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Whats best way to find a short on a M109.

500 Views 12 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  BASS 666
I took off 3 sets of leds for a start. Now I need to find short. Need suggestions on how to find.
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What's it doing that makes you think it has a short Bill? The only way I know to check them is to put a voltmeter on the battery then start unplugging things until something makes a difference. Actually, measuring amp draw would be better.
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What's it doing that makes you think it has a short Bill? The only way I know to check them is to put a voltmeter on the battery then start unplugging things until something makes a difference. Actually, measuring amp draw would be better.
It went from a battery every 2 years to 2 batteries a year. A friend Showing me to disconnect Battery and And hook Voltmeter Between bike and battery. Thanks, Zoom for the help I will try in the morning.
Most, even cheap, VOM's have a 10 amp setting which will run anything on the bike EXCEPT the starter. Remove a battery cable and hook the meter up in series between the battery and the cable, then start removing things and see when the amp draw drops. Just remember not to try and start it with the meter hooked in series, or you'll either fry the meter or blow a fuse in it. Amps will show you more than volts.
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They do have DC clamp/inductive pickup meters these days.
They do have DC clamp/inductive pickup meters these days.
Yeah, I've got one of those. But I've found in small amp draw conditions the inline method works better for me. My clamp-on will change a few milliamps just moving it around on the cable. Plus a lot of folks have regular VOM's as they can be had cheap.
Need to remove old leds. Has been a while. Time to clean house! Thanks going to save all info.
Well I got rid all leds but the rims. Looks like phone charger was a large drain /short. Looks like wires on air ride has corrosion on pressure accurater for digital air ride led. Now I have .01 of a volt. Key off and 12.70 with key on.
Well I got rid all leds but the rims. Looks like phone charger was a large drain /short. Looks like wires on air ride has corrosion on pressure accurater for digital air ride led. Now I have .01 of a volt. Key off and 12.70 with key on.
It's hard to detect that low of a voltage, sometimes just other nearby electrical items will indicate that much. To be sure, switch the meter to milliamps and do it inline like I suggested above. No reading there then you will know for sure.
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The plug under gas tank had one wire not in all the way in plug. Cleaned put a dab of silicone on wire to make staying in all the.(yellow one) Then it fired up! Yae . Hopefully. Now clean up wiring connections put back together. Thanks for assistance Zoom. I will will keep checking for any shorts while and wrong size wires.
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can i hijack this thread instead of starting a new one guys ... i'm glad you got it sorted mate and the plug under the tank is an issue and has been spoke about a lot on here ... so my question is how do you put the meter in line between the battery and the cables ? what wires go where ? asking because it seems a good idea and might come in handy for the future ... thanks guys ..
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You can do it on either battery cable, but doing it with the ground is safer. That way if you touch something on the frame you won't have a short.
Remove the battery cable. Set the VOM to amps, if you have a heavy short such as is blowing fuses, set it on the 10 amp setting. Usually there are 3 plug in ports on a VOM, one for negative, one for positive, and one for 10 amp. Then hook or touch the negative probe of the VOM to the negative battery terminal, and the positive end to the battery cable. 10 amps will handle the fuel pump priming when you turn the key on, but it won't handle starting.

That's it, unhook cable, put negative probe on the battery negative post, then touch the other probe to the battery cable. Power flows through the meter and you get a reading.
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You can do it on either battery cable, but doing it with the ground is safer. That way if you touch something on the frame you won't have a short.
Remove the battery cable. Set the VOM to amps, if you have a heavy short such as is blowing fuses, set it on the 10 amp setting. Usually there are 3 plug in ports on a VOM, one for negative, one for positive, and one for 10 amp. Then hook or touch the negative probe of the VOM to the negative battery terminal, and the positive end to the battery cable. 10 amps will handle the fuel pump priming when you turn the key on, but it won't handle starting.

That's it, unhook cable, put negative probe on the battery negative post, then touch the other probe to the battery cable. Power flows through the meter and you get a reading.
thanks Zoom .. yeah i thought so but i wasn't 100% sure about the red wire .. thanks mate ...
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