Battery terminal fell off the cable!
 

I went to turn the alarm off on the 749 today and it was dead as a Dodo! It seems that the (very) short negative lead has meant that when I have taken the battery off the bike, which I did this week to try and get some charge into it in the warmth of the house, I have had to bend the angled terminal plate back to let the battery have enough room to manouver it out.

I am now praying that my local dealer can get me one quickly as it is only 3 weeks until first trackday.

Are they all that short that you have no room to pull the battery out, or has mine just got caught somewhere?

Henry

Mine is quite short, so I know longer take it out.

Ive got an optimate now and leave the connectors tucked inside the fairing all the time. Hence the battery is on "charge" the whole time I am not on the bike and starts first time without a problem. Cost about £35, bargain!

[sorry, this is long]
Yep, I have an Optimate and religiously plugged it in every time it went in the garage. The connector for the Optimate sits just near the clutch slave cylinder behind the fairing.

When we had that warm spell I tried to start it. Not enough charge in the battery to turn it over. It had been on the Optimate all winter and showed "green". The dealer suggested I would need to switch off and on again to reset the charger and bring it up to full charge, which kind of goes against everything I thought an Otimate was supposed to do! I did it though, several times, to trigger charging cycles and it still could not turn it over.

That is when I decided to remove the battery, get it somewhere (much) warmer and recharge it. Put it back o the bike and it started fine. Next day went to disarm the alarm and it was completey dead. Terminal had come off - presumably the last straw for it was passing lots of current to start the engine. The point where the terminal shoudl join to the cable looks very burnt, which if it had broken half off it would do.

I am now on a hunt for a replacement (phoning dealer today when they open) or better still make up a replacement cable that is a little longer or has a better terminal arrangement.

Henry

Its all this cold weather.

Many people have commented previously on how I should think before I speak - another classic example.:lol::lol::lol:

Might have found an alternative solution - Demon Tweaks have loose crimp connectors. Also made up cables in 300mm and 600mm lengths that are only £2-30 each! Wouldn't mind betting that Ducati original is MUCH more than that, even if they are available. :o

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/catalo...DE=A/ECTT16/10

Well that's a bit of a blow ... the battery cables are NOT available as a spare part from Ducati. Official. Be warned!

Looks like Demon Tweaks do angled and straight connectors for that guage calbe, and the calbes themselves. Pretty cheap. Need to either have right crimp tool or squash/solder them on (should be ok?). I just spoke to a mate who runs an electric car (god knows why!), but he solders them and that runs at 200 amp.

Henry

Then again, I know a couple of people who have had gel batteries (as fitted to the 999) replaced under warranty because they don't hold their charge.

Yep, that is quite common with that type of battery. The dealer admitted it too. They sais most battery manufacturers only give 6 months warranty, but Ducati cover it for 2 years.

I've just traced the earth cable back to where it bolts to the engine ... which is behind one of the trellis struts on the rear cylinder. I was just thinking that to get a straight run at the Allen head I was going to have to cut down an Allen key especially for the job, when I noticed that I could unsrew the earth terminal from the engine with my fingers. It was a couple of turns unscrewed already. Not good for 4k miles really.

How considerate of them to leave it loose like that so I didn't have to cut up my tools! (joke, it could happen to anyone, but making it hard to tighten up without the engine being dropped out the frame makes it likely to end up loose?) :burn:

The dealer said that they were always very tight like that (trying to get the terminal off the battery that is), but I can see how I can reroute the cable so it comes onto the battery at the right angle to be able to lift the terminal off, as you would normally expect to do. I am going to buy some rings and cable from Demon Tweaks (as it's convenient and I live in the boonies) and make up my own.

Anyone got any idea what current rating a 5mm dia cable is?

Henry

About 100 Amps.

Ta. Replaced with a made up cable from Halfords, plus a big solder terminal to poke all the other wires in that need to go with it (about half dozen or so).

Henry WILL make it to the ball (sorry, Track Day) after all. :sing:

Yep,me too!;)
HW,I was gonna suggest Merv Plastics in Beeston Nottingham for your wiring needs,(Just a short blat down the A52 for you)but it looks like you are sorted.
If you are going to crimp the lugs on the cable,use a full width ratchet crimper and not one of those cheepy £1.99 Wilco specials.:)
Soldering is easy if you have only one cable,but can be tricky if there are two or three of varying diameters.
Easiest way is to put the lug in a vice,or mole grips,with the cable entry facing upwards.Heat the lug with a blow lamp just enough to melt some solder into the lug.(roughly half fill it)Plunge the cable(s) into the melted solder and hold it steady for a coulple of seconds.Allow the lug to cool before handling.:o

KeefyB, thanks for that. I bought a ready made cable that was a little longer than the original one so I can route it better. Ducati don't help with that big plastic carrier that has cutouts for the battery cables to com through - but they are holes rather than openings so the cable cannot be pulled sideways to clear the battery. I am thinking of either routing the cable outside the plastic carrier to come in from the side to the battery terminal, or cut away a bit of the plastic carrier to allow easier movement of the cable once it is disconnected :eureka::o
The small wires I might solder into another lug or I might replace the single one on the earth cable with the big ones I got and crimp/solder. Ratchet crimp tools are £40 upwards, so I got some mole grips for the job.

Henry

Mole grips..!!! ????...Nooooooooooooo!!!:o:o:o
You will never get a satisfactory crimp using mole grips.A ratchet crimper should cost around £15-17.I bought two sets (0.5-6.0mm,6-16mm) on a special deal from an electrical wholesalers for £20.
Shame you were'nt at the Newark Aurojumble last week.There were crimper sets there at good prices,plus all the wiring materials.

I can't even get the right lugs for crimping aroudn here. They should be the tube types really. My plan is to us the ready made lead for the earth. The thin wires for the rest can be soldered into a lug and that should be fine as they are low current. Nothing stopping me redoing it later when I get the right lugs/tool for the job.

Demon Tweaks had tube type lugs and cable to suit, but was 8 days delivery (stated 8 days, so possibly more), and Maplin drew a blank. Didn't find any other supplier in a web search. Any ideas? I don't have time to drive anywhere, but I'll happily order anything on the phone or online if I can get it.

Cheers
Henry

I've got some lugs. What's the inside diameter you need?

Ta. Not sure, I'll know once I chop the old broken one off. If I had tube type lugs (uninsulated, it'll be approx 6mm inside dia, maybe a little more), then I would need to get a decent crimp tool to do the job. Back to square one as I can't get one locally and I'm not going to pay £40 plus for one. Let me see if I can do a decent enough job using the ready made lead plus a 2nd one for the half dozen low current wires - I'll come back to you on that. The only reason I don't want to wait the 8 days delivery is that I am booked for Cadwell track day on Good Friday and I've not had the bike out on the road this year yet. I'd liek to get reaquainted before going on track for the first time. :)