First time using a multimeter

[adamchandler]

2018 GSA, 3 years using a lithium ion battery. I changed nothing except replaced my rear shock with a new one and 2 days later the battery is dead. Step one, I just ordered a new battery. That usually solves most of these issues. 2 days later (after a week of daily riding), the GS is dead again.

So I’ve purchased a multimeter.

I’m getting 1.5 amps of draw on the battery with the leads touching the negative terminal and negative cable. Am I doing this right? I removed all of the accessories from the positive and negative terminals of the bike so now it’s just the negative lead of the bike and the multimeter and I’m still seeing the same 1.5 amps.

So if 1.5 amps is a battery killer according to the internet and all of the accessories are disconnected, what’s my next step for troubleshooting?

 

[Omega Man]

1.5 amps is a tragic amount of draw. I’m actually thinking that there is a “ranging” problem. That said, I find using a multi-meter (and I have a number of them) it’s easy to get “rusty” in use procedures.
What you described is a good start on checking an “amperage” draw. I frequently like to sorta test my memory with a few “knowns” and then move into the project- as a refresher.
I guess the next thing to check is the charging system. Without more info, it seems like the charging system output is low or not keeping up with the power draw. If the system checks good with no accessories, check the draw as each accessory is added.
Something in an accessory (no mention of the accessories) may have shorted causing the charging system to not be able to keep up
HTH
OM

 

[adamchandler]

Just to clarify. 1.5 amps is so unrealistic with zero accessories connected that it could be operator error in how I’m testing? That’s what I’m trying to eliminate. I’ve already replaced the battery. It’s fully charged (bike running for a while) when I disconnected everything from the battery except for BMW’s positive & negative leads then I touch those 2 wand things to the negative cable + negative terminal and it reads 1.5 amps. If I reverse them it reads, -1.5 amps. The battery itself starts around 13.9V and slowly drops to around 12.9 overnight then by day 2 the bike is completely dead.

So if we’re talking a fully OEM setup with no accessories connected to the battery and I’m still getting 1.5…..it’s likely operator error, right?

I’ll watch more YouTube videos and try to learn what I’m doing.

 

[Omega Man]

Possibly.
Try hooking the battery back up and then using the meter in the voltage position, watch for a charge voltage around 14.1 +- after starting the bike.
Knowing that the charging system is actually keeping the battery up to snuff is an important part of diagnosis.
OM

 

[adamchandler]

Possibly.
Try hooking the battery back up and then using the meter in the voltage position, watch for a charge voltage around 14.1 +- after starting the bike.
Knowing that the charging system is actually keeping the battery up to snuff is an important part of diagnosis.
OM

I’ll do that but I can report the Bike’s TFT screen will show the bike is charging the battery up to 13.9 almost immediately and end up sitting at 14-14.2 when I’m riding. I did 1000 miles last weekend and it was great all weekend lots of starts and stops and stalls off road. But I got off the bike Sunday and by Tuesday it was dead.

 

[Omega Man]

I’ll do that but I can report the Bike’s TFT screen will show the bike is charging the battery up to 13.9 almost immediately and end up sitting at 14-14.2 when I’m riding. I did 1000 miles last weekend and it was great all weekend lots of starts and stops and stalls off road. But I got off the bike Sunday and by Tuesday it was dead.

That sounds like you have an indication of voltage.
I guess it’s on to checking for too much draw from an accessory? Accessories can be checked inline as you mentioned in the first post. You may have to have an idea what the amperage draw was supposed to be or look for something shorted to the frame (ground) while the test leads are hooked up.
OM

 

[collingsbob]

If you touch the leads together with the multi-meter set to read continuity - not voltage or amperage..does the meter read “0”?

 

[bobs_one]

Just to clarify. 1.5 amps is so unrealistic with zero accessories connected that it could be operator error in how I’m testing? That’s what I’m trying to eliminate. I’ve already replaced the battery. It’s fully charged (bike running for a while) when I disconnected everything from the battery except for BMW’s positive & negative leads then I touch those 2 wand things to the negative cable + negative terminal and it reads 1.5 amps. If I reverse them it reads, -1.5 amps. The battery itself starts around 13.9V and slowly drops to around 12.9 overnight then by day 2 the bike is completely dead.

