I have noticed that now I have removed my Datatool 3 alarm yesterday the Gearchange threshold light is flashing Red with the ignition turned off. ( light is number 9 on the instrument panel-page 11 of the owners manual) I seem to recall it flashed before I removed the alarm as well as the other tiny red neon by the front of the petrol tank. Anyone know why this is, have I fkd something up?
Are we talking a digital dash and the red change up lights. One on the end flashes to indicate that immobilizer is active. It goes off entirely after a while (never measured but its got to be something like 12-24 hours). Everything is fine John John
John Yes, I'm talking about the digital dash and the red change up light. I had noticed it flashing before the removal of my alarm, but put it down to being something to do with the alarm which I didn't really understand. Once the alarm was removed I noticed this morning when I was finalizing my work that it was flashing. Now you have reassured me that it is flashing to indicate the immobilizer is active and will go off after a while ( I will check) I can celebrate the removal of the battery draining alarm. That also clears up why I noticed some current drain when I refitted the battery, I assumed ( wrongly ) that with the ignition off there would be no current drain, I did endeavor to measure the drain with a digital meter capable of reading down to micro- amps but nothing showing on the meter! Many thanks for your help, very much appreciated.
Hi John No problem. With the immobilizer and the ECU still needing some power there is a small battery drain. I have a set of flying leads on the battery which come out the side of the fairing and connect up a charger once a week for an hour or 2, just to top it up. John
I already have the fly lead fitted, but unfortunately I rent a garage 1/4 mile away that has no power. I normally use the bike regularly enough in the good weather to maintain charge level in battery, it's only in the winter months that it doesn't get used much, so I normal whip the fairing off and remove the battery to charge up at home, or sometimes use a heath robinson method if I need an immediate start with a car battery and some jump leads, I find I can just about stab a long screwdriver through the fairing vent hole to enable me to reach the positive battery terminal, and clip the negative on the gear lever. Any idea how much current drain from the immobilizer, are we talking micro, or milli A?
Sorry John never measured it. I would imagine its in the milliamp range as when I connect up the charger its less than 30 minutes before the charger starts flip flopping between float and charge. I had a look at solar chargers, there are a few out there that could be a possibility. If you can wait for a few days I'll hook up my battery and see if I can measure the draw (1098S but I imagine all the newer bikes will be similar). If I can get a reading then that should be able to tell you if a solar charger would be up to it and how long to connect it Maybe try posting a new thread to see if anybody else has tried them and what their experiences are John
Thanks for that John I had briefly toyed with the idea of a solar Panel to keep the battery topped up whilst it was standing, but the reality for me is that it's not too much of a problem to remove the battery every now and again to put it on my Optimate to bring the level up. I would be reluctant to leave something like this connected to the bike in case it went short circuit for some reason! I keep a small 180cc bike In India as I travel there every year for some mischief. I remove the lead acid battery, drain all the acid out into a glass jar/chuck it away, when return I take the battery to the 'battery whalla' who refills the acid and recharges it and I'm back in business. As you know leaving a battery without attention means it won't last long, but with this technique they go on for ever!
Oh India that sounds nice and sunny and warm. I miss when I used to travel to places like that. Anyway I wandered down to the shed with the battery and my trusty Fluke. With the battery connected and the LED on the panel not flashing it was pulling a consistent 80mA. That's a pretty scary figure as in 12.5 hours approx you are going to pull 1Ah. I have no idea if it changes over time or if my test was faulty. I repeated it a couple of times and it was consistently giving that figure. Although I only tested it for a few minutes each time. If its right its giving the battery a helluva pounding, I have just got a new one for the 1098 after 5 years, dealer seemed to think that was average to good. Batteries will usually pull a small parasitic load longer than the Ah rating suggests though as the higher the discharge rate the worse the battery performs. John
John 80mA what's going on there I wonder? Is this what the immobilizer is using? That sounds like far too much! Thanks for measuring.
Hi John I reckon the main draw is the immobilizer, with some from the ECU to keep the clock memory. The regulator/rectifiers can leak current also if there is a faulty diode ...............Nooooooooooooooooooooo John
