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Weird Battery Issue

W

whatever dude

Tricycle
I have a werid battery issue on my 2010 K14.  I last rode the bike about 2 -3 weeks ago.  According to the display at the time, it was reading a full 14.3 or 14.2-volts (while riding).  After parking for about two to three weeks, I went to start it tonight, and it won't start. The display happened to be on battery voltage, and its reading 12.0 and 11.9 volts. 

I'm thinking perhaps i have a "bad" cell.  Would that make sense?  I've left it sitting for longer than this in the past, with no issues.

A few other issues:  When i first bought the bike, it had a radio, which i left on.  Also, it was outside in about 20-degree temps for a few days.  As a result, the battery died.  I charged it on the trickle charger and it started up fine the next day and ran with no issues until now.

I have the radio disconnected now, so thats not the issue.  I have a corbin heated seat, but I confirmed that the switch is off.

Thanks in advance for any help.  I searched the forum, but couldnt find an exact issue like this (seeming partial or very slow discharge).
 
Whatever Dude said:
Cap'n Bob said:
It sounds like a weak battery to me.
Click to expand...

And I supposed, with a sealed battery, there is no way for me to correct this other than by purchasing a new battery?
Click to expand...

If it's a 2010, it's probably covered under warranty! They probably will replace it!  ;)
 
Thanks. I'll give 'em a call tomorrow.

I'm not the original owner, so I'm not sure if the warranty is still in effect...but I'm not sure how those things work.

Thanks again.
 
Guy told me to charge it up fully overnight, and then bring it in and they can test it on their battery tester.

That'll tell 'em if its got a bad cell or what.

So i'll try that.  If it is bad, he said they're in stock, and just over $100.
 
Be advised, if your battery is bad and the bike is under 3 years old, it is covered under warranty, and Kawasaki should honor it. I had a two year old battery fail in my 08 and got it replaced under warranty.

I've also seen a fair amount of battery failures reported on these bike, and my gut feeling is that due to the way they are mounted in the frame, they are getting exposed to a lot of heat, which is shortening their lifespan. Kawasaki also is using a lower amp hour rated battery in the C14 than the C10, probably due to size constraints, and I suspect that is also going to shorten their lifespan as well. My guess is that 3 years is going to be about the best you could hope for out of a 14amp/hr battery on the C14.
 
And use a battery tender often to top 'er off. It will be as happy as it can be...for as long as it will be..
 
If the battery is very low or dead, and you let it sit that way for a day or more, it will start to sulfate.  Once this happens, the plates become electrically insulated by the sulfation, and you will experience battery failure.

Just a reminder to everyone to make sure it stays fully charged all the time, especially when sitting for days/weeks/months at a time.
 
I'd like to echo C1xRider's comment about sulfating.  Kills batteries.  Lots of people hurt their already weak batteries overcharging them with cheesy car battery chargers.  Get a good quality battery tender if your bike is going to sit for long periods.

Bad/Weak batteries can stress your motorcycle electrical system components (like your stator), not to mention all the damage you can do jump starting.  A new battery is cheap insurance to keep you bike running and healthy.
 
So I finally took the battery to the shop today and they put it on their tester.  It showed that it was 13.3-V, 100.5% charged, and battery condition was Good.

Now I'm really confused about why this thing won't start.  It has been on a tender for about 2-weeks straight while I was on vacation.  Display gauge showed 13.3 volts.  Kill switch in correct position.  Heated grips switch off.  Aftermarked corbin seat off. Aftermarket radio disconnected from the battery.  And still no start.  Doesnt even try to turn over.

KiPass is functioning, as I am able to turn the stove knob to the ON position, so no problems there.  I'll reconnect the battery after work and see what happens.
 
I'd start by checking all battery connections as well as the main ground wire connection to the frame. You may have a bad connection that isn't able to support the amount of current needed by the starter motor.\

You could also have a bad starter relay or even a bad starter, but I'd check all the connections first and make sure they are clean and solid.
 
Hey Whatever...  I had the same thing happen to me on my red 09 right down to taking the battery in and the charged battery showing it was good.  The Mech. tried starting a 4 Wheeler he had in the shop and the motor turned over about ten times before the battery died.  :mad:

I got a new but not as good battery under warranty. 


Also be aware these bikes do draw juice when just sitting for the "interupt or" /flashing red light that goes out after 24 hours. I read some where the battery needs to be charged every 2 to 3 days. I bought a battery tender so I can leave it plugged in if I need to.
 
Tim said:
Hey Whatever...  I had the same thing happen to me on my red 09 right down to taking the battery in and the charged battery showing it was good.  The Mech. tried starting a 4 Wheeler he had in the shop and the motor turned over about ten times before the battery died.  :mad:

I got a new but not as good battery under warranty. 