So if we’re talking a fully OEM setup with no accessories connected to the battery and I’m still getting 1.5…..it’s likely operator error, right?

I’ll watch more YouTube videos and try to learn what I’m doing.

Adam: It sounds like you are doing it exactly correct. (If I rememebr correcly, the draw on the battery when si bike is first shut off is higher than what it is 8 or 10 minutes later - I think it takes that long for some of the electronics to decide to go to sleep). If you still have 1.5 amps of draw after 10 minutes or so, you have a problem for sure. But, the problem isn't the battery or (apparently) any user installed accessories, so it's something in or connected to the bikes OEM harness. Since the last thing you messed with was the shock, I'd start there. Is it an ESA shock? If so, I'd start looking at that connector and wires for a pinch in the insulation and/or short someplace. If that's ok, I'd look for any other harness wiring you may have damaged replacing the shock. If you can't see anything obvious, next step is to start removing fuses until the draw drops and then to figure out what's on the fuse that does result in the drop.

Patience and detective skills are required, but in most cases it'll turn out to be something reasonably simple to fix, once you find it.

Good Luck!

 

[rich]

Adam, it wouldn't hurt to post a photo of the multimeter so we can see where your leads are plugged in and what range you have it on, although it could be auto ranging too. Sorry if this sounds elementary, but you did say it's your first time using a multimeter. I hope this isn't offensive, but I've seen experienced folks using multimeters incorrectly.

 

[52184]

There are only three fuses on an 18 GSA: 10a, 7.5a, and the 50a alternator-regulator, which needn’t be looked at in this case since the bike is registering a charge with both the onboard display and the multimeter. The only other fuses would be accessory add-ons, but those have been disconnected per an earlier post. And, there are no issues reported with the items covered by the two fuses.



1.5a (1500ma) is a fair bit of current, so a check of the range setting on the multimeter might be in order- if you exceed the meter’s range it could be damaged.

This is not the first issue of this type that I’ve heard of with the lithium-ion batteries.

Best,
DeVern

 

[pauls1150]

If it's accurate that you're really on the negative battery terminal with one lead, and (I'll presume here) on the "bike" end of the negative cable, then I'd examine that cable VERY closely, starting with a resistance measurement with both ends completely disconnected.... it "should be" very close to Zero ohms (like a short, you see continuity). Look for any signs of corrosion (like green or brown Stuff) or broken strands of wire.

If that cable is bad, the observed current draw may be related to an "open ground" or "ground loop"condition, and the first step is to replace that cable.

If the cable measures OK (great continuity, extremely low resistance, no snarf buildup), reattach it, and with either lead on the negative battery post, try putting the other lead at other ground points on the bike (front of frame, rear of frame, engine, etc.). A higher current reading may bring you physically closer to the real problem.
Ammeter polarity doesn't really matter here; it'll display "+" in one direction and "-" in the other, that's Normal.

If you touch the test leads together in ANY mode or function or scale, you Should read Zero; anything else means a flaky meter or test lead (and I've seen MANY bad test leads).

As DeVern says, it's really easy to damage a multimeter if it's either connected improperly or set to a poorly-chosen Scale when starting the measurement (especially when measuring current - while the meter probably has a fuse in series inside, by the time it blows, something else in the meter may not have survived). Also, if's it's "Auto-Ranging", it may settle on an inappropriate scale. Try to keep the scale manual, starting with a higher setting than what a particular measurement is expected to be, for example, if you want to measure 12 volts, start on a 20 volt or higher scale and then click down to the actual range as perceived.

The next step would be to pull the two smaller fuses, one at a time, and observe if the current either merely changes (grounding problem), or goes down to something more "reasonable" for a bike with its electronics in Standby mode (or Off), maybe less than 50 milliamps (?) ( = 0.050 Amp). If pulling a fuse makes that happen, then yes there is a something sucking the electrons in that path.

Report back!

 

[pglaves]

To clarify -to measure amps you must apply the VOM with the proper wires in the right sockets, and set on amps. And, you must insert the VOM in series with the vehicle system. I disconnect the negative battery cable and then touch the positive meter lead to the battery negative post and the negative meter lead to the negative (ground) battery cable. This has all of the current flow from the battery to the vehicle passing through the VOM.

