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HISS Flashing Leds- Battery Problems.


Noel Hynes

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Noel Hynes

Hi everyone- Wish you all the best in 2022.

 

I have previously put this problem on the forum. On my 2014 NC750x the HISS light flashes every few seconds- this started happening last year. Last week I moved the bike in the garage and decided to start it up- the battery has been disconnected since Nov 2021. It started first time. I let it heat up and running for 20 minutes. When I switched it off the HISS was flashing on/off. The following day I went to start it and the battery was dead. This happened  a couple of times in the summer too.

 

Hopefully I will get a look at the online manual but if anyone has had this problem before.??

 

I had a look at the owners handbook- but nothing to maybe fix it ?? Anyone got any ideas ?? Thanks Noel.

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outrunner

The HISS light goes out after 24 hrs on my 2016 750X, perhaps there is something else drawing on the battery as the HISS light takes very little current and would not flatten the battery in 24 hours.

 

Andy.

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Empty_Ten

Is the battery the original one?  Ie 7-8 years old?

 

Since it’s been disconnected, has it been charged or an optimiser of any kind?

 

I take it that with the battery being disconnected, you don’t have any kind of accessories which could draw from it (alarm, tracker etc)

 

My thoughts are if it’s the original battery, then that’s some good mileage/life you’ve got out of it.  


My other question would be what was the purpose of starting the bike up and running it for 20 minutes?  To recharge the battery?  


I asked my workshop whether this was an old wives tales or feasible.  They said that running/letting It idle does nothing for the battery.  If you want to recharge it/get some more juice back in it, the engine needs to be under load and the bike needs to be ridden.  


Certainly that’s my experience.  When I lived in a flat, I used to start my fireblade up and let it idle once a week for 30 minutes.  After 3 weeks the battery would be flat, the bike did have an alarm and tracker though.  My dads car battery is also flat even though my Brother idled the car for him weekly.

 

I swear by battery optimisers, I use optimate.  But there are other brands out there.  If you have no power supply where you store the bike then use it inside the house with crocodile clips, or use one of the solar powered options out there.  You state the battery was disconnected so it sounds like you have no problem disconnecting and removing it.  Get it in the house, charge it fully and then just stick it on once a week for a top up.

 

I have the piggyback lead installed on my bikes and they’re connected to Optimate’s for anytime they’re not being used.

 

RE the HISS light, as outrunner says.  I believe it may be possible to turn the light off permanently though but that would be a owners manual job.  I would not have thought that was the problem though.

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Yes, it is possible to turn off the HISS light permanently; I’ve done so on my NC750X. My guess is that with a flat or disconnected battery the HISS light reverts to standard.

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Mister Paul
22 hours ago, Noel Hynes said:

Hi everyone- Wish you all the best in 2022.

 

I have previously put this problem on the forum. On my 2014 NC750x the HISS light flashes every few seconds- this started happening last year. Last week I moved the bike in the garage and decided to start it up- the battery has been disconnected since Nov 2021. It started first time. I let it heat up and running for 20 minutes. When I switched it off the HISS was flashing on/off. The following day I went to start it and the battery was dead. This happened  a couple of times in the summer too.

 

Hopefully I will get a look at the online manual but if anyone has had this problem before.??

 

I had a look at the owners handbook- but nothing to maybe fix it ?? Anyone got any ideas ?? Thanks Noel.

Does your bike have a tracker on it? 

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1 hour ago, Mister Paul said:

Does your bike have a tracker on it? 

No.

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If you fit a USB socket direct to the battery it will slowly drain the battery, it has a circuit i/s to reduce it to 5 volts. Same applies to adaptors fitted to a 12volt socket that's left in.

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Noel Hynes

Hi everyone- thanks for taking the time to send replies.

 

The bike has a data tag fitted- I have the 12 V adapter which I use in summer to recharge the phone- but NOTHING is connected to it just now.

