Datatool Veto problem

Owen

Just went to fire up my Ducati 916 yesterday for the first time in about 3 months, and the battery was dead. Hooked it up to the Optimate overnight, and now my Datatool is acting up. If I leave the Datatool inline fuse in, and turn on my ignition, the alarm will sound, and won't respond to the fob. If I put the fuse back in, the alarm sounds with the ignition off, and will turn off when the ignition turns back on.

I'm going to go ahead and blame the battery, my Optimate seems to have a problem charging it, and I'm hoping a lack of voltage is causing these screwups, but ... has anyone had a problem like this before I go and replace the battery temporarily with a car one to see if that's the prob?

The Doktor

Seems to me, if you have a datatool, you really gotta watch your battery. I read on some uk bike forum a few weeks ago somthing similar. Does you optimate give you the smiley face after charging?? Would be worthwhile measuring the voltage of the battery.

Hotblack Desiato

This document could help, if the battery is disconnected or allowed to get totally flat it can cause hassles with the alarm.

Tip - when changing the battery on my Sprint ST I kept the Datatool happy by leaving a battery charger connected to the external power socket, it fed in enough juice to keep the alarm happy. Similar to the idea of connecting a battery powered thingy to a car's ciggy lighter when removing the battery. If you don't have a power socket on the bike you could rig up the charger to the battery leads with crocodile clips.

Owen

Thanks Eoin. I'm going to try and disconnect the battery itself tonight and charge it independently of the bike's loom to see if the Optimate can resurrect it. If that works, and the alarm is still causing grief, I'll take step 2 and drain the Veto as per your instructions.

The joys of Italian ownership, and I'm considering buying a Falco too .... :rolleyes:

Owen

It's definitely a battery problem. I've had it on the Optimate outside of the bike for a day now, I checked it a few minutes ago, and the battery acid in one cell was bubbling. The Optimate never returned a result, it kept saying "Charging Testing".

Has anyone else ever used an optimate that cause battery acid to bubble?

The Doktor

Ive had batteries on an optimate before, where it took a few days to sort out. Id leave it a bit longer and see what happens.

Owen

Google tells me that bubbling is indicative of overcharging, but it's also healthy for the battery. I wish we'd covered this in Engineering in College :rolleyes:

Hotblack Desiato

You could have a short-circuit in one cell. After being left go dead for 3 months it's probably sulphated anyway.

The Doktor

ninja900 wrote:

You could have a short-circuit in one cell. After being left go dead for 3 months it's probably sulphated anyway.

Optimate can desulphate a battery if u leave it on for a few days.

Owen

As discussed in another thread, I left my optimate have a go at desulphating the battery, and one cell started to bubble, so I bought a new battery this weekend and installed it. The Veto still had a hangover, and decided to shout at me, and not respond to the remote fob.

I took Ninja900's advice and opened up the veto to follow the de-spiking instructions, and when I did, a 9v battery (Just like the ones in the Smoke Alarms) fell out - a rechargeable one. The terminals at the top of the battery had corroded, and severed the backup battery connection. Now we know why it didn't like the fob! As luck would have it, I actually have 4 9v rechargeable batteries from the gear I use in the band, so the whole lot is now sitting disassembled on my bench, and all the corrosion has been removed from the battery terminals.

I'll be able to reconnect it all around 6.30, and recode the fob, and then hopefully I'll get some V-Twin action going.

Thanks Eoin!

Owen

Sorted! A quick de-spike and the Veto fired up first time, the clutch is still playing hide the Neutral, but a quick bleed will sort that out.