FRIED BATTERY warning DO NOT USE CAR BATTERY CHARGER

[XSLeo]

The guy with the Harley. It sounds like he left the battery in the bike during storage. Big mistake. For storage over the winter I pull my batteries, bring them inside where the temps stay above freezing. I don't leave the chargers on full time. I rotate around.
Try to charge each one every month or so.
Lots of people think the $10 trickle chargers are good but very seldom are. They can overcharge a battery because they use the batteries internal resistance to control voltage. They often have a 800 milliamp output but the voltage can reach 15 volts or more. A trickle charger is ok to use but not hooked up indefinitely they don't shut off. Hook it up, charge say over night, unhook, test battery voltage. If still low another night. Test and repeat as necessary to reach full charge.
Once charged stop charging.
Leo

 

[ANLAF]

I picked up a new battery at the local battery shop - floor to ceiling batteries, was quite a sight. He told me the common sense approach you follow, XSLeo - pulling the battery in winter, etc. He didn't tell me about charger voltage can reach 15 volts and more, but I will certainly be following the common sense approach to charging - testing voltage and when charged stop charging.

Anlaf

 

[member3480]

GREASEYC They are talking about charging a brand new battery not a used one and trickle charge on low voltage.. If it takes 12 hours on a car charger to charge a MOTORCYCLE USED! battery something is wrong and even NEW I never charged a battery 12 hour. Did you ever go to a shop buy a battery and they say come back in 12 hours battery has to be charged???
AGAIN if you buy a good charger that has a shut off when full charge you will be fine and if not KEEP charging them suckers because I got plenty of batteries to sell.
Harley was hooked to Tender that was to have a shut off and these are made to keep battery in bike while keeping battery at full charge or like 90%. HEAT is the NO NO for the plates in a battery. I had a buddy have one of those high dollar choppers and fried a battery every 6/7 months and vendor just kept selling him new $199.00 battery. I took bike went to WALMART bought $27.00 ACID battery and put it on bike and still in there 5 yrs later. Jell battery couldn't take heat from oil tank that it sat in and cooked that sucker. Acid and Jell are very much different. So AGAIN don't think what you read is correct.

 

[XSLeo]

Anlaf, the cheap trickle chargers are the ones that go to the 15+ volts. Getting a good charger in the $20-$30 range, like the one I mentioned will be safe to use.
It has LED's that tell what's happing.
A red one indicates it's getting power from the wall.
A yellow indicates charging.
A green one that means it's charged.
Once the green LED lights up the charger stops charging at the full 1.5 amps and drops to the maintainer charge.
The Battery tender is a good charger too.
I think most of the brand name chargers are good. Most can get very expensive. The Schumacher is good and won't break the bank.
Leo

 

[ANLAF]

Thanks DADDYGCYCLES, I just know why it is not widely know (or made known) about how easy it is to destroy a battery. It won't happen to me again. I have got an acid battery - I will treat it right and try an get some years sefvice out of it.

Anlaf

 

[ANLAF]

XSLeo, yes, I will go for one of those that has the indicator lights that goes for the 1.2 or 1.5 amps then drops to the trickle charge. I will see if Schumacher and Battery Tender are available over here - or something equivalent.

Anlaf

 

[GreasyC]

DADDYGCYCLES,

Yeah I know they're talking about charging from flat. If you leave your lights on and come back to a dead battery this is what you're looking at to get back to a FULL charge. True that if you battery is just a little low it will take less time and also true that you can charge it only halfway and that will probably be enough to start the bike. Still not good advice to suggest throwing out any battery that takes more than three hours to charge.

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

If you leave your lights on and come back to a dead battery this is what you're looking at to get back to a FULL charge.

That's generally true for deep-cycle storage batteries, but the high CCA sponge-lead batteries usually won't recover...

 

[GreasyC]

People leave their lights on and run the battery flat all the time. It's not supposed to be good for them but I've never seen one incident of forgetfulness completely destroy a healthy battery. I've known brain dead guys who did this over and over again who are still riding on the same battery. Your luck may vary.

 

[member3480]

Guys I am not trying to break anybodys balls or say I know alot . I have been in the motorcycle world since the 70's and have had more than 1000 battery's cross my path with 4 different shops and have seen some batteries do some crazy things. So I have had so many chargers TRICKLE-FULL and when you take a brand new battery off the bench put it in a bike it may have had a quick 15 min charge then the bike does the rest as you ride. But I have hauled off way too many guys that have a battery that YES it took a charge after hours on charger and then be put back on a bike and crap out after riding. I have had batteries last me years but I disconnected them over the winter and treated them right so theres a 50/50 debate here on how YOU handle your battery. Me when I rode a lot I made sure my battery was good because you look like a FOOL pushing a cool bike down the rode.

 

[ANLAF]

Well, that new battery has made all the difference - the plumpest, brightest sparks I have ever seen - tomorrow is ride time.

Fellers, I've taken all your words of wisdom on board - much appreciated - and I know there are different schools of thought, but let common sense prevail and keep those batteries healthy. By the way, I don't want break down and push the bike - not because it's cool, hmmm!, no, because it's bright yellow and people will be asking me how much are my bananas.

Anlaf