Anyone ever had a bad battery tender? Just bought a brand new, waterproof, 800mA Battery tender, and it seems to be broke.

I know i have a slow drain from my IAC sensor Pinter...Part order and currently unplugged from the bike. Check. Removed 30AMP main fuse...CHECK. There shouldn't be anything left to drain the power as best as I know.

Brand new battery bought last week...AND exchanged (thought it was bad), drained on me after 1 night of riding (of which i unplug the IAC when parked. Plugged the IAC back in when I took off to head home, and everytime i slowed down to a red light and was back in first gear (before complete stop btw) the bike stalled on me. Still had power, and although tough (probably due to battery drain) to start, it did start back up and get me home.


I have no clue what could be wrong with this damn bike, i'm ready to part the **** out due to frustration. Hopefully the IAC sensor pinter thingy will fix the drain.


Anyways I was curious (Obviously of a few things), but it seems that my battery tender light turns to green and the battery still doesn't have the juice to start the bike. All i'm getting is click click click, like the battery is still dead. I plug the tender back up and it shows yellow light. 2 hours later, a green light, but bike just clicks. WTF!?!?!


Bought this bike for 5k with 20k miles, i'm not at about 2900 over the purchase cost in repairs alone.

Just trying to sort this out because this is my first harley, and first bike that I own in my name. I'm feeling like i bought a 5k paper weight here. Please help. Thanks in advance.




2007 1200XL C (EFI)
22.8k Miles
Fluids Maintance done 1.2k miles ago.

Replaced Triple Trees
Replaced Ignition Switch
Replaced All Relays/Fuses
Replaced Battery
Replaced Quick Disconnect Fuel Petcock
Replaced Fuel Overflow Breather Line
Repaired/Soldered All Wiring Harness Issues Back to Stock

Samson Powerflow 3 2-into-1 Collector Pipes
Screaming Eagle Stage 1 (2in.) High Flow Intake
Power Commander 3 USB (Running Fat Cat 2-into-1 Map #021)
Burly Brand Slammer Kit Front/Rear

 

Try disconnecting all wires from battery and connecting directly to tender in order to test tender.
Almost sounds like you have an intermittent short to ground or a loose wire.
I would guess that you have used a digital voltage meter attached to the battery and check voltage at rest(all off), while cranking and above idle just to double check the charging system.
Finally i would guess this is a standard AGM type of battery and not a lithium battery.
A bad IAC could make starting difficult.
Also are you 100% sure that front end wires AND bulbs are all correct and forks are grounded to frame.

 

I'd like to think all that is the case, the guy is a electrical engineer, but i suppose if he don't know harleys wiring then all that other stuff is irrelevant.


Would taking my scooter to harley and having them scan the bike tell them what is really going on and where? I'm fearing reguardless we fixed up the Harness, perhaps there is something we missed.

The battery is a HD battery strait from the stealership. I can turn it upside down and it will still work the guys say.

Am I killing batteries, or is my tender screwed you think?

Also worth mentioning that i've exhanged the battery with harley yesterday, and the new battery starts the bike no problems, and gives me about one evening ride and then over night, battery dies and tender won't charge enough to start the bike again.

 

You have a short in the wiring or there is no charging taking place because something is loose.
And anybody can miss a wire.
Look at the link below.
Harley dealer will ask for at least one of your nuts if you take it in.
If system is charging then bike has a loss of charge while parked which leads me to believe the short is constant.
Please check charging system first, cheap digital meter (maybe $8 at harbor freight & sometimes free with coupon) and youtube video should take 15 minutes maximum.

 

If you've tried the previous suggestions and all seems well, this is a possibility - the onboard charging system isn't functioning properly. Alternator may be OK but might be hard to determine the health of the rectifier/regulator/charging circuit with a DVM when the engine is not running or running at an idle.

If you have a sensitive, non-contacting current loop for the DVM, you might try clamping it over the positive battery cable, then duct-taping the DVM somewhere visible and then ride around for a while, monitoring the current charge/drain to/from the battery.

Lacking a current loop (although this would be a PITA) a power resistor of low resistance (~0.1 ohms, 10 watts) could be installed (temporarily) in series with the positive cable. The voltage drop across the resistor will provide the charge/discharge information (ohm's law). Must be done with engine running at normal riding speed, at least 2500 RPM.

There should be no current drain from the battery at RPM significantly above idle - there should be current flow from the charging circuit INTO the battery.

Just a suggestion -

 

I shall do as the video suggest, and see what happens. I took the battery out of the bike two hours ago when it was nearly dead from my trying to turn the bike over, and alreayd the tender shows a green light suggesting the battery is charged completely (of which i know it probably is not).


Also I just replaced the two relays earlier tonight because everytime i tried to start the bike and it wouldn't start, i felt a ticking in the top of the two relays. not sure if thats prevelant to the situation but it made me think to replace the relays just in case they had went bad. Haven't tried to start the bike since replacing the relays (Atleast with a fully charged battery).

As far as the second post, if i get to that point and my battery is good, I have no clue of what your saying because i've never done that before. My apologies. My mechanical saavy is that of being able to take things apart and put then back together as were, but electrical stuff is all new to me. :-( What is a DVM? is that the Digital Volotmeter i'm guessing?


What is a current Loop?!?!?!

See why i jsut want to give up that left nut? lol. 4 kids already yo, it would only help me to give it to harley as to promise no more kids and a fixed bike, lol.

 

This is the DVM I bought today. Could someone please tell me the proper place to plug in the Positive and Negative plugs into it, and what setting to turn the dial too? I don't wanna put it on the wrong thing, and the rest of what was in the video i can handle, it's just the first time I've used one. Also will this thing test wires for shorts or help me trace where I should have a ground if I don't, or where i have a ground where i should not?

I also have the Electric Service Manual to use in combination with this tool as well. :-)

 

Assuming you are measuring battery voltage:

Black wire goes in the bottom socket "COM"
Red wire goes in the socket right above the "COM"
Dial set to DCV 20

 

Thanks cHarley. Gonna go test the battery while it's out of the bike and been on trickle for a night.

What should a disconnected battery thats been on trickle charge read? 12.xx volts?

 

You'll get a false, higher than normal, reading if you've just taken the battery off the tender. Probably in the ~13.5 volt range.

If the battery was in the bike, I'd tell you to flick the ignition switch on for a second or two and then back off before measuring the battery voltage. This bleeds off the residual higher voltage left on the battery by the charger.
With the battery out of the bike, you can let the battery just sit overnight disconnected, and get a true reading in the morning after the residual charge has dissipated. Or if you've got a 12v test light or something, you can connect it across the battery briefly to dissipate the residual charge.

A fully charged battery, without the residual from the charger, should measure 12.7 volts, +/- .1 volts.