 

It is the original battery . The reason I started it- is I have a leak in my garage and had to move it- so connected the battery and it started on first push... I do not use an optimiser- I have a motorbike charger- and normally when this happens after 30-40 minutes it starts. When it started I had it on centre stand and once heated up- I put it in gear and race the revs a little for 5-10 minutes- the bike is not taxed-insured at present.

 

Up until I had the problem in the summer with the HISS light flashing continuously- I never had any problems starting- it would start on first push. I was using the bike in the summer and one day I started the bike and let it idle for a few minutes and moved it outside and switched it off- I got my gear on and ten minutes later - it would not start- so put the charger on and within 20 minutes it started- so I did not drive far after that. My gut feeling is it is new battery time- but I will wait until spring when I put it back on the road- the miles is 4,300..

 

An interesting one. Sadly I had a problem also with one front fork seal- it was replaced ( both front seals) by a bike mechanic last year- the bike did less than 400 miles and it was leaking badly again. I put this article on the forum last year too.

 

In August this year I got the same mechanic to replace the one seal and paid again- and noticed the other day- it is leaking again- so I sense I may need a new part....it is a pity as I really like the bike and apart from these two problems- the bike has been great. Interestingly the mechanic said last year someone had been working on one side and parts were damaged- when I bought the bike it has less than 3000 miles on the clock !!!!

 

Hope this helps... Noel.,

 

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outrunner

Looking more like a duff battery going by what you have said. With regards to the fork seal, either the guy that fitted them is not a good mechanic, or using rubbish cheapo seals, or you have a pitted/damaged fork leg. Mine is a 2016 750X with 69000 miles on the original fork seals and battery, but my bike never stands still for too long.

 

Andy.

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I’d agree with that; I think you need a new battery. The default is for the HISS light to flash for (IIRC) 24 hours (assuming the engine isn’t started), but you can change it so that it is permanently disabled, in which case it flashes once when you turn off the ignition. I believe what has happened to yours is that the flat battery has caused the HISS light to revert to the default setting. As for the fork seal perhaps the mechanic who fixed it noticed something wrong when he did the job (the reference to damage on one side). Unless an inferior seal was used (possible) either it was damaged during fitting, the fork leg is pitted (in which case without remedial action it will only wreck a new seal) or it was fitted incorrectly. Fork seals can also dry out, causing leaks but it only takes a bit of grit etc to damage the lip of the seal. You could try prising out the seal cover and having a look. It’s possible sometimes to solve a leak by using a thin piece of plastic to dislodge a piece of grit.

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Empty_Ten
13 hours ago, Noel Hynes said:

Hi everyone- thanks for taking the time to send replies.

 

The bike has a data tag fitted- I have the 12 V adapter which I use in summer to recharge the phone- but NOTHING is connected to it just now.

 

It is the original battery . The reason I started it- is I have a leak in my garage and had to move it- so connected the battery and it started on first push... I do not use an optimiser- I have a motorbike charger- and normally when this happens after 30-40 minutes it starts. When it started I had it on centre stand and once heated up- I put it in gear and race the revs a little for 5-10 minutes- the bike is not taxed-insured at present.

 

Up until I had the problem in the summer with the HISS light flashing continuously- I never had any problems starting- it would start on first push. I was using the bike in the summer and one day I started the bike and let it idle for a few minutes and moved it outside and switched it off- I got my gear on and ten minutes later - it would not start- so put the charger on and within 20 minutes it started- so I did not drive far after that. My gut feeling is it is new battery time- but I will wait until spring when I put it back on the road- the miles is 4,300..

 

An interesting one. Sadly I had a problem also with one front fork seal- it was replaced ( both front seals) by a bike mechanic last year- the bike did less than 400 miles and it was leaking badly again. I put this article on the forum last year too.

