battery doesn't stop leaking out of the vent???

punisher

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I'm a new to this forum and the xs and so far I'm enjoying both .I've been working the bugs out of my bike and I'm stuck at this one. I hope I can get some suggestions. my battery will not stop leaking acid.it holds charge and doesn't seem to be over charging . I want to put a sealed battery in it but if there is an electrical problem causing this I don't want it to ruin the sealed battery. Any ideas thanks
 
You say you're not over-charging but acid dribbling out the vent is usually a sign of that. Put a meter on the battery and rev the bike to about 3K. This will show you the charging output. You don't want to see much over 14.5 volts.
 
I forgot to mention that I did that test and came up with 14.3 . I also did change the regulator/rectifier made no diff. Any ideas :confused:
 
Did you maybe over-fill the battery? If it's only been a few days, that might be the issue and it will take a while for the level to go down to where it's not going to overflow when charging.
 
I'm a new to this forum and the xs and so far I'm enjoying both .I've been working the bugs out of my bike and I'm stuck at this one. I hope I can get some suggestions. my battery will not stop leaking acid.it holds charge and doesn't seem to be over charging . I want to put a sealed battery in it but if there is an electrical problem causing this I don't want it to ruin the sealed battery. Any ideas thanks

Some clarification. Do you mean that there is excessive water from the vent hose? Batteries do not "Leak acid" through the vent. Normally, that is just water that evaporates with a tinge of acid vapor, other wise we could not just replenish the water like we do for normal maintenance of the battery.

If you are really "leaking acid" then you probably have a crack in the battery case.
 
It is coming from the tube,and was assuming that it is acid because it is corroding everything it leaks on. :shrug:
 
OK, here's a couple ideas:

1: is your volt meter accurate? Might not be, I've had them break before.

2: do you hit a lot of bumps & slosh around the battery a lot?

3: are you sure it's coming from the hose, not somewhere else and you just think it's coming from the hose? take it out of your bike, and put it somewhere for a few days and see. (like on some cardboard in the garage). If it's not charging, does it still leak?

I bet you either have a bad voltmeter and it's overcharging, or more likely there is a crack somewhere in the battery case and the sneaky leak is migrating over to the hose area.
 
ive tried two volt meters both read the same. stretched,hard tailed and michigan roads can make for a bumpy ride :D but the leak seems to be a bit exsesive because of bumps ?? but i cant say that isnt the cause. my battery is in an ammo can and it was leaking inside eating away at the metal so i drilled a hole out the bottom and ran the tube out and now its dry inside the box but leaking and eating away at my paint on the frame and splashing on my tire :banghead: if i put in a sealed/maint. free battery then no more leaks, but if there is an electrical problem that battery could swell and crack and have more problems :shrug:
 
hi guys,,,, look there are far more technical guys on our site ,,,,but i have suffered from acid overflow from batteries and i cured it ,,,,, i,m not being smart ,,,, BUY A FULLY SEALED BATTERY ,,, i,ve got 1980 gs1000e and a 1976 xs650 ,,, the yam has the heavy duty fully sealed battery thats recommended for the gs1000e ,,, its the same size as the yam battery ,,so they both run the same ,,,, i think its a YTX- 14......... ... and if i don,t fiddle with either bike all week ,,i check the charge before i ride and they hardly drop charge ,,, well worth the small cost of happiness regards oldbiker
 
the problem might be a wire shorting out or loose, temparly run 2 wires from the batt. and ty-rap your volt meter on front so u can see it and connect it, carfuly run wires not to short out! and take it for a boot and look at you voltage.
 
I'm with old biker. I have a sealed battery on three of my five bikes. The ones I ride most often and / or are difficult to check the electrolyte level without removing the battery.

However, sealed batteries are less forgiving of a bad charging system, either too high or too low a voltage will shorten the life of a sealed battery, so be sure your charging system is working properly before installing a sealed battery.

The usual problem with the charging system is excessive voltage drop across the fuse and ignition switch. The regulator is connected to the load side of the ignition switch so it regulates the load voltage, not the battery voltage. If you have, say 1.5 volts of drop across the fuse and ignition switch, then the battery will get 14.5 + 1.5 = 16 Volts even with the regulator working properly.

On two of the three bikes that I have the sealed battery in, I installed a relay that switches the regulator directly to the battery so the regulator sees the battery voltage and regulates it instead of the load.

So, as a minimum, you need to measure the drop from the battery positive terminal to the voltage regulator. If you are droping more than 1 Volt, then clean / replace the main fuse and clean / replace the ignition switch and / or install a relay to switch the regulator directly to the battery. Do the tests with everything turned on.
 
thanks for the advise im going to test that now.if those come back as good im going to get a sealed battery. i also seen those battery delete kits anybody have any input ?? good,junk,not worth it ?
 
but on post #3 you said your getting 14.3? you are testing at the batt? if you are switch and fuse are good (but a good cleaning doesn't hurt)
 
I'm a new to this forum and the xs and so far I'm enjoying both .I've been working the bugs out of my bike and I'm stuck at this one. I hope I can get some suggestions. my battery will not stop leaking acid.it holds charge and doesn't seem to be over charging . I want to put a sealed battery in it but if there is an electrical problem causing this I don't want it to ruin the sealed battery. Any ideas thanks
I have a battery that was leaking out the hose line while on the charger is this normal ?? If not what did I do wrong ??! Overcharge ? Batteries freak me out because of the acid and stuff so I’m a little freaked dealing with them All together I have a 1998 Suzuki GS 500E. The battery finally dies after I pulled it out of storage couple weeks ago up to this point the battery has been good the last 2 seasons I charged it last year worked all year any help would be appreciated thanks!!!
 
If you're freaked out by acid (which is understandable), buy an AGM battery. They don't cost much more than a conventional battery, and they are sealed, so no leakage and no venting.

And either remember to periodically charge the battery while it is in storage, or put it on a trickle charger and forget about it.
 
Meters. I have a basket of meters that lie. Get a real meter and do not drop it. Get a known test voltage against which the good meter may be checked. (like 6 D cells in series and never use them for anything else) If it's hot or cold, correct for that.

I totally agree...AGM with sound electrical system. (I like the relay trick!). Speaking of which that junction box area tends to be a good place for a headlamp/tail-lamp "off" switch for those special times when the lights might be a problem...aheemm. "Oh yes, Officer! It seems to be an electrical problem...."

They use AGM in airplanes, I hear..that's good enough for me. I don't ride upside down very often, but I do like and prefer AGMs.

Very rarely batteries can have internal intermittent opens and/or shorts. I have experienced this precisely once and I have about 60 years with scooters. Don't seek zebra in Wyoming...look for antelope. This is to say just break up the problem into parts and kill each bit, one after the other.

Lots of NaHCO3 for the acid, take care with your eyes too... Good luck, Brother. Best!
 
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