 

[98lee]

Adam,

Regardless of whether you even have a multimeter or not,

Bike was working fine.
You changed the shock.
Battery will not now hold a charge.

Basic trouble shooting says two possibilities;

1 Either something was done during the shock change to cause a partial short. Probable.
Or
2 The battery just happened to develop an internal short right after you worked on the bike. Not probable, but possible. You can test this by removing the battery cables from the battery, fully charge it, then retest the voltage in a day or so. If battery maintains voltage problem is #1. If not, problem is #2.

 

[ramble]

Does the 2018 and up bike show an error when a ESI shock looses fluid and leaks?

 

[BBrowning]

To clarify -to measure amps you must apply the VOM with the proper wires in the right sockets, and set on amps. And, you must insert the VOM in series with the vehicle system. I disconnect the negative battery cable and then touch the positive meter lead to the battery negative post and the negative meter lead to the negative (ground) battery cable. This has all of the current flow from the battery to the vehicle passing through the VOM.

Yes, it hasn't been made clear that this is how Adam is measuring the Current draw. As stated above a picture is worth a thousand words. Some meters have an inductive clamp to measure current flow but It doesn't sound like he has this style.. Most meters also have a limit of 10 amps and will blow the fuse if this is exceeded. So there is some safety factor when wired in Series.
From what has been described is like Voltage Drop testing, a common practice in my world The probes of the meter placed across the connection. The circuit has to be live to get any reading for this method and you wouldn't use it for measuring a current draw.
In the automotive world a draw exceeding 50 milliamps would be considered excessive. Of course you have to wait for all the Modules to have gone to sleep to get an idea of parasitic draw, which can take up to a half and hour or more.

 

[adamchandler]

Hi everyone, so long week (I have a newborn) so I am still measuring 1.5 on the multimeter BUT after unplugging every single accessory from the positive and negative leads of the bike (except the main bike OEM harness), it’s been 6 days and the bike has not died so despite user-error on how to use a multimeter, it’s clear one of my accessories is to blame. I’m not sure what it is yet but I have the weekend to figure that out.

 

[88bmwjeff]

On a side note, congrats Adam on the newborn.

 

[powwow]

Hi everyone, so long week (I have a newborn) so I am still measuring 1.5 on the multimeter BUT after unplugging every single accessory from the positive and negative leads of the bike (except the main bike OEM harness), it’s been 6 days and the bike has not died so despite user-error on how to use a multimeter, it’s clear one of my accessories is to blame. I’m not sure what it is yet but I have the weekend to figure that out.

Connect your multimeter between the negative cable and lug on your battery. I assume many of your accessories have their own fuse? Start pulling fuses and you'll quickly see where the draw is coming from.

 

[oldcamper]

Adam,
Are you SURE it’s 1.5 amps and not 1.5 ma ( milliamperes)?
An ECU will draw a slight amount of current even with the key off, if for no other reason than to keep the clock display time. A small current draw is normal, but 1.5 amps is excessive.

Excessive parasitic draw on cars with the key off is often a sign of a leaky rectifier in the charging system. I don’t know where the rectifier is on your bike but you might be able to unplug it to test that possibility.

 

[Omega Man]

1.5 amps is a tragic amount of draw. I’m actually thinking that there is a “ranging” problem. That said, I find using a multi-meter (and I have a number of them) it’s easy to get “rusty” in use procedures.
What you described is a good start on checking an “amperage” draw. I frequently like to sorta test my memory with a few “knowns” and then move into the project- as a refresher.
I guess the next thing to check is the charging system. Without more info, it seems like the charging system output is low or not keeping up with the power draw. If the system checks good with no accessories, check the draw as each accessory is added.
Something in an accessory (no mention of the accessories) may have shorted causing the charging system to not be able to keep up
HTH
OM

In addition to the above, and I mentioned reacquainting myself to a multimeter in a range I don't normally use, this Wagner Halogen Headlamp (or something like it) can be a good was to check and test to be sure you are in the right range-

H4656, Wagner Sealed Rectangular Halogen Beam (Low) (18533)

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• Design Volts Secondary: 12.80
• Design Watts Secondary: 35.00
• Design Amps Secondary: 2.73

OM