Too many PDM wires on battery post?

olddog58

olddog58

Member
I've posted a number of threads on my K9 EFI PDM problems. And what I think may be my latest problem gets burried deep in the threads and gets no real response. So here is my simple-straight forward question:
The shop that installed my PDM has attached 7 ground wires to the negative battery post... "7". The wire diagram indicates 3 should be attached, and the rest should be ground to the frame.
My "engine" light glows dimly with the bike running, and the battery seems to drain and not charge very well.
The shop doesn't seem to think the 7 wires is an issue, but what little I understand about motorcycle electrical systems, suggests to me the extra 4 items grounded to the battery instead of the frame might/should mean something. Any electrical experts out there that can comment?
 
Moespeeds

Moespeeds

Well-Known Member
Yeah you're good. Grounded to frame or battery there is no difference, as long as the 4ga ground from the starter goes back to the battery. Sounds like you got a hot wire grounding somewhere.
 
jaggerz

jaggerz

Active Member
Check your charging system to make sure you don't have an issue there. Lot's of threads on here how to do that. Good luck.
 
stlmikie

stlmikie

I wish I had more money.
Wanna sell the bike? I'm sure I could wrangle up something. Hate to see it become a boat anchor.
 
pknowles

pknowles

RETIRED
Don't know about your system, but on the EFI bikes with the wire plus we had to put resistors inline for the same reason.
 
HOE ER

HOE ER

Member
olddog58 what did you end up doing ? I did mine the same as mickeetwo has his set up, but I ran ALL my wires to the frame including the 4ga from the starter then ran ONE 4ga from the frame to the Battery,, is that ok,, or does the ground from the starter have to go DIRECTLY to the battery ? after reading what moespeeds says I am a little concerned
 
pknowles

pknowles

RETIRED
HOE ER said:
olddog58 what did you end up doing ? I did mine the same as mickeetwo has his set up, but I ran ALL my wires to the frame including the 4ga from the starter then ran ONE 4ga from the frame to the Battery,, is that ok,, or does the ground from the starter have to go DIRECTLY to the battery ? after reading what moespeeds says I am a little concerned
Click to expand...
I think I would ground the starter to the battery, that's a lott of juice going thru the frame. Not a good conductor either.
 
BigDogBro1

BigDogBro1

Made in the USA
I would also advise connecting the starter ground cable directly to the battery post. Every connection point induces addtional resistance and drops current flow for starting.
 
BigDogBro1

BigDogBro1

Made in the USA
olddog58 said:
I've posted a number of threads on my K9 EFI PDM problems. And what I think may be my latest problem gets burried deep in the threads and gets no real response. So here is my simple-straight forward question:
The shop that installed my PDM has attached 7 ground wires to the negative battery post... "7". The wire diagram indicates 3 should be attached, and the rest should be ground to the frame.
My "engine" light glows dimly with the bike running, and the battery seems to drain and not charge very well.
The shop doesn't seem to think the 7 wires is an issue, but what little I understand about motorcycle electrical systems, suggests to me the extra 4 items grounded to the battery instead of the frame might/should mean something. Any electrical experts out there that can comment?
Click to expand...
Have you placed a current meter in-line on the battery + side to measure current flow when the bike is sitting. You will see some current drain due to the EFI and EHC controllers each drawing a few milliamps with the key OFF, I would guess up to 50 ma.

If the LED is full ON as soon as you turn on the key and DIM when engine is running (if no fault condition) then read UPDATED POST #5.
http://www.bigdogbiker.com/forums/i...light-glows-when-bike-running.html#post446573

Didn't I advise this proceedure earlier on your other thread?
 
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Moespeeds

Moespeeds

Well-Known Member
The starter needs to be ground to the battery for sure. Ideally, everything should be ground to the battery, then the battery grounded to the frame (usually via a strap or the starter side of the starter ground cable).
 
HOE ER

HOE ER

Member
Well I wired my starter back directly to my battery then put a jumper to the frame and ALL the other wires go to that point, and it seems to be working better and dosent loosen up like it used to with ALL the grounds attached at the terminal, im not sure why BD put those two threaded holes on the frame next to the battery, but they sure work good (once ground down to bare metal) for a ground,,, Thanks Moespeeds and to everybody else for the help..
 
Slick-Dog

Slick-Dog

Active Member
SO..... how did it turn out? Is it workn or not workn .... I have a PDM kit to and to tell the truth ...I cant believe this POS ...WAAAYYYYY to many + & - on the battery ... there should of been a hot block to put all the + s on... I like yours Alan... Clean and simple! I should take a picture of mine..you would think I was wiring up a small house LOL!!
 
olddog58

olddog58

Member
I got the wiring cleaned up a little on my 2008 K9 that started the thread. But it was just by joining the bunch of wires together and having just one lead off the battery. My charge light still glows. I still haven't received my "pull up resistor" from BDPP as promised months ago. I just have to keep the bike on the trickle charger 24x7 so I can ride it.
I can't advise people enough- if you need a new computer- go with Wire Plus kit... costs more, but it's a real business, with real experience, and I think real success. This big dog PDM system is just an embarassment.
 
olddog58

olddog58

Member
Big Dog Bro 1- yes you did post that check for me earlier. But you have this caveat on it that says something like clip this lead to something "at your own risk"... so to a novice electrician that says "you can do this but I'd never do it to my own bike"...

So my big plan was to wait for the pull up resistor that BDPP has promised me. Then if I still have the issue, I start isolating electrical systems to find the bleed. I started this with an older analog electrical meter, but have a new digital meter now. I charge the battery to full, and connect only one of the positive battery cables (I have 5 including the two off the 40amp block). Let it sit for 48 hours and test battery voltage. I should be able to identify the circuit that is bleeding that way and help narrow down the culprit. But like I said, I was going to wait until I got and installed the promised pull up resistor.
 
minermark

minermark

Active Member
I just had my PDM installed and my engine light glows just a tad, batt seem's to be fine.
As stated above you have a short, i would take the dog back to the shop that did the work period.....
 
olddog58

olddog58

Member
Yeah, I think my problem may not be related to the PDM at all. I've had so many bad thoughts about that thing... So I left the bike off the tender for about 10 days. The battery went from 12.8 Volts, down to 6.something Volts. My battery tender can't hardly keep up with the power drain, so I bought a full CHARGER, and now I'll start tracking down what circuit is pissing power.
Most threads related to the voltage regulator talk about it not puting out enough power, but do they also go bad by creating a drain?
 
Slick-Dog

Slick-Dog

Active Member
I found on mine the wires coming off the ignition...1 had a tiny bare spot on it and it was a RED wire :eek: and some of the ground wires were broke on the terminal ends... redid them and so far ...allgood :)
 
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