 

In August this year I got the same mechanic to replace the one seal and paid again- and noticed the other day- it is leaking again- so I sense I may need a new part....it is a pity as I really like the bike and apart from these two problems- the bike has been great. Interestingly the mechanic said last year someone had been working on one side and parts were damaged- when I bought the bike it has less than 3000 miles on the clock !!!!

 

Hope this helps... Noel.,

 

 

Data Tag is a secure marking.  Parts of your bike will have it in a inconspicuous place.  It's invisible to the naked eye and only comes up under a specific light/torch being shown on it.  So Data Tag itself won't affect your battery in any way.  If, however, you meant Data Tool, they make Alarm's and Trackers.  If you have any of these on your bike (even unknowingly) they will draw/drain your battery.  You wouldn't even need a active subscription on the tracker for it to draw current from the battery.

 

I'm really not sure what you mean when you say you don't use an optimiser but use a Motorbike charger.  That sounds to me like a Battery Optimiser/trickle charger.   You do not have to clip crocodile clips directly to the battery terminals to charge them.  Most Motorcycle Battery chargers or Optimisers will come with a piggyback lead which is connected directly to the bike battery, this lead is then plugged into the battery charger/optimiser and does the same job as using crocodile clips but with the benefit of being neater and not having to take any parts/panels off to gain access to attach the crocodile clips to the battery.

 

As I said before, I don't believe running the bike/letting it idle/revving it will help recharge the battery at all.  You need to take the bike out for a good 30 plus minutes to get a decent amount of charge back into the battery.

 

Your battery sounds like it's on the way out (7 years is good going, especially if it's not been on an optimiser), but I also think that what you're currently doing is not helping.  When I had my Blade, it was kept in a communal car park and not on an optimiser.  But as it had an alarm and tracker, those accessories would drain the battery.  I would start it up and let it idle, but as the bike wasn't being ridden, the battery wasn't being recharged, therefore the next time I started it up, it would struggle to start, and then the following week it would be dead/not have enough juice to start the bike.  

 

Likewise, with my MT10, when I hadn't ridden it for about 3 weeks, the battery would drain as well.  It would start up the first time I tried to, but if I didn't ride it and switched it off, it would struggle to start.  There was one instance where I hadn't ridden it for 3 weeks, I then took it out to go to work it started up first time.   I then stalled it and there was not enough juice left in the battery to start it up for a second time.  I jump started the bike, rode it for 45 minutes and it was fine.

 

It sounds like your battery has enough juice to start it up the once, but then because you're not riding/recharging the battery - it doesn't have enough juice left to start it up again.  I have experienced the same thing with my own bikes, hence why I keep them on battery Optimiser's 24/7 now and have never had a problem since.  

 

When you say you put the charger on for 20-40 minutes, you are putting enough juice into the battery so it can start the bike, but not long enough for it to fully charge the battery.  This takes a couple of hours minimum normally.

 

"I got my gear on and ten minutes later - it would not start- so put the charger on and within 20 minutes it started- so I did not drive far after that"

 

If the bike has started, there is no reason why you can't/shouldn't ride it for long.   If anything, I would encourage a long ride if the battery was low.  Obviously this is assuming your alternator (or whatever the bike version is called) on the bike is working and recharging the battery as you ride.

 

In short, my advice is to get a new battery and use an Optimiser.  If your Garage has no electricity, then either use a Solar Optimiser or remove the battery from the bike and charge it in the House.  Charge it fully according to the Optimiser instructions, then once a week/2/3/4, recharge it and top it up, if the bike is SORN/not taxed then just keep the battery and optimiser in the house.

 

 

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Hi, you say"- I have the 12 V adapter which I use in summer to recharge the phone- but NOTHING is connected to it just now." Phones tend to be 5v or less so I wonder if the adapter you mention (which i assume stays on the bike all yr round) contains a mini transformer to step down the voltage to make it compatible with the phone, in which case it I think it will draw current even if no phone connected. I was told you needed to RIDE the bike for min of 15miles just to replace charge lost by batt for starting.

ATB

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