Also be aware these bikes do draw juice when just sitting for the "interupt or" /flashing red light that goes out after 24 hours. I read some where the battery needs to be charged every 2 to 3 days. I bought a battery tender so I can leave it plugged in if I need to.
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listen, the red flashing light draws about the same load as your digital watch.....it will not kill a battery.
There is absolutly no need to have this bike on a tender constantly, it just doesn't need it.
Constantly attemting a charge places the connections into a galvanic state each time the cycle occures, and eventually a resistive coating on the mating surfaces of the cable connection occurs.
It is completely invisible. It requires removing the cable, and abrasivly cleaning the surfaces, and reassembling tightly. This can occur at EITHER END of the cable, therefore both ends must be cleaned. Any loose connections will accelerate the action.
With that said, a battery tender is a good thing when laying a bike up for an extended period, but for a bike that gets ridden regularly it's simply overkill. If a malfunction occurs in the charger, which DOES occur, you can damage a perfectly good battery.
Keep the connections clean and tight.
I am still running the battery that came in my bike when I bought it July 2007. It HAS been removed, and cleaned, and at times when I knew it wouldd sit for a month or 2, placed on the tender, but other than that it has at in temps of 0 to 100 degrees, in my garage, unheated, and has never failed to start the bike.
YMMV
 
Whatever Dude said:
  Doesnt even try to turn over.
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I know I'm going to sound like an anal opening, but 1) is it in neutral? 2) is the kill switch in the correct position?

Sorry, but silly things happen to everybody at one time or another. Mine was down to 11.9v when I was doing some
electrical connection sorting out, it still started fine at that voltage.

 
MAN OF BLUES said:
I am still running the battery that came in my bike when I bought it July 2007. It HAS been removed, and cleaned, and at times when I knew it would sit for a month or 2, placed on the tender, but other than that it has at in temps of 0 to 100 degrees, in my garage, unheated, and has never failed to start the bike.
YMMV
Click to expand...
As MOB says, I'm also running the same battery that came with my C14 that I bought in March of 2008. I've actually never cleaned the thing, and only put it on the tender during the winter months (3-4 months at the most). The rest of the time, it's never on the tender, even if I don't ride for a week or two. It's worked flawlessly except for one time when the ground came loose just before embarking on a short ferry ride, we managed to fix it just in time before we got to the other side. It's still showing 14.3 on the gauge compared to 14.6 when it was brand new, if my memory serves me correctly.(Now that can be an issue ;D)
 
Most folks don't realize it, but a batteries self discharge rate goes up with temperature (dramatically). As a result, its even more important to make sure it has a full charge on it in the hot summer months. When the battery starts to discharge, it lets sulfation occur on the plates, and it's real hard to reverse it once it happens.

In the heat of a summer, if you don't ride it for a while, it will stat to discharge on its own at a much faster rate than in the winter, especially in a hot garage or shed. Heat kills batteries much faster than cold, and I think you would wise to use a good quality automatic float charger (like a Battery Tender) year round anytime the bike is parked for more than a few days.
 
Put a volt meter on the battery, watch what it does when you attempt to crank the motor.  If there isn't a fluctuation, then look for a switch not working correctly (neutral safety, kickstand, etc). 
 
I suppose this all revolves around the definition of "a few days".
The AGM units are the high end of the spectrum, and are very resilliant to self discharge when temps are below 100*F.
Yeah, if its sitting above 100 continually, for a couple weeks, you will noticably see a problem, a few days, with a bike operating correctly and charging correctly when used, ( ride for x hours? I dunno, maybe 60 miles?) should be cycling fine.

I still maintain that constant use of a float charger causes more frequent need to clean the terminals and connections from the galvanic resistive coating that forms as a result, and it's clear most folks don't regularly do this...just by how many times I have to note it here, and on the other forum. Voltage at the cable end doesn't mean the bat's charged, only test for efficacy is a load test, requiring slightly different procedure, and tools.

so, float charge if you believe it's necessary, but be prepared to clean cable ends, both ends, regularly.....and make sure the charger never fails....just a reminder.

 
P.S.
The float chargers make me smile. I bought my bike used, and it came with a battery tender.  I can't find time to plug it in. I ride about every other day (don't/can't commute on a bike).  Living in Sac, CA has it's advantages i guess. 
 
Thanks All.  The store tester showed the battery to be 105% charged, 13.3-volts (same as the gauge display), and "good" condition.

So i brought it home, tightened all the connections firmly, and it started right up.  ARGH!!!!

I did disconnect the aftermarket Corbin heated seats, and radio, for now, just to be safe. I'll do a few gradual tests of it off the tender (day or two at first, then perhaps a bit longer).  Once I gain some confidence in it, I'll reconnect the seat and radio, one at a time, to see if it makes a difference.  Sadly I can't ride every day, so its going to sit for a week sometimes.

I'm not the most mechanically inclined, but the kill switch was in the proper position, and in neutral when making my starting attempts.  I'm thinking perhaps it was a bad connection.

Thanks all, for the input and suggestions.
 
Whatever Dude said:
I'm thinking perhaps it was a bad connection.
Click to expand...

That's the most likely cause and seems to be a common problem on this bike. The fact that the battery connections are a bit hard to access doesn't help any either, and I think this results in them not getting checked as often.
 
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