2014 STS Spyder battery drain?

[9363]

UtahPete, Caven, BLUEKIGHT911.Explorer, since you all answered me about my lowboy windshield, I thought maybe you could help out with my new problem. After replacing the battery on my Spyder STS with a ThrottleX battery from Amazon, after one 50 mile ride, 10 starts in the garage over 10 days it went dead. Charging it for 4 hrs. it started fine so I took it for an inspection. After parking it in my garage I could hear a low monotone sound that was constant after I shut it off. Disconnecting the battery, it stopped right away. So, I think this was why the new battery went dead. Later on, I went out and put the battery cable back on and did not hear the tone. Have any of you guys ever heard of this odd problem with a Spyder? One last bit of info and I don't know if it matters, is that I have left my 2014 key with the chip in the ignition all the time since I got the Can Am. Any info you can shed light on or point me in some direction would be great. Thanks Joe in New York.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Frequently starting your engine and then running it for less than 30 mins at highway speeds/revs is a pretty sure way to kill any battery eventually, but especially so for the battery on a power hungry Spyder, and EVEN MORE especially so on a V-Twin Spyder with a magneto charge system (like yours) that keeps a little stepper motor running for 30 odd mins after shut-down to hold the throttle bodies closed & avoid all sorts of nasty things!! :yikes: So that tone you hear for about 30 mins after shutting down the engine is normal & actually desirable - it's keeping you/your bike safe! :thumbup:

Still, it sounds likey you've already hammered your new battery into submission! :banghead: But there's more - most new batteries DO NOT COME PROPERLY CHARGED!! They get enough charge to show better than 12 volts, sure; but with any new battery, unless the seller you trust has told you that they charged it on a proper charger for at least 12 hours BEFORE giving it to you, that battery will need a PROPER charge of at least 12 hours BEFORE it reaches full charge capacity and can then withstand just a few of those 'start & run for nowhere near long enough' cycles!!

So hopefully, if you haven't killed your new battery, then maybe it can be saved by charging it on a proper charger for at least 12 hours (& not just on a low/trickle charge rate tender either - that'd need even more charging time! ) before trying to start your Spyder again. And once you have a properly charged battery, you really should try to avoid starting your Spyder for anything less than a 30 minute run at highway speeds/revs! Anything less than that will have sucked more power out of the battery than it'd put back during any shorter run time/lower revs! Even just turning on the ignition to release the elec park brake (if fitted) will run that stepper motor for 30 mins & help drain the battery PDQ; and these things really don't like that!! So unless you're going ryding, DO NOT START YOUR SPYDER - don't even turn the ignition on unless you absolutely must!! And if you go ryding, make it worth your while - 30 minutes as a minimum is a good start, preferably at highway speeds &/or revs or you risk having drained more out of the battery than you've put back! :lecturef_smilie:

Here's to Good Luck with charging your battery properly and then running it often enough/for long enough to keep it charged properly! :cheers:

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Frequently starting your engine and then running it for less than 30 mins at highway speeds/revs is a pretty sure way to kill any battery eventually, but especially so for the battery on a power hungry Spyder, and EVEN MORE especially so on a V-Twin Spyder with a magneto charge system (like yours) that keeps a little stepper motor running for 30 odd mins after shut-down to hold the throttle bodies closed & avoid all sorts of nasty things!! :yikes: So that tone you hear for about 30 mins after shutting down the engine is normal & actually desirable - it's keeping you/your bike safe! :thumbup:

Still, it sounds likey you've already hammered your new battery into submission! :banghead: But there's more - most new batteries DO NOT COME PROPERLY CHARGED!! They get enough charge to show better than 12 volts, sure; but with any new battery, unless the seller you trust has told you that they charged it on a proper charger for at least 12 hours BEFORE giving it to you, that battery will need a PROPER charge of at least 12 hours BEFORE it reaches full charge capacity and can then withstand just a few of those 'start & run for nowhere near long enough' cycles!!

