Mad Mike
Well-known member
More or less my challenge. I basically take the bike off the carbs.
What did you do in your garage today..?
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PacoT
Well-known member
Yup. It is an actually Battery Tender Junior TM.
I left the bike plugged in overnight, but the results were the same. When I turned the key to the ON position, the dash lit up for one or two seconds, then went completely black again. (To be fair, I didn’t check the voltage at that exact moment.)
First, I checked all the fuses in the fuse box, and then the main fuses next to the starter solenoid. Everything looked fine.
Next, I removed the battery from the bike—which, isn’t exactly a quick job on a Ducati, since it’s mounted at the bottom of the bike, right in front of the rear wheel.
I connected the Battery Tender directly to the terminals (in case the piggyback connector was acting up). At that point, voltage was reading between 13V and 14V.
I reinstalled the battery and finally checked the voltage while turning the key. With the Battery Tender still connected, turning the key to ON caused the voltage to drop from 13V straight down to 3V.
So… safe to say this battery is toast, right?
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Gaoler
Well-known member
'Plugged in my 'tender 'cuz I'm flying out to BC tomorrow for two weeks... So, the FJR will be sittin' parked.
I hope the wife isn't too grumpy getting up to drop me off at the Airport at o'dark thirty
On the up side... Three days after I fly back from BC I'm riding back out there for three weeks
I hope the wife isn't too grumpy getting up to drop me off at the Airport at o'dark thirty
On the up side... Three days after I fly back from BC I'm riding back out there for three weeks
Pretty much toast. May be possible to recover but dropping to 3v with the key on is insane. I would say a battery is dead if it dropped that low with the starter
I have found that a "smart" type charger will not revive a flat dead battery. When faced with that in the past, I've had some success by using an old fashioned "dumb" charger, with none of that fancy analytic circuitry. I call it kick starting the battery. Hook it up and run it at a higher amperage, like 15 or 20, for a while, like an hour or 2. (Don't forget it though! I've cooked a battery that way.)
Then switch over to the smart charger, to take it up to full, and do the desulphating and all that, for 24 hours or more; whatever it takes. You still need one with output greater than the little 2 amp maintainer types. I'd say at least 10 or 15.
Then switch over to the smart charger, to take it up to full, and do the desulphating and all that, for 24 hours or more; whatever it takes. You still need one with output greater than the little 2 amp maintainer types. I'd say at least 10 or 15.
This weekend I framed out the inside of the back third of my shipping container in the hopes of getting some stuff off the ground and creating more space. I was able to do so while accomplishing my goal of not drilling into the walls or floor.
I plan to wait until I get fittings for the Abba SkyLift I recently bought to see if I can use it to turn my bike around inside and how doing so might constrain where and how I can place further storage. In my ideal world I will be able to frame out the rest of the container.
There was pondering over how to do this for maybe two months. Once I got started this weekend there were lots of false starts and lots more pondering. I learned that shipping containers are far from square and that even a very new container in very good shape still has a bunch of big dents you don't notice until you need that surface flat. I was pretty happy with the way it worked out, but it reminded me how much I respect guys who could do this stuff without thinking about it.
I plan to wait until I get fittings for the Abba SkyLift I recently bought to see if I can use it to turn my bike around inside and how doing so might constrain where and how I can place further storage. In my ideal world I will be able to frame out the rest of the container.
There was pondering over how to do this for maybe two months. Once I got started this weekend there were lots of false starts and lots more pondering. I learned that shipping containers are far from square and that even a very new container in very good shape still has a bunch of big dents you don't notice until you need that surface flat. I was pretty happy with the way it worked out, but it reminded me how much I respect guys who could do this stuff without thinking about it.
