Dakar eating too many batteries ! - Datatool System 3 responsible ?

[Sgt Pepper]

Hi,

I've got an 2003 F650 Dakar which has had a fair amount of use and mullers batteries like there the main energy source for the engine.

At the begining of a 3 year RTW I fitted a Hawker Oddesy battery which had a tough life with being drained and re-charged (by alternator) with heated clothing and 2 x spots in very unfavourable conditions on a daily basis. In short, it just about made it to the end of year 1 before it died. I then fitted a BMW 1200GS Gel battery which was fine for a further year or so, and then that died, which was then followed by a succession of about 4 or 5 batteries since Autumn 2007. The latest of which was one of these Platinum ones which only lasted about 5 months this year with the bike primarily standing ! I tried to use my Oxford intelligent bike battery charger but that proclaimed it dead and beyond saving.

My travelling mate, John, also used a Dakar and mullered his Hawker as well after about 18 months, and had to replace that in India, and again last year.

Has anybody else had this much problem with batteries please ? and if so, did you find the source of the problem ? I noted that somebody else commented on their Datatool System 3 shorting and killing their battery but that is unlikely to be the case on two bikes ...isn't it ?...see my confidence.

Anyway, if anybody has any similar experiences I'd be grateful for your input.

Many Thanks.

Sgt.

 

[komatias]

The datatool alarm is notorious for draining batteries. If you leave the bike standing for more than a week it forgets to shut off and by the time it does, your battery is dead.
If you are going to leave the bike sat for a long period, put the alarm in service mode and then remove the alarms fuse. That way you cut off the alarm from the battery. It will give you the annoying beep every 15seconds until the units internal battery discharges. My bike was sat for over a year and it still fired up first go when I put the fuse back in.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

Thanks for your reply Komatias

Do you know if leaving the alarm in normal mode actually kills the battery or just drains it ?

Many thanks,

Sgt.

 

[Miz]

Thanks for your reply Komatias

Do you know if leaving the alarm in normal mode actually kills the battery or just drains it ?

Many thanks,

Sgt.

Deep discharging the battery will kill it.


Do you keep the bike in a garage overnight? If you do start to use an Optimate style battery charger each night and when ever the bike is left for a day or so.

 

[Flipfly]

Best thing that ever happened to my Dakar was the death of that feckin alarm.

Battery life is mega now and no more messing around when I want to stop for petrol

 

[komatias]

As far as I know, the low voltage cut off on the alarms is at best sketchy. It should stop draining power when the voltage drops to less than 12 volts. However this doest always happen. Even data tool recommend you put a charger on the bike when you are lay it up for a more than 3 days.

 

[Sgt Pepper]

Thanks for all your replies.

You've helped me to conclude that the alarm is likely to be behind all this and so as a result I've decided to disconnect it for Winter and have bought an Oxford Hardcore Chain and lock with a ground anchor point for a very good price of around £57 inclusive of all off E-Bay. (At the rate my bikes been Mullering batteries, that equates to about one season of riding ! , plus the bike stays protected if left untouched for a while and the chain doesn't need charging !! ....although come to think of it...... ..... )

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/OXFORD-HARDCO...cycle_Parts?hash=item35a42254d4#ht_1407wt_939

(I bought the 1.5 m version.)

Again, many thanks for your input.

Regards,

Mike

 

[Greg Masters]

As has been suggested, the longer and deeper discharged a battery is left, the shorter its life will be.

This starts with turning your engine off with the ignition - not the kill switch - so that the main drains on the battery stop as soon as the alternator stops turning.

An Optimate really does work. The OE battery on my 1150GS lasted 9 years and 10 months before it gave out - but it was hooked up to an Optimate all the time that the bike was not in use.

Bin the alarm. They cause far more problems than they are worth. If you have it fitted for insurance purposes, fit a Datatag instead.

Greg

 

[jimmystewpot]

we had problems

Hello,

In our trip this year we have had some serious problems with batteries. We found that the voltage regulator was not working properly and replaced it (the battery was basically going dry constantly).. After replacing that and putting a new battery in place the new battery kept on going awol.. after some time we realised that the datatool alarm was the cause of the problem. There was a short in the system which resulted in the battery draining constantly..

in the end we had to find out where the short was in the system. In our case it was where the wires went into the datatool unit. we replaced the wires and re-insulated them all individually and away we went again. So far its been very good.

When we finish the trip in the next month or so im going to remove the datatool p.o.s