So hopefully, if you haven't killed your new battery, then maybe it can be saved by charging it on a proper charger for at least 12 hours (& not just on a low/trickle charge rate tender either - that'd need even more charging time! ) before trying to start your Spyder again. And once you have a properly charged battery, you really should try to avoid starting your Spyder for anything less than a 30 minute run at highway speeds/revs! Anything less than that will have sucked more power out of the battery than it'd put back during any shorter run time/lower revs! Even just turning on the ignition to release the elec park brake (if fitted) will run that stepper motor for 30 mins & help drain the battery PDQ; and these things really don't like that!! So unless you're going ryding, DO NOT START YOUR SPYDER - don't even turn the ignition on unless you absolutely must!! And if you go ryding, make it worth your while - 30 minutes as a minimum is a good start, preferably at highway speeds &/or revs or you risk having drained more out of the battery than you've put back! :lecturef_smilie:

Here's to Good Luck with charging your battery properly and then running it often enough/for long enough to keep it charged properly! :cheers:

:agree: ... My choice in Battery for a Spyder is YUASA brand ... they seem to be the most reliable brand. .... What Peter didn't mention was that your STS charging is not like the oneBRP uses today on the 1330 series engines ./.. yours is MAGNETO system which has it's limits.... I believe that system in spyders doesn't start to re-place the charge in the battery until it reaches 4000 RPM's. ... A lot of folks use a Battery " MAINTAINER " to keep the battery fully charged .... hope this helps ....Mike :thumbup:

 

[RICZ]

Never, never awaken hibernating bears or engines, as bad juju happens. I'm sorry you had to earn that the hard, expensive way. Stablizer in the fuel and Battey Tender hooke up. Kiss it goodnight and leave.

 

[9363]

News to me.

Thanks for the reply, Pete. All you said is totally new to me. The last bike I had was a 93 Suzuki GXSR 1100. I put one battery in it in 2017 and it started every time until it was sold, no battery tender. The bike was ridden every week I had it even thru the winter weather permitting. The battery was bought off of Amazon. I received it and opened the box to find the battery on its side. Reading the directions, it was stated to check the voltage with a meter and if it was below 12.8 volts to charge it. I put the voltmeter on it while it was still on its side and saw the voltage was 12.48. When I took it out to the garage and stood it upright before putting on the 2-amp charger it read 12.8, so I only charged it for an hour. I paid 118.00 for the battery and lost 30.00 on the return. A new battery from a different company is due to arrive this week so I will do a proper charge like you outlined. Like I said this is news to me and thanks for the information it will all be applied here in New York.

 

[9363]

I though magnetos went out with my 67 Triumph.

:agree: ... My choice in Battery for a Spyder is YUASA brand ... they seem to be the most reliable brand. .... What Peter didn't mention was that your STS charging is not like the oneBRP uses today on the 1330 series engines ./.. yours is MAGNETO system which has it's limits.... I believe that system in spyders doesn't start to re-place the charge in the battery until it reaches 4000 RPM's. ... A lot of folks use a Battery " MAINTAINER " to keep the battery fully charged .... hope this helps ....Mike :thumbup:

I read what Pete sent out and thought Magnetos were long gone. I ordered a different battery and will take your advice to install a battery tender. He also mentioned it has to be ridden a while with the revs at 4000 RPMs to get recharged properly. I have not ridden this Can AM a lot, but I have noticed at speed, the revs are pretty high with the way it's geared. Thanks Joe in N.Y.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I read what Pete sent out and thought Magnetos were long gone. I ordered a different battery and will take your advice to install a battery tender. He also mentioned it has to be ridden a while with the revs at 4000 RPMs to get recharged properly. I have not ridden this Can AM a lot, but I have noticed at speed the revs are anyway with the way it's geared. Thanks Joe in N.Y.

You are correct, they did. ..... But BRP somehow found out where they all went and bought them to use on the Spyders. ..... The Spyder was created on a SHOE - STRING budget. ... That's why all Spyders / Rykers come with Kenda ( Crapenda ) tires :roflblack::roflblack::roflblack:.... Mike :thumbup: