Starter relay draw on a custom bike question

[misfitJason]

So I have this custom bike with custom wiring. It ran as it should always and never had this issue until I put the new s&s motor in it that has acrs. This required me to wire up a starter relay. When I powered the starter relay, I ran the fuses power wire to the battery positive.

I now have the problem of, if the bike sits for three days, the battery draws down and it doesn't want to start.

Would I be correct in assuming that the starter relay being wired the way I did, is drawing the battery down? Should I have wired it to the ignition switch to get power?

This is how it's wired now

[rigidthumper]

May be something else. There's a quick way to test, if you have a test light. With the key off, hook the clip to ground, and probe to the battery +, just to get an idea of lamp brightness with full voltage. Now probe to pins 85,86 & 87 of that relay. None should illuminate the lamp with the key off.  If any of the pins show dim illumination, that indicates a small current draw that shouldn't be there. May just be a bad diode in the relay, could be another component hooked to that line, maybe intentional, maybe not. ACRs should be hooked to switched power, too.
Probing pins 30 or 87A should provide the same illumination as battery direct. If either of these are dim, check for poor connections.

[smoserx1]

That looks fine to me.  I would put an in line fuse between the battery + and relay terminal 30.  The only difference I can see between what you have here and standard factory wiring is at least with older bikes like mine the relay terminal 30 gets its power from the accessory circuit from the ignition switch.  When I began getting  low voltage to my starter solenoid and occasional "clicks" instead of positive engagement I modified my wiring just like you show (plus the fuse).  That was about 10 years ago and I never had  another issue.  Try another relay just in case yours has something wrong, but it is not your wiring.

[Dan89flstc]

You have the relay wired correctly.

I suggest you perform a parasitic drain test.

Ignition switch off.

Disconnect the negative battery cable, set your meter to milliamps, touch one probe to the negative battery post, touch the other probe to the disconnected cable end.

This will tell you how much amperage draw you have.

[misfitJason]

That looks fine to me.  I would put an in line fuse between the battery + and relay terminal 30.  The only difference I can see between what you have here and standard factory wiring is at least with older bikes like mine the relay terminal 30 gets its power from the accessory circuit from the ignition switch.  When I began getting  low voltage to my starter solenoid and occasional "clicks" instead of positive engagement I modified my wiring just like you show (plus the fuse).  That was about 10 years ago and I never had  another issue.  Try another relay just in case yours has something wrong, but it is not your wiring.

So this bike is basically an evo softail. S&s evo motor with accompanying 84-99 style components.

[Coyote]

There's nothing wrong with your wiring. Do the current draw test and if it's more than a few mAs, start pulling fuses until you find it.

[misfitJason]

You have the relay wired correctly.

I suggest you perform a parasitic drain test.

Ignition switch off.

Disconnect the negative battery cable, set your meter to milliamps, touch one probe to the negative battery post, touch the other probe to the disconnected cable end.

This will tell you how much amperage draw you have.

When I do this I get 0.00

[Coyote]

Check your meter fuse. It's very easy to blow one doing this test (if you are truly on mA scale and not Amp scale)

[misfitJason]

May be something else. There's a quick way to test, if you have a test light. With the key off, hook the clip to ground, and probe to the battery +, just to get an idea of lamp brightness with full voltage. Now probe to pins 85,86 & 87 of that relay. None should illuminate the lamp with the key off.  If any of the pins show dim illumination, that indicates a small current draw that shouldn't be there. May just be a bad diode in the relay, could be another component hooked to that line, maybe intentional, maybe not. ACRs should be hooked to switched power, too.
Probing pins 30 or 87A should provide the same illumination as battery direct. If either of these are dim, check for poor connections.

No power going to the three that shouldn't have power.

Bright light for 87a and 30 when tested   No lights on the other terminals.

[kd]

How old is the battery and have you had it tested?

[misfitJason]

How old is the battery and have you had it tested?

Battery is from 04-21. I haven't had it load tested but I am going to. It seems to be idling at 12.54 volts. When I bring it to 2500-3000 rpm's it doesn't change though.

I just rode it after I trickle charged the battery.  And she is sitting at 12.75 volts

And the battery held a charge just fine off the bike overnight. When I tested it when the bike wouldn't start the battery was showing 12.0 volts.

[motorhogman]

That battery is not being charged at that rate. Should be 14.2 - 14.4 at 2500 rpm.

[Coyote]

How old is the battery and have you had it tested?

Battery is from 04-21. I haven't had it load tested but I am going to. It seems to be idling at 12.54 volts. When I bring it to 2500-3000 rpm's it doesn't change though.

I just rode it after I trickle charged the battery.  And she is sitting at 12.75 volts

And the battery held a charge just fine off the bike overnight. When I tested it when the bike wouldn't start the battery was showing 12.0 volts.

That's too low.

[kd]

Time for an alternator and regulator test.  Using the FSM steps, it is not only easy but will lead you to the problem if there is one.  (It sounds like there may)  Actually, I am surprised the Hoss didn't jump all over a battery and charging test before it got out into the weeds checking circuits. 

[misfitJason]

That is my next step. The voltage regulator is a cycle electric and new when I put the motor in the bike. The stator and rotor are years old. They may be Harley or cycle electric. Not sure. I will post the results of that test.

Thank you gentlemen for your guidance and expertise.

[Hossamania]

Time for an alternator and regulator test.  Using the FSM steps, it is not only easy but will lead you to the problem if there is one.  (It sounds like there may)  Actually, I am surprised the Hoss didn't jump all over a battery and charging test before it got out into the weeds checking circuits. 

 

[kd]

Yeah, Hoss knows to start with the basics.  Must be something in his background, like being an electrician.   

[Hossamania]

I didn't want to sound like a broken record...

[kd]

    It's something we all need to remember.  Do the basics first so you know where you're at.  That's one of the things I learned to appreciate when I worked with the old guys as an apprentice.  They knew how to keep my boots on the ground during the troubleshooting process.  Very important skill.

[misfitJason]

Motorhogman and Coyote are correct. Did some testing and that caused me to did. Man I love having a bdl primary that I can just pull off in five minutes.

What I found was one of the wires on the stator was loose in the housing. It was barely making contact.  Looks like that's dead. I'll pick up a new stator and rotor tomorrow at j&p when I go to the swapmeet.  Thank you again guys for the valiant effort and your time.

[Deye76]

Cycle Electric for the win.

[misfitJason]

[Coyote]

Yep. Time for a new one.