I have an electrical problem! Help!

[Boscoporp]

I ride an 2003 1800 GW Trike. Last week I replaced my battery and yesterday it wouldn't start again. A friend,THIRDWHEEL checked it out and the batteries charge was low! We checked the alternater and the output was good. We checked all the fuses to see if their was a drain while everything was shut off. They all checked but one! The fuse that is labeled "battery" shows an amp drain with everythng shut-off. We started the bike without the fuse and everything works but the radio stuff does not. NO AM/FM, MP_3, CD player, It doesn't show on the screen whether your in speakers or headsets, nothing from that radio area seems to work with that fuse out. So, I'm hoping that this means that I can ride without a radio until I get this figured out!

QUESTION: How Do we isolate the problem farther? How can we find out what is causing the drain? Has anyone had a similar problem like this?

[Nauga Mok]

Being a Harley guy, I probably won't be much help other than to say a full amp is way too much for the radio system. It's normal for most radios to pull a few milliamps, but 1 amp is too much. I can't say for sure that it's safe for you to ride without that fuse. Maybe someone else who's more familiar with Honda's electrical system can. What you can do is hook up a "battery tender" to keep your battery up, or if it's not hard to get at, plug the fuse in when you ride & take it out when you get back home. Since your charging system is working ok, it'll keep the battery charged while running. Even though a 1 amp discharge is not desirable, if your trike sets a couple of hours after being ran for a while, it should restart. I would NOT leave the fuse in overnight.

NM

[ThirdWheel]

Let me put a little more detail in of what we found. Maybe, it will help. With the battery disconnected, meter connected between positive battery cable to ground we get a reading of about 2 ohms, which calculates to a draw of 5 amps or 62 watts . Pull the 20 amp "battery" fuse, reading goes to zero. Question is, what are some things to check prior to getting wiring diagram and start tearing down to find the source of the draw? Bad component or nicked and shorted wire? Will beer help?

[ThirdWheel]

Just posted to get this back on home page..suggestions please.