Electrical-Kury volt meter

[therapist]

So, for the first time ever, my Kury voltmeter lights started ALL blinking on and off.  Then, it would go back to normal with the lights on, then back to blinking.  Wasn't sure what was up so came back early from my ride.  I pulled the battery today and it was down to 50% power and is having a tough time on the charger, bringing it back up to full charge (seems to be stuck on 67%).  

Looking back, I have been going through batteries much more often than usual.  First one lasted 7 years and the last two, only a little over a year.  I blamed it on faulty batteries and my riding much less the past few years.  I installed an air horn around 5 years ago, and the last thing that I did electrical, was that thingy that makes the rear light blink off and on "Back Off", not sure of the name.  That I put in 3 years ago.  

I just wonder now, if I have something open/shorting and draining the battery.  It was 100 % charged all winter and I have only taken 5 medium length rides this year (less than 100 miles).  Any suggestions?

[olddog1946]

Get hold of a volt meter and check voltage at the battery with the bike idling and at 2000 rpm, should read a minimum of 13.8-14.4 at 2K..if it does you may have a bad connection to your Kury meter. If not start looking at the alternator.

[therapist]

Thanks.  Haven't used a voltmeter in years, have to search for mine.  Would a bad connection of the voltmeter drain it?  It has been on the charger for a couple hours and just hit 75%.  I checked on line, and the lights on the Kury voltmeter are designed to blink on and off when the electrical system is about to shut down.

[therapist]

Ok...as I was researching possible reasons for my battery issue, I found this-

"Never attach accessories directly to the battery . It bypasses the voltage regulator and wil damage your battery through overcharging."

I have both my air horn and Back Off brake lamp controller wired directly to the battery.  Is that my problem?  I know some on here wired a separate box with fuses to plug accessories into.  I need to do this.

[vanagon40]

. . . .  I have both my air horn and Back Off brake lamp controller wired directly to the battery.  Is that my problem? . . . .

I do not believe that should be a problem that would cause a drain on your battery.  You should add fuses to the circuit (if you did not do that originally), but the fuses would make no difference on a battery drain.

A quick check is to make sure everything is turned off and disconnect one terminal on the battery.  When you touch it to the battery terminal, is there a spark (indicating a current draw)?

If you find your voltmeter, it may also have an ampmeter (assuming it is a multimeter).  Otherwise, you can find a multimeter pretty cheap.  Make sure everything is tuned off and disconnect one terminal on the battery and put the amp meter in series in the circuit (connect one lead to the cable and one lead to the battery).  Warning:  Start on the highest setting and work down to read the results.  On the cheap multimeters, I believe the overloading the circuit simply blows it out never to work again.  If you have an interstate, you will get some minute draw from the memory in the radio, etc.

On my old Chrysler Lebaron, I discovered one circuit was drawing 0.11 amps with everything turned off.  I put a toggle switch on the offending circuit and solved my problem.

[Gryphon Rider]

Ok...as I was researching possible reasons for my battery issue, I found this-

"Never attach accessories directly to the battery . It bypasses the voltage regulator and wil damage your battery through overcharging."

I have both my air horn and Back Off brake lamp controller wired directly to the battery.  Is that my problem?  I know some on here wired a separate box with fuses to plug accessories into.  I need to do this.

Who are you quoting?  Accessories don't charge the battery, and the voltage regulator only regulates the alternator output voltage.  The statement makes no sense electrically.  There are really only two reasons not to connect accessories directly to the battery, 1. to avoid a birds nest of wiring around your battery, and 2. connecting directly to the battery means the accessory is not switched off when the ignition is off, unless there is some other power switching of the accessory from other inputs.

[gordonv]

I believe the issue is with stator type charging systems. Something along the line of when they are ALWAYS drawing power from them, rather than just charging up a battery till it's full, that they over heat and burn out.

There was a write up and explanation in the Wing World magazine, but I was never able to find it again, or write them asking for a reprint of it.

[therapist]

May have found the problem...or not.  The PowerLet electric outlet is live when the key is turned off.  I assume it is supposed to be that way, and it has been on my bike for many years.  So, seems strange that it would cause problems now, but who knows. The battery charged back up to 100% and maintained the charge overnight, so put it back in minus the PowerLet connector.  We shall see.  Turns out my meter is for volts only, so can't do the amp check. I just will do short riding trips and recheck the battery power.  While we are discussing it, I always remove the battery from the bike whenever charging...is it necessary?  We don't do that with our cars.