BATTERY, REG/RECTIFIER and SPARX CAPACITOR QUESTION

ANLAF

ANLAF

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fellers

Recently my 6 months old battery fried. Now holds a steady charge of 10.80 v,olts, so that indicates one of the cells is shot. Goodbye battery. Its under guarantee, so i will pick up a replacement. I checked the regulator/rectifier. Multimeter says all is good, diodes open one way only on each wire (0 one way and allowing 6.30 the other).

In the meantime I wired in my Sparx capacitor and have been running battery-less - and went on a 575 mile trip last weekend.

I want to make sure I am not missing anything here.
Something fried the battery. It wasn't the reg/rec, so I can only think it was a duff unit. The capacitor and reg/rec combo seems to be working just fine.

Has anyone anyone warning lights to flash at me.

By the way, I looked after the battery the short time we were together, trickle-charger, and so on, so I am trying to understand why the acid in the cells went down - cell one under the positive connection was 3/4 gone, and it stepped up then to cell six..

That's just weird. I topped up with ionised distilled water, but I was too late.

Any suggestions as to why these things happen would be gratefully received.

ANLAF
 
With a PMA, there is always the possibility of the voltage going too high. The high voltage cooks the battery, and you lose a lot of the water in the cells.

You need to keep the headlight on at all times, to help the regulator keep the voltage below 14 .5 volts.

Install a voltmeter on the bike, so you always know what is happening with the charging/battery.
 
Lead acid batteries need constant watching. The water boils out. As mentioned heat and overcharging increase this water loss. It can just evaporate too. That's one reason sealed batteries are so well liked. The water can't go anywhere and you don't need to watch it.
You mentioned trickle charging. Trickle chargers often charge at too high a voltage. They regulate themselves by the batteries internal resistance. On a car battery with a much greater resistance a trickle charger will regulate well enough so it won't charge the battery to too high a voltage. A lot of them can charge a bike battery to over 15 volts. This is well above the 13.8 volts that boils the acid.
A motorcycle specific charge has a computer chip in there that constantly monitors the voltage. It also sets the charge rate at full output when the battery is low. Once it reaches about 13.5 volts it drops the current very low, like .1 amps. This is just enough to over come the batteries self discharge rate.
Those cheap trickle chargers are a real boon to battery sellers.
Leo
 
XSLeo, Retiredgentleman, and TwoMany, that's great information there.

Looks like I have a cheap and nasty trickle-charger. Next buy is a charger which monitors and regulates the voltage charge rate - and, yes, the battery sellers must think it's harvest time.

Vibration will have been a contributing factor, too. So my next battery is a sealed unit type - and I always ride with lights on, so that will lend a hand to keeping the voltage down, but yes, I will be installing a VOLTMETER, that's a good idea without doubt. I did not know the PMA can put out enough voltage to boil the acid - I'll put that voltmeter right where I can see it. I have measured the trickle-charge at higher than 13.8v, so the battery was always going to get thirty very quick.

Shopping list
1. decent trickle charger
2. voltmeter
3. sealed unit batter
4. some rubber for the batter to sit on.

Again, feller, very helpful posts thanks.

ANLAF
 
Wal Mart sells a Schumacher charger, Around $20 A slightly upgraded more stream lined version of the SEM-1562A I have two of. They come with clip on leads as well as a set of leads that bolt on the battery.
My voltmeter ain't fancy. It's for a car and cost lees the $10 at Harbor Freight. I had to make the mount.
Leo
 

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XSLeo, the only question is, where does the volmeter go in my wiring diagram (attached). By the way, I only have on kill switch (2 is over-kill!).

ANLAF
 

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Yes, you over charged the battery. You might try leaving it on charge as the bad cell may eventually come back. I've killed many batteries, mostly motorcycle, by over charging.

I now have a smart charger. I love it. Compared to the bulk chargers, it is easy on a battery. I still use the bulk chargers to fast charge a car battery and to keep a full charge on a bike when I'm working on it. One of my frustrations is how many folks run down their tiny battery while working on their bike and then call me asking what's wrong. It's over and over.

I just brought an expensive AGM back from the dead after the owner left it sit dead over winter. I jumpered to a good battery and the charger tried to charge the good battery while the bad battery was along for the ride. The AGM was so dead it would not even register on the smart charger. I left it like this for about two hours but wasn't getting anywhere so I used a bulk charger, two amp setting, for about an hour. The AGM started to take a charge on the smart charger by itself! I still have it on the smart charger pulsing away and it is almost up to a full charge 24 hours later. I learned the parallel charge to a good battery trick from one of the Texas boys at VMD last year.

Tom
 

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Thanks, Tom. A smart charger is th eway I am going. I will get the old one when they finished playing with it at the shop trying to get out of the guarantee but if it is my fault, then so be it.

ANLAF
 
As twomany said, Hook the positive side of the volt meter to the red wire from the main switch to the fuses. The ground side most anywhere.
Leo
 
Thanks, TwoMany and XSLeo. That's just what I'll do. (apologies, TwoMany, I must have skipped over your reply above - new glasses needed).

I just went on eBay and , Wow! thousands of tiny push in digital voltmeters. I'll wade through and find one to suit and put it somewhere I can see it. Perhaps in a sugar bowl or a cake stand.

ANLAF
 
TwoMany and Leo, I am just checking out voltmeters. I understand the voltmeter has to have red hooked up between ignition and fuse and black to ground, but I the voltmeters I am looking at on eBay all have three wires. Does this mean the voltmeter must go in parallel on the wire between ignition and fuse, and black to ground?

Thanks fellers

ANLAF
 
Fellers, the power of the internet. Red is positive, black ground, the other wire goes to the ignition, which, of course means that the red and the other wire can be joined as one wire.

Got it.
 
I assume you are looking at digital meters, if so the third wire is the back light. So you can read them after dark.
The one on mine actually has four wires. Positive and ground for the meter and positive and ground for the light.
Leo
 

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