap the whole thing.

Remember that nearly any short to the frame would blow the fuse. A weak short (like thin insulation) might drain the battery when bike is off. However when running, you'd probably generate enough electricity from the stator to overcome that. If the weak short used up too much electricity, the fuse would go.

Next time you can get to the bike cave, I'll be happy to go over all the electrical system with you and review things you can do with your meter.

I think there was a small short, some wires were pinched tight so i pulled them loose and electrical taped them then zip-tied them down, i got the bike to start but barely so i bought a new battery and a tender to, i also wired in the extra plug that came with the tender so i can plug it straight into the bike with-out the alligator clips, very handy!

thanks for all the help i got 



I am now back on the road  infact ive been riding for the last 3-4 hours

#5103

Quote from: adidasguy on July 18, 2012, 11:32:30 PM
#5103

Quote from: iclrag on July 18, 2012, 10:39:45 PM
I think there was a small short.

A `small` short? 

Mind if I ask, just out of curiosity what colour the cables were that had shorted and where on the bike it happened?

Quote from: sledge on July 19, 2012, 12:21:03 AM

Quote from: iclrag on July 18, 2012, 10:39:45 PM
I think there was a small short.

A `small` short? 

Mind if I ask, just out of curiosity what colour the cables were that had shorted and where on the bike it happened?

sure, they were black (as are nearly all the cable on my bike, that's why i was curious about re-wiring, i believe the bike shop i got it from wired it) and were between the frame and the rear fender, i stuck a screw driver in and slid them out then electrical taped them. when i tried to pull them out before they were stuck so i didn't tug or anything.
the wires were a bit frayed from being pinched in there (or pulled out?) so i just put some tape on it ands made sure they won't get pinched again, either way i'm up n running like a dream