Battery drains

[Brian Lawlor]

Thought I was having battery issues as the bike would start willingly, but after a week without use would be very sluggish to start. Bought a new battery, recharged it, installed it, started like a champ, week later, sluggish again.

Got the Haynes manual (very good) and borrowed a multimeter only to find....battery has a leakage rate of 0.35mA...which according to the book implies there is a short circuit in the wiring and recommends I "check the wiring between the various components". Yummy, yummy, can't wait to get into all that...not!
Other check I performed showed the alternator was putting in over 14 VDC at 3k rpm...so I believe there's no issue in recharging.

My short term workaround is to remove the negative connection on the battery, only connecting it when I go out for a ride.

Any sage advice or previous experience out there in virtual Ducatiland?

[chris900ssie]

check the block connecter for the headlamp. i had a short there. water got in, shorted and melted the connecter and a flat battery to boot! the connecter is 300 euro from ducati (it comes with 50cm of cable too!!!) or you can make one for a couple of euros, some spade connecters and 15 minutes!

Chris

[Duc2v]

I had the connector for the headlamp melt (but not cause a short) on my 95 SS. A replacement can be found at Pep Boys for $2.95. Comes with enough wire length to allow easy splicing into the old wires.

If that isn't your source of the short, you will need to start looking at every connection for possible corrosion. I recommend using some sort of dielectric grease or spray on the connectors to keep water out, and corrosion from forming again. After cleaning the existing connections of course.

I've done this to my 01 SS 900ie, and sprayed every connection with DeoxIT Gold. http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.1/.f
Good preventative maintenance (recommended by LT Snyder too...)
bill