Parasitic Draw - healthy range?

[sp838]

Just did a parasitic draw test on my bike, was wondering what is a healthy not too worrisome amount of mA to be leaking? I am leaking ~ 22 mA (0.022 A) Pulling fuses and relays one by one didn't make any change happen to this reading. Haven't tried taking them all out together. Haven't disconnected my GPS speedo which has a constant draw from unswitched power, should be 2.5 mA according to Speedhut, but I haven't tested it...

 

Is this within an acceptable range?

 

Thanks as always!

[docc]

2.5 amps when powered up makes sense, but what about idle? If you pulled all the fuses with no change then it's something wired direct. Doesn't the Speedhut have an inline fuse?

[sp838]

Didn't test when powered up, I measured with everything off. I measured 0.022 Amps, not 2.5.

 

The way I measured was by, with the key on OFF, disconnecting the negative lead from the battery and measuring the Amps between the negative battery post and the negative lead. This is when I read the draw of 0.022 A. Then I unplugged stuff one by one to try to see what was causing the draw.

 

The gauge supposedly draws 0.0025 A at all tomes, even when the power is off (to keep the GOS happy), so that leaves ~ 0.0195 A of loss. But as I said above I wasn't able to determine what is drawing those ~0.0195 A.

 

So, wondering if that is actually more or less within spec, or if that is too much "leaking" from somewhere else and needs to be corrected.

[Kiwi_Roy]

I think 22 mA is high, the ECU draws a little, I assume to hold it's memory

If the Ducati Energia regulator is left on it draws about 15 mA, I think that;s why they have it on the headlight relay, so its powered down.

A direct connected Voltage regulator like an Electrosport will draw about 0.5 mA

 

 

Calculate the hours it will take to drain the battery

e.g. your battery is 10 AH but let's call it half charged at 5

5 / 0.022 = 227 hours, it will be flat in 9 days

 

Do you have a GPS adapter wired in, they seem to draw quite a bit even without the unit plugged in.

[sp838]

Thanks Roy. Actually I now realize that the one circuit I didn't test is the r/r which I updated to a new aftermarket model a couple years ago. Will report back...

[czakky]

sp, did you "upgrade" to Electrosport? Come to think of it I also have a much quicker parasitic draw with my new Electrosport r/r.

[sp838]

Yes, it's the direct to battery version. Haven't had a chance to check yet but right now looking like it could be the main suspect.

[czakky]

Mine is the direct replace kind.

[sp838]

The wiring to and around the old r/r was a mess from the previous owners, which is why I now vaguely remember going with the direct to battery version, since the wiring for it had already been messed up. Haven't tested it yet, hoping for some time tomorrow morning. If it does turn out to be the culprit, I'll get it to switch on and off using one of the bike's many relays.

[Zooter]

What's a R/R ?

[JayDee24ca]

regulator/rectumfire rectifier

JD

[Trevini]

I had a slight drain on mine after fitting an electrex reg/rec. Easily sorted with a 70amp ignition switched relay fitted on the positive lead to to unit. I can leave mine for months without any fear of a flat battery now.

[Stick]

I've measured 0.002 A of parasitic draw on a couple of Ducati bikes.  These were a 1998 ST2, and a 2003 ST4s.  Both F.I., but different ECUs.

 

I'd consider this "normal".

 

Stick

[sp838]

It's the r/r, taking up all of the 22 mA of draw. Tested the diodes and they are passing in both directions. The good news is none of the other circuits are leaking, including the GPS speedo.

 

So:

 

– do I keep it and put it on a relay to keep it from leaking when the bike is off?

 

– Or is it just gonna die anyway, and may as well replace it? This pisses me off, it's not even two years old and I barely put a few hundred miles on it.

 

– If I do replace it, should I give Electrosports another shot? I've heard good things about the products offered by Rick's Motorsports...

 

– If It do replace it, should I wire it up directly again, or should put in on a relay to be safe? I'd honestly rather not add yet another bunch of wires to get it switched on a relay. I'd be fine with just pulling the fuse when I park it without putting it on a battery tender.

 

Decisions decisions.

[Kiwi_Roy]

I think you need to replace it but think about sending it back to Electrosport, don't they have some sort of warrantee?

 

At the very least talk to them about it

 

http://www.electrosport.com/ask-a-parts-expert