Parasitic Drain, 2014 Rocket III Touring - Mystery: Multimeter shows zero draw with the key out

[Ygransom]

OP said battery is clean so it's not draining due to surface discharge, any chance when seat is on bike its allowing a path

 

[DEcosse]

One other thought .........
Have you actually measured the voltage when it appears to be discharged?
Here's one consideration - this thought was sparked (no pun intended!) by knowledge of a common problem and aided by your comment about the charging voltage being 13-something:
Generally, the charging system will give over 14V on a Rocket - now that is with a reasonably charged battery of course - if battery is discharged, then even when running, the voltage will be low (that is no different that how your battery charger displays the voltage - as it becomes more charged, the voltage of course goes up until it is saturated);
yours being 13 could be just a product of the voltage having to recover from a discharged state;
however it could also be a sign of another issue, quite common, especially on Touring I have noted;
the Ground lead - the smaller gauge one that comes off the MAIN negative goes to the Bike's main grounding scheme AND to the R/R negative goes via a single-terminal connector about 9" or so from the main terminal - that connector frequently burns and you have a high resistance connection there.
Now if that is the case, then a) you will not be charging adequately and b) you will have a voltage drop across it
In the 'b' case, your battery itself may not be as fully discharged as appears by its behaviour, but because is below its previous threshold for operation, may discharge enough for it to render it as if it were.

Highly speculative but simple enough to check - look for that connector and inspect it for signs of burning.
(@Kevin frazier can attest to that one too )

 

[wjb]

All these ampervolt possibilities are intriguing but personally,

I think it's aliens!

 

[Kevin frazier]

One other thought .........
Have you actually measured the voltage when it appears to be discharged?
Here's one consideration - this thought was sparked (no pun intended!) by knowledge of a common problem and aided by your comment about the charging voltage being 13-something:
Generally, the charging system will give over 14V on a Rocket - now that is with a reasonably charged battery of course - if battery is discharged, then even when running, the voltage will be low (that is no different that how your battery charger displays the voltage - as it becomes more charged, the voltage of course goes up until it is saturated);
yours being 13 could be just a product of the voltage having to recover from a discharged state;
however it could also be a sign of another issue, quite common, especially on Touring I have noted;
the Ground lead - the smaller gauge one that comes off the MAIN negative goes to the Bike's main grounding scheme AND to the R/R negative goes via a single-terminal connector about 9" or so from the main terminal - that connector frequently burns and you have a high resistance connection there.
Now if that is the case, then a) you will not be charging adequately and b) you will have a voltage drop across it
In the 'b' case, your battery itself may not be as fully discharged as appears by its behaviour, but because is below its previous threshold for operation, may discharge enough for it to render it as if it were.

Highly speculative but simple enough to check - look for that connector and inspect it for signs of burning.
(@Kevin frazier can attest to that one too )

Yup how you found that i will never figure out

 

[DEcosse]

Yup how you found that i will never figure out

I have spy camera in your shop

(yeah right, just like those phishing emails I've been getting that say they have turned on my pc camera remotely and recorded me doing 'stuff and to send couple of thou in bitcoin- thats pretty darn clever when my pc doesn't have a camera)

in all seriousness Kevin it's fairly common issue- my old Suzuki TL1000S had same arrangement & it fried also

 

[Boog]

All these ampervolt possibilities are intriguing but personally,

I think it's aliens!

I bet he doesn't have a "Gremlin Bell" either. That is the biggest cause of electrical issues I have found...

 

[Chullera]

OP said battery is clean so it's not draining due to surface discharge, any chance when seat is on bike its allowing a path

I thought about that, so I covered the terminal/connectors with electrical tape.... no difference

 

[Chullera]

Yup how you found that i will never figure out

Thanks, I will take a look at that. When I tested the charging system (Got a handy little tool for that) it was generating plenty of juice to charge the battery.... certainly enough to cover the use of all the lights / accessories and charge the battery. Battery shows up as 570CCA out of the original 630. However, it there is a burned out connection there, it could cause an intermittent drain... when moist/wet.

 

[Chullera]

I bet he doesn't have a "Gremlin Bell" either. That is the biggest cause of electrical issues I have found...

The 'Aliens' explanation may be all that remains after I have eliminated all the other options. I have been search for this mystery drain for 4 years already. Even the offical dealers have no idea.

 

[Chullera]

So, have you left the multimeter connected and walked away for a while? This will confirm or quash your theory about a phantom drain.
I had a pickup that would kill the battery after it stood for more than 7 days. It was a relay for the second battery system that would switch on after 5 minutes to kill the charge from the main battery. They had wired it so that it energized instead of de-enrgizing. The milliamps from this coil was enough to drain the main battery (150a/h) over 7 days or more, so that it could hardly crank the motor.

That is another excellent idea. Cheers. Will test that out. (15 minute beer break) Might I say to everybody on this forum, thank you for all the great feedback!