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Voltage Dropoff

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Paul Seitz

New Member
Ok, So here it goes. I bought a used 2014 HD Road King. After a while I noticed new issues after a couple days as the bike was a little sluggish to start. But I ride almost every day either to work or home or most every errand I run around town. The bike almost never sits long enough until recently for me to notice an issue other than sluggish starts. I took a long trip and after home the bike had some indicator lights not work but it started. I took it to the dealer and they said it was a connection hub/clip and they had it fixed but when i went to pick up the bike It had a dead battery. The jumped it off but the next day it was dead again. I charged the battery and the bike started but I wasn't able to ride due to rain for a couple of days. When I was finally able to get on the bike the bike you guessed it dead again. Over 2 days the bike was dead. I took the battery to be tested at not 1 but 2 different places. 1st at O'reillys' then at local H.D. and it tested good. They did a diagnosis and stated that now my voltage regulator was bad so i bought a regulator and replaced it but as most things in my life things are not fixed that easily. You guessed it i charged bike and it started but in 2 days after waiting yup dead again. So back to the battery possibility for may have a bad cell so i get a battery and replace it. All works fine for roughly 2 weeks and now I'm back to square 1 with the bike having a voltage drop from 12.6v to 11.6,7,or 9 depending on how long it was sitting. Oh yeah the bike was bought 2 yrs old and had only 4k miles on it. It now since may has over 9k and well on it's way to 10k miles so my question is (EDIT) is going on here? Any suggestions welcome.
 
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First check Your volt meter on the bike.It should be around 14 volts during operation,maybe more ,if battery is low.If this is ok,then something is drawing current after shutdown.If You have an Amp meter,You can connect it in series with the battery to measure current draw.I would then start pulling fuses one by one to see if one circuit has a large draw.Hope You have a service manual,it will help locate the problem area.
 
Like Harttoo suggests, you have a parasitic draw somewhere. A R.K. should not have more than 5-6 mA draw when ign. is off.
Wait 10-15 seconds after key off, to let TSSM and other components shut down when measuring.
 
Ok Harttoo first. Yes sir I have been monitoring the V meter on bike and it is showing anywhere between 14 and 14.8v while in operation. I have done the meter idea along with my mechanic guy and it showed no draw. Have not done the pulling of fuses but it was suggested by a friend that maybe the security system on the bike is somehow doing this. I find that hard to believe however due to the loss of Voltage in this time frame and if it is doing this without the key FOB in the area do you think it could draw that much when security activated? I will check on the fuses but at this time I have not gotten my year and model specific Manual but I guess that has now moved up to the top of the list of haves and have nots for me. I had one for my last bike 1998 HDRK police model but have not gotten one yet as I thought I might get away with just minor maintenance issues for a year or two but I see this is not gonna happen. LOL
Thx Breeze3at for the tip on wait time before checking these areas before measuring.
 
As far as a Service Manual goes it does not get into Electrical problems. You will need a Electrical Diagnostic Manual for that. They separated the 2 a few years back. It's best to have both though.
tourbox
 
Service manual has wiring diagrams so You can trace the fuse to all connections.

Hard to believe that security system would kill the battery in that short time,but," leave no stone unturned."There has to be a draw on the battery,if battery checks good.
 
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Paul Seitz said:
I have done the meter idea along with my mechanic guy and it showed no draw.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. That does not seem right either. You should see a very low mA draw on the battery when the bike is completely shut down (Kill switch off and key switch in Lock position) especially with a security/alarm system on the bike. What you are looking for is that the parasitic draw is TOO high. But not seeing any draw at all is not right either.

Double check how you are doing it, and make sure the DVOM you are using can read low level mA. Take the lead off of the positive terminal (carefully) and put the DVOM in series between the positive terminal on the battery and the disconnected end of the positive battery lead. See what the draw is and let us know. Or check the manual to see what it says it should be if they list that in the Service Manual. It may not be in that manual, I can't remember. May only be in the electrical diagnostics manual as Tourbox said above.

Cheers,

TQ
 
So in the OP you said you have symptoms of a weak / low battery and the dealer fixed a clip?
Now you have had 2 batteries that now go dead after the dealer fixed it. Did you talk to them and let them know that after they fixed the connector (?) The batteries go dead? Seems the best place to start is looking into what they did.
 
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