FRIED BATTERY warning DO NOT USE CAR BATTERY CHARGER

ANLAF

ANLAF

XS650 Guru
Messages
1,526
Reaction score
7
Points
38
Location
Anglezarke, Lancashire, UK
I fried my battery! Ouch!

I used a car battery charger a few times when I was sorting out the charging system. Well, I put the battery charger back on today to give it a boost - it buzzed as they do but the dial did not move. I thought the charger had bit the dust. Tried it on the car, worked fine. Did some investigation and for those that don't know: Do not use a car battery charger on your bike battery - thar car charger trickles at 2-4 amps, which is way too much for a bike battery, which should trickle charge at 500 to 650 milli-amps.

Tomorrow I will pick up a new battery and a motorcycle trickle-charger.

I hope this helps - it will help my friend (it's his car battery charger), he is on his fifth battery, and thinks it is the bike at fault. He has been charging with his car battery charger and frying them, one after the other.

Anlaf
 
That's a warning I have been giving for years. Get a motorcycle charger. Very cheap at Wal Mart. Get the Schumacher model SEM-1562A. It even has a motorcycle on the box.
Now with this experience you can help spread the word.
I have two. Misplaced one, bought another then found the first one.
A very good charger. It reads the battery voltage as it charges. Once it reaches 13.7 volts it drops from the full rate of 1.5 amps to a very low maintainer charge of a few hundred millivolts. This low charge rate will keep the battery from boiling off water and can be left hooked to the battery indefinitely.
The recommended charge rate for a battery is 10% of the amp hour rating. The stock battery is a 14 amp hour, 10% of 14 is 1.4. So a 1.5 amp is right.
A car battery is about 100 amp hour, So a 10 amp charger is good, But a 10 amp charge on a motorcycle battery creates too much heat in the battery and can warp plates as well as boil away the water.
Leo
 
The corollary to this is to not jump a motorcycle from a car battery. The sudden current going to the tiny motorcycle battery can cause the electrolyte to boil so violently that the battery will explode. :eek: Now, several old timers will chime in here and say they have been doing that for years with no problem. :wtf: Sure....Russian Roulette is like that too...:laugh: (click, click, click, click click, BANG..:yikes:
 
I have been doing that for years:laugh: Not

Seriously, i have been using my car battery charger on trickle and connected a tail-light to the battery at the same time. Seems to work ok and doing it regularly has kept the battery in usable condition.
 
Last edited:
I don't know anybody who's had a problem jumping a motorcycle from a car battery. But you don't want the car to be running. I've seen that done too with no problem, but then it's an overcurrent issue from the car alternator. I've used a car charger on the 2A setting with no problem. I have a yard sale 1A charger that acts funny on a meter. Wish I still had an oscilloscope.
 
I have the Schumacher referenced above in Maine. It's a good unit. I have tye Battery Tender Plus in Texas. My lovely wife moves that one between tye 2 bikes and lawn mower, and every time I go back to Texas I put it on tyecar battery overnight.
 
I have done both with no problem BUT if you use a 2amp car charger it better have a shut off on it when it reaches full charge or you can fry the plates. I just did a HARLEY that was always connected to one of those high dollar motorcycle trickle charges and $2800.00 later he's back on the road it fried all the electronics and set the harness on fire. So don't be stupid and beleave what you read. If you are charging a battery CAR MOTORCYCLE BOAT don't hook it up and walk away for 10 hours. If it takes 3 hour to charge your motorcycle battery do yourself a favor BUY A NEW ONE.
 
11 years and my Tender works like a champ. Has the auto float feature, if that's what you are referring to. My Road Star has been hooked up to it for a month straight before.
 
JD this guy used his for 5 years no problem and one day it went bad and it cost him big time. Now he has another on a newer bike but put a timer on it and it only runs 5 hours a day. He sent it back to company because the say if it fails they pay . They said it was the bike and not the tender so who's telling what. They kept the old one and he asked for it back and they sent him a BRAND NEW ONE NO CHARGE. So you tell me who's covering up what. I don't use them don't beleave in them. If my battery goes bad I buy a new one. I don't care how low voltage it is when you keep heating up the plates in a battery something got to happen and to the guys who use them if your happy keep using them. I know of three bikes with same burn up problem in the past 5 years. I used a 4 battery unit years ago at one of my shops but we never left it on even over night. Just to setup new batteries.
 
I have two of these that I use for all my motorcycles / little batteries. Works great.

http://test.autometer.com/productDetails.aspx?ID=3&subid=6&productID=51&isKit=0

9201%20Battery%20Extender_b.jpg
 
I always use a car charger set on 2 amps. 44 years of bikes and I haven't blown a battery up, and that is not Russian Roulette territory.
 
I use a battery tender. It charges and conditions the battery. Sold tons of them to guys with airplanes. Mine was about $20-$25 at a local battery shop.
 
I am learning by the minute. I like the 'charging like a lithium-ion' - but now that means I have to go off and find out how a lithium-ion charges. Stop press, just found out it is a type of battery.

The article has a diagram showing a high rate of amps per hour charging - is there an equivalent diagram for a motorcycle charger re lead acid batteries?

Now look what you've done, GreasyC, I started out with a fried battery and now I am learning physics and chemistry, and electronics - teach me more.

Anlaf
 
ANLAF said:
Interesting debate, fellers. My new batter says to charge at no more than 10% of its rated capacity - that 1.2 amps, if I am reading correctly.

Anlaf
Click to expand...

Yes, the 10% rule is a good one. If you have a 12 amp/hour lead acid battery, the 1.2 amps is correct.

There is a bit of tolerence for the charging current. I use a 14 amp/hour lead acid battery, charge it at 1.8 amps, and it works very well. I only use a bench charger during the winter months, to re-charge the battery about once a month.

During the riding season ( 5 to 6 months here in Canada), my battery is only charged by the engines charging system. I hear about "Battery Tenders", but I don't know why you would need one, during the riding season. If your bike's, normal on board charging system, is working properly, it will keep your battery fully charged.
 

Similar threads

blank slate
start button dead 💀 pics included
2
Replies
24
Views
506
blank slate
blank slate
G
Weak charging system or mechanic with weak skills?
2
Replies
23
Views
1K
Jim
Jim
R
Could my coil drain my battery, why?
2 3 4
Replies
61
Views
4K
Rook32432
R
M
New XS650....new to everything and a battery question
2 3
Replies
56
Views
4K
Oldnwiser
O
R
1977 XS650
3 4 5
Replies
86
Views
2K
XSTime
XSTime
Back
Top