Re: [ST] Very Sudden Battery Death?

[Andrew Tait <antait@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey!  It's the nearby BRG talkin' :-)

Stephen McSpadden wrote:
> At 10:59 07/06/2004, Andrew Tait wrote:
> 
>> Yum.  Another cursed weekend.  <snip>  I'm 99% sure I didn't leave the 
>> parking light on, and was one of the first people in here in the 
>> morning, so I'm sure someone would have told me if I was glowing all day.
> 
> 
> I wouldn't bet on it. In the sunshine they might not even notice it. 
> Leaving the lights on seems to drain the battery to a state where it 
> won't start the brute in a frighteningly short space of time on these 
> bikes. I'm sure Mike Bostock had some battery fun recently.

I'm pretty careful with the parking light, as my ol' XJ600 had a 
"push-turn-push-turn" system to get the parking light on, whilst the ST 
is just "push-turn-turn".  After one day of parking light the week I got 
the bike (it started!), it's something I always check as I walk away.

> You should have given me a shout too. We could have jumped your bike 
> from mine using the NEL's leads. Did you bump start it eventually?

I've never bump started the Sprint.  I tried one half-hearted run at it, 
but the car park at the top is 100% finest gravel, and I figured that if 
I started down the hill, and it didn't start (as per my GSX250ET.  Now 
that was a bike.  *sigh*) I'd have to leave it at the bottom.  Or try to 
push it back up.

By the time I saw you were still there, I had my kit in the rucksack and 
was walking to the beer shop.

>> New battery on order today, and I should have it for this afternoon 
>> thanks to an enthusiastic local supplier,
> 
> 
> Who was that as a matter of interest?

Battery Power Systems.  £44.99 inc VAT.  I've bought every battery for 
my last 3 bikes, and my girlfriend's bike from 'em.  They're really 
cheap for normal lead acid batteries.  The XJ battery was £25 from Ride 
On, and £13 from Battery Power.  They're up in College Milton, and can 
get just about any battery in a couple of days.  Fortunately I called 
them before their van had left the depot, so I get the YTX14 this 
afternoon.  Service with a smile indeed (and without a drive on a 125 
two stroke to Renfrew, which could be even more important!)

>> but I'm bamboozled by how the bike went from starting heartily in the 
>> morning to doing nothing 8 hours later.  Poor thing!
> 
> Indeed. If the alarm isn't the culprit, and the heated grips haven't 
> been left on, then get the new battery ready but leave it on hold. That 
> way either:
> a) You'll never need it
> b) You'll only need it when you're several hundred miles from home on a 
> Sunday when there is no one at home to bring it out to you and your 
> breakdown cover has expired

Breakdown cover supplied as standard by Carole Nash, so should be safe 
on that one.  I've never had a bike battery last longer than this one, 
and I NEED the bike to be reliable on Thursday, as it's up at 6am for a 
little blast into Glasgow.  Europe depends on it!

> Or you could simply fit the new one and not worry about it ever again. 
> It would be good to know what caused it though .... rectifier or 
> regulator failure .....?

Well, Yuasa do mention the "Sudden Battery Death" on their web site, so 
it's possible it's just that, or something near to it.

I'll check the charging out tonight anyway, just in case.

Can't really complain too much.  The pedal cycle has had more use in the 
past two weeks than it has all year so far (Ummm.  Poor English.), and 
I've had a few good walks too, including the impromptu one home on 
Friday :-)

Hope to see you around soon!

Cheers,

Andrew

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