Help! My bike's dead!
 

I got kitted-up bright and early this morning to leave for Riders at 9am but in the end I couldn't leave home because of an electrical problem with the bike.

It is due to go in for its annual service in the next fortnight so Rich & Dean at Louigi Moto will fix it for me I'm sure but I would like to know what has gone wrong! I have no idea about electrics so any thoughts from those who do would be welcome.

The bike is a 996SPS which are notoriously hard on the electrics because of the extra high-compression engine which requires a lot of battery power to turn over. The battery alwas seemed laboured when I first got the bike about a year ago so I replaced it with a heavy duty Odyssey PC680. This fixed it a treat - the bike turned-over and started easily every time - even though it is only used once every week or two.

However, over the last few weeks it has been more and more difficult to start the bike - the battery seemed to be running down despite the bike living on a Optimate whenever it is in the garage. I have a Datatool Veto alarm on the bike and leave it armed.

Anyways this morning the indicator light on the Optimate was green showing that the state of the battery was A-OK. However, when I tried I could barely turn the engine over at all and it wouldn't start. When I took off the side panel to jump-start the bike from my car I noticed that the battery terminal connectors had been getting really hot and melting the plastic on the top of the battery!

I jump started the bike fine, but when I disconnected the jump leads the engine stopped running. Now the bike is totally 'dead' - the starter button doesn't do anything. I can jump start it, but as soon as I disconnect the jump leads it dies again.

I reconnected the Optimate and seven hours later it is still showing an orange light which according to the Optimate manual means that the battery is 'badly discharged'.

Does anyone have any idea what the problem is?

Battery connections ?
 

Have you checked the tightness and cleanliness of the battery connections?, as loose or dirty connection will get very hot.

Also, an old favourite, but take off the battery and battery tray and check the condition of the yellow wires from the alternator to the rectifier. Make sure that connector behind the battery tray is OK.

Hi, if you jump a ducati.....they don't like it, i think you've fcked the rectifier, a friend did it on his 916sps, result new rectifier!
Steve
P.S. iv'e fitted an odyssey to my bike, the importors say you must use a C-TEK TYPE charger, i didn't and the battery cracked the outer casing, they replaced it F.O.C.,....GOOD ON THEM!
Steve

I don't know about that; I jumped my 748 a few times. I think Louigi jumps bikes regularly.

That's not to say the rectifier might not be clapped, of course.

Any test I can do to confirm that?

replace battery
 

Dave I recon your battery has cooked it self!
constant charge and discharge " so called " battery conditioning, just wipes the battery out over time!

Some Optimates (although they wont agree) develop faults and even though the "trafFic" lights on the optimate show ,OK, dead , or whatever, It's not always a true sign !

If it's jumping off your car and not under it's own battery steam, then you can bet your battery is boloxed !

try a mates battery before you spend any Dosh!
hope this helps

mav

Hi, multimeter across the battery when the bike's running, it should give around 14.7 volts any more and the reg/rec is fcuked. Also replace the wires from the alternator with heavy gauge wire and solder the joints, doing away with the plug in connector. There's a good post about it on here by Shazam, the mans a GOD,
http://www.ducatisportingclub.com/showthread.php?t=1877 I also used the Electrex reg/rec... it's bomb proof.....highly reccomended.
Steve
Odyssey batteries are warrentied for 3 years on a bike, although they should last upto 10 years!

oh poo, my battery is a bit old and i often leave the bike alarmed and unridden for a couple of weeks at a stretch so i have to jump my 748 all the time, sometimes from a car, sometimes from one of those powerpack thingies from halfords. everything seems ok so far though







touch wood :)

Jumped started my 998 many times usually when its been left standing for a while. Still on its orginal battery.

Like Others I don't always trust optimates/oxymisers, you can get 'em to give spurious reading on the lights just by switching em on before connecting to the bike in my experience.

Some types of battery don't like being left to got flat or respond well to trickle charging, from what others have said It might be the optimate that has done the damage.

If the bike won't stay running after being jumped I'd say the battery is finished.

Ray.

Two days later and the optimate lights are indicating that the battery is currently holding a weak charge.

Does anyone have any idea what would have caused the battery terminal connections to get really hot when turning-over to start?

maybe the 100 Amphrnjump battery of your car lol

No, the battery connections were getting red hot when I started it normally - this was before the battery ran out of power and I tried jump starting it!

I've been in touch with the people I bought the battery from and it has got to go back to them for a possible warranty claim.
In the meantime is there anyone in the Taunton area with a 996 who would let me borrow their battery briefly to see if my bike will start on it?

A bad connection causes resistance, and resistance causes heat.
Yes, that simple.
A bad connection to the battery will also cause a charger to cook a battery, as it never gets to see the real voltage reading.

Usually the earth connection actually, and I've moaned about this prob before.
If you have some right-angle metal connectors on either end of the battery, they are usually the problem - the fixings that stick out 'fore and aft' are just splined into the body of the bracket, and if you try to tighten them up, the connection actually gets worse. The simplest fix is to solder them up on the backs.

btw
I never leave anything permanently connected to a charger myself, even a good one can cook a battery.
You'rre not believeing everything the advertising says are you ;)

Sound advice and works for me.

Just went out to the garage to take the battery off. The Optimate was showing that the battery was holding a weak charge so I thought it wouldn't hurt to give it one last try.

Bu**er me if the thing didn't start first time!

Theres nowt so mysterious as Ducati electrics!

Well now you've got it going, check those meter readings to make sure the rectifer output is OK.

I suspect you'd still be better off with a new battery anyway, though.

Hi ditto what moto748 says, as i said before my mates 916 (996) sps ran after jumping the fcucker!... but 108 miles later we were at the side of the M5 waiting for the breakdown waggon!!!!! he ended up needing a new battery and a new reg/rec!
Steve
P.S odessey say don't trickle charge, but disconnect the earth lead, then it should hold it's charge in cold weather......if it was well charged before hand.