Hi folks,

Tried to stat up the bike yesterday night and all I got was a "tick, tick, tick" sound, but display stayed lit up. Removed battery, cleaned considerable corrosion off neg term, placed it on battery tender and re-installed today. Bike started, although a bit rough at beginning. Let it run for about 5 minutes, powered off, let it sit for a couple then started it back up with no issues. Displayed showed voltage at 14.5 when I powered off the bike.

Then I proceeded to install a PCV that I picked up off eBay. Installed ground on engine cover bolt per the DynoJet uTube vid [/utube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVwjZjpTEIM&feature=player_embedded[/utube]. Decided to test start up before re-assembly in case my ground was inadequate. Reconnected the front light power to the mid fairing just in case this would cause issue on start up. Start up failed w/ the clicking sound but this time the electronic display went dead. Few minutes later tried to start her up and got nothing at all. In fact turning key to On didn't even power up bike.

At this point I suspected dead battery. But to make sure, I de-installed the PCV and still I got no luck. I took the battery to Battery Plus to get tested. Voltage was at 12.4 and showed good when it was given a load. It wasn't as good as a new battery, but measurements cold and with load were as expected for a used battery.

I've got it back on the tender and its now fully charged. I'm going to re-install and see what I get. Any ideas? Do you think I need to replace the battery? If the PCV is improperly grounded would that cause the bike to not start at all? Do you think my Scorpion i900 alarm could be causing batter drain (it was installed w/ standard harness and not the Zx14 inline adapter)?

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

If the bike doesn’t start after installing the power commander it is almost always the ground. We have all been there. I think it is almost becoming a rite of passage. Check out rook’s tutorial for tips http://www.zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=CB3D3987-1372-66AE-3BE3B16BC01CC701

Darthrevan - I think you're right. I reinstalled the charged battery and moved the PCV ground to the metal piece holding the main wiring. Bike started right up but died a couple minutes later. Then i moved it to the bottom bolt of the coolant reserve (I noticed the paint was already removed). Bike started and stayed on!

I was worried I did something when I hooked into the main wiring assembly. Looks like all is good on there PCV front but I'm a little concerned about my battery. Was it the corrosion that was causing the power issues? I think I'm going to install a new one just in case.

Thanks!

I have corrosion between ground and battery. Notice how I cleaned the posts and regained start.

I had it tested, but 12.4v is normal when this old? Maybe my volt/reg was pumping out the volts, but that corrosion is a resistance and maybe my .4 = 12.8v should have been the tender number after so many hours.

So if my tender leads were on the battery, again, my tender is working a little bit too much to override the corrosion.
Now, I cleaned the terminals and it starts, shows the vo/reg is working/stator is putting out to cut the volts past 14.5v say; so say that corrosion was going on when riding (ask me how), could only muster 12.4v going in; the battery is about played because there is no push.

Volts = I show this in the static.
Amps = I am just sitting here in the storage of the battery and you want to see the starter turn over: count my 6 cells which you can't.
Resistance = I'm looking the same inside is looking outside at that ground to battery corrosion = I'm done!

A. Buy a new battery. Follow the charging directions on the paper it came with, meaning, before you install the battery or NOLTType. LOL
B. Buy plain old vinegar; find a plastic cup; fill the liquid up so as to submerge the battery end into the cup of vinny. Watch the acid bubble the metal and rubber cover to where it stops bubbling. Use another plastic/paper cup, dip the end in clean water; swish and dry.
C. Buy/borrow vaseline, or electric grease at a GM dealer or electronics store. Coat both (+/-) cables, new nuts, bolts, and the battery posts liberally with the stuff so the corrosion does not happen again.

If you followed the directions, know the basics, took a guess, lots of pc's have started bikes, no, I do not think it's the piggy. Why? Because you removed it and it still points to a battery issue is my guess there is no start is the battery went key-put?

http://www.zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=CB3D3987-1372-66AE-3BE3B16BC01CC701

Then i moved it to the bottom bolt of the coolant reserve (I noticed the paint was already removed). Bike started and stayed on!

So the video does not mention to remove any paint? I ASSumed, 'if you know the basics' like find raw metal, not paint. Now you know.

