[rb7632]

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I recently added a Clarion II to my GL1100 (81) and had a heck of a time getting everything working. First the stereo wouldn't work. Then I got it working and the lights would not work. I have run all the wires and finally have everything working well but the battery won't hold a charge and it shows 12 to 14 on the voltmeter while I'm running.

I'm wondering if I damaged the battery with all the electrical problems. There is some white "fuzz" on the positive post but both connections seem to be tight..

Any ideas would be very much appreciated.

:?:?:?:?:?

 

[olefart1]

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Depends on age of battery. Is its a acid water bat ya might want to clean cables give it a good charge. hook all cables then hit starter and see what kind of voltage drop it has. If it goes below 11 volts its may have a weak cell.

 

[rb7632]

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Battery was new last July.

 

[DaveO430]

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Disconnect the ground from the battery and leave it overnight or however long it usually takes for the battery to go dead, reconnect it and if it is still charged the problem is an electrical draw in the bikes wiring. If the battery goes dead while disconnected then it's the battery.

 

[krazy al]

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you can check with a test light.what i do is take neg cable off. put clip from test light on neg side of batt.then touch probe on battery cable.with key off if light comes you have a draw the way i do it on cars i start pulling fuses till light goes out.that will give you some idea where to start looking.hope this makes sense.it works for me saves a little time.:waving:
:waving:

alan

 

[sandcastcb750]

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Don't trust the voltmeter in the dash; mine lies to me. It says 10V, when it's 12V.

 

[gido]

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How long does it take to run down the battery? On the Clarion 2 both the clock and the radio memory have a slight draw.

 

[rb7632]

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It will run down while I am at work. 9-10 hours.

 

[gido]

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Is there a draw on the battery while parked (see krazy al above)? There should be but not enough to kill it in 10 hours. Does it run down if you take out the radio head?

 

[sandcastcb750]

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There is a slight draw due to the memory for time and stations associated with the radio. It has got to be small as I have let the bike sit idle without a battery tender for several weeks.

 

[rb7632]

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It died again at work today. Luckily I park in a parking garage with sloped floors. I just roll start it and it runs fine.

I pulled the stereo face plate out this evening when I got home to see if that has any effect.

I will try the load tests this weekend. I must have a ground still off somewhere.

I rolled it out of the garage yesterday, went to start it and when I turned on the key a large puff of smoke came out from under the fake tank. Everything went dead.

I started to work on it last night and it started right up (with the charger on it) and no issues. I rode it to work and home and the only problem I wad was with it starting after work.

 

[gido]

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Did you have the false tank off? I've found that it can be a tight fit coming off and going back on. On more than one occasion I've disconnected or scraped wires during the process.

 

[83GoldWinger]

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gido wrote:

Is there a draw on the battery while parked (see krazy al above)? There should be but not enough to kill it in 10 hours. Does it run down if you take out the radio head?

:waving:There will still be a draw on the battery with the radiocontrol unit removed as the memory and clock function are within the AM/FM tunerwhich is below the R/H storage pocket.

 

[frankenpak]

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Don't hold me to this but with a car battery when you touch the cable to the post you shouldn't get a spark, if so then there is a short somewhere draining the battery.