Battery Drainage? By cattin5 (Read 1,161 times)

[cattin5]

I have done the voltage test on my battery to my Sunl 250CC scooter and it is showing that the battery is charging, however when I turn the lights on the voltage starts to drop and starts to drain my battery. It does not seem to have a problem when it's running, no dimming lights or anything that would show it's draining, just when I kill it and try to restart it does the battery seem to have drained. I did install some brighter lights in sometime back, could this be the cause?

[Alleyoop]

From how you describe the problem you can turn your headlights off and on with a switch on the right hand grip(IS THAT CORRECT)? If so the Headlights are fed straight from the battery and of course they will start to drain your battery if the motor is not running to charge up the battery.

If on the other hand you cannot you cannot turn your headlights off with a switch and come on automaticely after the motor starts then your Regulator/Rectifier cannot keep up with the Headlights Draw with the new bulbs you put in.
Alleyoop

[FACE PLANT FOR LIFE]

Apr 26, 2014 16:02:55 GMT -6 Alleyoop said:

From how you describe the problem you can turn your headlights off and on with a switch on the right hand grip(IS THAT CORRECT)? If so the Headlights are fed straight from the battery and of course they will start to drain your battery if the motor is not running to charge up the battery.

If on the other hand you cannot you cannot turn your headlights off with a switch and come on automaticely after the motor starts then your Regulator/Rectifier cannot keep up with the Headlights Draw with the new bulbs you put in.
Alleyoop

Hate to hijack here Alley, but I'm not sure this statement is entirely correct. I can turn my headlights/running lights off with the switch on the right side but my headlights and running lights will get brighter/dimmer with my RPM's, which is from the regulator. So mine combines your statements?

[cattin5]

Thanks for your reply, but the motor is running when the lights are on, and I can go cruising on it for hours with no problem, it's just when I kill it and try to restart it it seems to have drained my battery and sometimes it starts sometimes it does not, but you're probably right about the lights.

[cattin5]

and yes my light switch is on the right side but the the lights turn on and off just fine.

[Bashan]

Bad battery? Take it down to Auto Weinie and get it load tested, it might be bad despite all of your tests. Rich

[Alleyoop]

All of you just missed the point(HAHA). It all goes back to the Regulator/Rectifier no matter if you can turn your headlights on without the motor running or running. LIKE MY TRIKE with the KEY ON I can turn on everything, because everything is FED OFF THE BATTERY, the only thing I cannot turn off with the key on is the Fuel Gauge and Volt Meter. So of course if its like that and the motor is not running charging the battery the battery will eventually die. BUT once the motor starts up it starts charging the battery now if the R/R is not putting out enough to keep up with the draw your battery will discharge.

So what you need to do is find out if its the R/R or your battery is not holding a charbe. Start it up and and with a volt meter put the probes on the battery and see what it reads, then rev it up and see if the charging rates go up to at LEAST 13+ volts charging. If it is charging 13+ with some rpms then it is either a bad battery or there is something on the scoot that is draining the battery when OFF.
Alleyoop

[Bashan]

Battery Parasite

[wayneb]

I had the same problem, replaced the regulator/rectifier but did not fix the problem. Then replaced the stator and that took care of the problem.

[Alleyoop]

When your charging system is not charging right ALWAYS check your stator FIRST to make sure the stator is putting out to the R/R. If it is then you know its your R/R and will save you some bucks replacing the R/R when it is good. Now if the Stator is not putting out then you really do not know if the R/R is also bad. In this case after replacing the Stator you have to again test the Stator to make sure it is putting out to the R/R if good and still not charging then the R/R also needs to be replaced.

If it is overcharging it is the R/R that is not regulating the voltage so in this case you know right off the bat it is your R/R.
Alleyoop

[cattin5]

I replaced the regulator and did not fix the problem. I cant seem to find where the stator is located (seems to be easy to find on other bikes) or if it even has one? The model is a Sunl 250t-29

[Alleyoop]

The Stators on the 250+ motors are a pain to get at here is where the stators are on the 250s+ motors:
Alleyoop

[cattin5]

I replaced the regulator and did not fix the problem. I cant seem to find where the stator is located (seems to be easy to find on other bikes) or if it even has one? The model is a Sunl 250t-29

Read more: scooterdoc.proboards.com/thread/9880/battery-drainage?page=1&scrollTo=83575#ixzz30mb1JnTl

[Alleyoop]

May 4, 2014 14:56:27 GMT -6 Alleyoop said:

The Stators on the 250+ motors are a pain to get at here is where the stators are on the 250s+ motors:
Alleyoop

[beebo]

At idle your alternator is not putting out very many amps. As your rpm's go up, your alternator puts out more juice. So, you are right--those bright bulbs might be drawing more amps than your alternator can keep up with AT IDLE. How big are those bulbs anyway? If you put 2X55W bulbs in there, you may never put out enough amps at any rpm. So I would not get too carried away here. I had to replace my stock 35W bulbs last summer. My dealer gave me 25W bulbs to replace them with. He said I probably wouldn't notice the difference in brightness..he was right. I couldn't see too well with the 35W bulbs and I can't see with these 25W bulbs, either

Anyway, as a suggestion, before I went through the pain and suffering and expense of putting a bigger stator in, I would either put those smaller bulbs back in, or if you really like them, change all my other bulbs to LED's to try to bring my total amp load down, and set my idle speed up as fast as I can go without the clutch trying to grab, and maybe put a bigger battery in to gain some reserve amps. On my bike, stock battery is a 9AH and I replaced it with a 12AH that fit in there (same dimensions). It gives me a little more CCA's, might take a little more time to charge, but I haven't had any more starting problems.