Just the little green light, I hope - Electrical (Battery) Question

[ptgb]

All year I have had an Ipod power cord hooked to the Valk I/S via cigar lighter plug (wired through a Centech AP2 to be always hot). The Ipod is only connected to the power cord when riding. The cord has a little green light to show it is powered. The Valk would be ridden at least twice a week (weather permitting) all spring/summer/fall... always started no problems.

Some weeks ago, wanted to ride as the weather was nice... battery was dead (it had sat for maybe 3 weeks). I charged it up via Battery Tender... lasted another two weeks, battery dead again. Oh well, bought a new OEM battery; better safe then sorry.

Today, tried to start it - new battery dead  

Figuring (hoping) it is just that little green light that I overlooked, causing the battery drain. It is on the Battery Tender right now to get fully charged. After I get home from work tomorrow, I plan on checking to make sure there is no draw on the battery (now that the power cord with the green light is unplugged).

Just to make sure I am doing this right...

I should place a multimeter, set to amp reading, with one lead on the negative terminal and the other lead on the disconnected negative battery cable, correct?

What is the most mA it should be drawing normally, to keep the clock settings, etc?

Thanks in advance for helping me out... hopefully it was just that little green light... if not on to the accessories  

[Rocketman]

Yes, you're hooking it up right.  I don't know how many milliamps you should be drawing, but I'll guess it's around 10.

As for the light, that's usually just some tiny little LED.  That should be drawing so little amperage, that I am not convinced you'd see it on your gauge if you plugged it in while you were reading amps.
I chased a similar gremlin once.  It was a shorted out relay (it got turned upside down, and the rubber rain cover turned into a rubber rain bucket, corroding the relay.)  Check those first.

[Craig N. AZ]

Have the battery tested. I just went thru this with a new battery that just didn't have the power it should.

[Chrisj CMA]

Also..........It is my understanding that most battery "tenders" are designed to maintain a fully charged battery.  Once you have a low charge or dead battery, I wouldnt just put it on a tender.  Id get it on a 1-2A charger then use a tender to keep it up if its not to be ridden for awhile

[Skinhead]

I also had a problem with a battery going dead.  I found it was a relay for my spot lights that were turned on, but the fuse for the lights was blown.  The lights weren't burning because the fuse for the lights was blown, but the switch to the relay was on and powering the relay.  Battery would be dead in 3 -4 days.