How old is the battery?
Did you charge it when not ridden past 2 weeks or more?
Is the battery original?
That corrosion is what caused the no start initially. Mine did the same thing, which was not grease the posts.

Lol. Hub, appreciate the ideas. Bike is used. Purchased it a few wells ago, don't know the history of the battery but I will be ordering new one tonight. Definitely well be treating the terms when I replace.

Considering the Shorai battery. The site suggests a $229 one! Shoari Website

Is there a lesser version that will work for ZX14?

* Last updated by: bhuddakind on 2/24/2014 @ 7:26 AM *

Yuasa is up there with the best of them. Why buy a battery that is twice the price. It's all about the pre-prep.

When it say a YBS-12v-14a, the breakdown is sort of like this:

BS means, battery acid supplied.
12v means it fits a 12v system.
14a means the cranking amps are watt you are looking at

Fill the acid - Let it sit for an hour to soak the plates.

Charge the battery - Initially.

Drain the battery - 3 times, meaning, run a high beam and brake light off the battery posts and let it drain to 1v.

Charge battery with a 1.5ah rating, not a 1.2ah rating. So if you tender is 1.2, park it. Buy a 1.5ah rated charger.

Why? Because your battery is 14a or 1.4ah is the rating. So if you had a 12v12a battery, move the decimal point over to the right, note how the battery charger is matched to 1.2ah rating and a charger of 1.2ah is the charging rate.
Install a 1.2ah charger to a 14a battery, you can only charge the battery up to 1.2ah is now the loss of .2 = 1.4ah.

Basically, this is what the fine print is explaining.

Hub, extremely useful information. Thank you very much! I will let you know how it goes.

No problem, Groundie...

Never heard of purposefully draining a lead-acid battery. I have read that completely draining Nicad batteries (like the kind in rechargeable tools) helps them recharge completely because they get a "memory" from incomplete discharge. Conventional wisdom holds that a standard (non-deep-discharge) battery only comes back to 90% of it's former strength upon re-charge and each time it's drained, it loses another 10% of it's strength.

I had a discussion with Yuasa tech a few years back. They test the competitions batteries by the same process. The deal is to stimulate the chemicals so they keep moving. The acid does not evap, the water does. That's the chemical reaction of the acid passing thru the plates to get to the other side, meaning, plus to minus. And the enemy of a battery is the sitting there of. The lost heating of the liquid. The corrosion just around the corner is that magnetism of the posts is another cause of electricity passing thru. And the direction is from posi to ground, thus the corrosion on the neg side.

I've often wondered why a Nicad tool battery needs to be discharged completely before recharging to obtain full charge but not a lead-acid. Then I read this:

Sealed lead-acid batteries generally will not tolerate repeated deep discharges. A 12 Volt battery should not be discharged below about 10.5 to 10.7 Volts (1.75 Volts per cell X 6 cells). If a battery is completely discharged, all of the reactive materials are converted and it may very difficult to reverse the chemical reaction. Some batteries are designed with a plate size imbalance and/or catalyst to help control gas generation and aid in deep cycle recharging.

The Memory Effect
One of the most discussed topics about NiCad’s is whether or not they have a ‘memory’. The idea of a charge memory came when they started using NiCad batteries in satellites where they were typically charging for twelve hours out of twenty-four for several years.1 After several years it was noticed that the battery capacity has seemed to have declined severely, and while still operable, they would only discharge to the point that the charger would typically kick in, and then would drop off as if they were completely discharged. For the typical consumer this does not have a large effect, however, we do recommend fully discharging the NiCad you are using before recharging. Occasionally completely draining (but NEVER short circuiting) a NiCad can prevent the on setting of this mysterious battery ‘memory’. An effect with similar symptoms to the memory effect is what is called the voltage depression or lazy battery effect. This is caused by frequent overcharging of the NiCad. You can tell this is happening when the battery appears to be fully charged but discharges quickly after only a brief period use. This is not the memory­ effect, which is limited to NiCad batteries alone, but is something that can happen to any battery, and is almost always from overcharging. Occasionally this can be fixed by running the battery through a few very deep discharge cycles, but doing so can reduce the overall life of the battery. NiCad batteries are the only battery chemistry that benefit from completely discharging before recharging.

* Last updated by: Danno on 2/26/2014 @ 11:54 PM *