electrical gremlins

[FLEA]

I'm having my battery go flat,thought it could have been the battery, as it had a bit of age to it so replaced it with a new one but still happening,it takes a couple of weeks to go flat so the leakage is low but been all over the wiring and cant find anything amiss. it was a mikes xs new harness by p.o. on stock 1978 xs650 with pamco ign with different indicators otherwise original any suggestions on where to look would be great as I don't have enough hair to start pulling any more out

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Hey, FLEA. That works out to about a 0.030a (30 milli-amp) current drain, easily detectable on your test meter. Assuming a normal/proper wiring arrangement, and ignition switch off, the only thing tied to the battery capable of a drain to ground is the rectifier, or a rectifier/regulator combo.

You could test/measure for any small current flow in the 'red' connection to that device, or
simply disconnect it when parked, see if the battery still drains.

The bad news is that when a high-CCA battery has fully discharged, it's usually damaged, and won't fully recover, its internal leakage increases...

 

[FLEA]

thanks 2many,so could be a bad rectifier..rec/reg will test but luckily batterys not fully drained just enough to slow the starter motor right down so it still worked but 2 slow to kick the motor over so quick kick start and straight home to the charger

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

I see, THAT kind of flat. The drain current would be much less then, maybe a few or couple of milliamps. Still detectable, be like looking for a 10k resistance to ground.

That's about the amount of current draw that older computerized devices used to keep clocks and memories alive, through a separate line direct to the battery. If you don't have one of those, then check for leakage in the rectifier or rec/reg.