Battery neg to ground

[chiz]

Hey all
I noticed in the past that there is a bit of potential between ground and ground. I decided to  put my meter lead to batt neg and other lead to chassis. With ign off I get 0 but with ign on I get 4.8ma should I concern myself with this?
Thanks Chiz

[FJmonkey]

Yes, the bike is a total loss, just pack it up and ship it to me so I can properly dispose of it.

I am not sure, this is electrickitiy stuff, full of smoke. I know, when the smoke escapes, it stops working.

[red]

Hey all
I noticed in the past that there is a bit of potential between ground and ground. I decided to  put my meter lead to batt neg and other lead to chassis. With ign off I get 0 but with ign on I get 4.8ma should I concern myself with this?
Thanks Chiz

Chiz,

What accessories are on the bike?  Not everything shuts down completely when switched Off; anything with a memory (even for the Settings that you have set) will drain a little power.  Any smart charger or Battery Tender can cover such losses constantly.  A Battery Tender also does good things for the battery, which help the battery to last longer and stronger.

You can eliminate all power drain (from accessories) by installing a relay-controlled Fuse Block, which turns Off everything connected to the Fuse Block.  The relay is controlled by the ignition key, so when the ignition key is removed, the Fuse Block shuts Off.  That's a separate topic, of course.

All that aside, for checking grounding points, a Voltage reading is the tool you want.  Ideally, you want to see no Voltage drops as power flows through the battery negative terminal to the chassis, or from the chassis to the ground points of any electrical equipment on the bike.  All electrical connections should be shiny-bright clean, and secure.  Any dull metal is showing corrosion, and corroded metal will always be a poor power connection. 

If for example, you check from the ground terminals of the instrument panel to the negative battery terminal, you should see only the wire resistances causing any Voltage drop.  A Voltage drop from one side of a connector (or terminal lug) to the other side of that connection is showing a corroded connection.  The auto parts stores have small "wire toothbrushes" with wooden handles that are helpful in removing corrosion from small parts.

[chiz]

Yes, the bike is a total loss, just pack it up and ship it to me so I can properly dispose of it.

I am not sure, this is electrickitiy stuff, full of smoke. I know, when the smoke escapes, it stops working.

No visible smoke yet.

[chiz]

Hey all
I noticed in the past that there is a bit of potential between ground and ground. I decided to  put my meter lead to batt neg and other lead to chassis. With ign off I get 0 but with ign on I get 4.8ma should I concern myself with this?
Thanks Chiz

Chiz,

What accessories are on the bike?  Not everything shuts down completely when switched Off; anything with a memory (even for the Settings that you have set) will drain a little power.  Any smart charger or Battery Tender can cover such losses constantly.  A Battery Tender also does good things for the battery, which help the battery to last longer and stronger.

You can eliminate all power drain (from accessories) by installing a relay-controlled Fuse Block, which turns Off everything connected to the Fuse Block.  The relay is controlled by the ignition key, so when the ignition key is removed, the Fuse Block shuts Off.  That's a separate topic, of course.

Ok  I am the person with no cell phone so no, not one single accessory on bike, nada. That said not following really... got voltage between bat neg terminal and chassis with ign on 4.8mv (voltage gain) don't know why this would be or what could cause this. Checking voltage drop with a simple meter with ign on is viable isn't it?

All that aside, for checking grounding points, a Voltage reading is the tool you want.  Ideally, you want to see no Voltage drops as power flows through the battery negative terminal to the chassis, or from the chassis to the ground points of any electrical equipment on the bike.  All electrical connections should be shiny-bright clean, and secure.  Any dull metal is showing corrosion, and corroded metal will always be a poor power connection. 

If for example, you check from the ground terminals of the instrument panel to the negative battery terminal, you should see only the wire resistances causing any Voltage drop.  A Voltage drop from one side of a connector (or terminal lug) to the other side of that connection is showing a corroded connection.  The auto parts stores have small "wire toothbrushes" with wooden handles that are helpful in removing corrosion from small parts.