Topic: BATTERY NOT HOLDING CHARGE

[BobbyR]

well tried again after i had the battery on charge for at least 24 hours. bike started and idled fine, for the hell of it hooked up a multimeter set to dvc at 20 and touched the probes to both side of the battery. showed a reading of 12.68 with the bike off. then started and let idle, the reading was 11.78. both readings did flucuate slightly. i am assuming the battery is still not fully charged.

If your reading is 11.78 with the bike running it is being discharged. Try bringing up the idle and watch the voltages. Somewhere around 1,500 - 2,000 rpm it should start charging. If not, your regulator is out of adjustment.

[carl550k]

just checked again bike off 9.81. with the bike running it is 11.68, if you bring up the rpm's the voltage will rise/increase steadily.the battery lost voltage just sitting overnite and it didn't go under 55 degrees.

[BobbyR]

just checked again bike off 9.81. with the bike running it is 11.68, if you bring up the rpm's the voltage will rise/increase steadily.the battery lost voltage just sitting overnite and it didn't go under 55 degrees.

If your voltage is going up into the 14V range. A trip to Walmart or Sears is in order.

[eldar]

I recently got a new battery. I got an AGM batt from batteries plus. Fully charged and ready to go. It is the exact same size plus it came with 2 BIG bonuses. I do not have to add water! I also do not have a drain tube and no more worries about acid corroding my batt box!
Plus from what I have read, you get much more cranking amps from these batteries than you do from a standard batt.  It was $58 or so.  I have also read various sources online that say these batteries last longer and are more resistant to vibrational damage.

[ic455]

I recently got a new battery. I got an AGM batt from batteries plus. Fully charged and ready to go. It is the exact same size plus it came with 2 BIG bonuses. I do not have to add water! I also do not have a drain tube and no more worries about acid corroding my batt box!
Plus from what I have read, you get much more cranking amps from these batteries than you do from a standard batt.  It was $58 or so.  I have also read various sources online that say these batteries last longer and are more resistant to vibrational damage.

Is that a Gel Cell, or similar?

[eldar]

Absorbed glass mat. It is a more advanced batt than a gel. It would be like an optima.

[ic455]

Absorbed glass mat. It is a more advanced batt than a gel. It would be like an optima.

is this it?
http://www.batteriesplus.com/pc-34344-59-XTA14AHL-BS%20XTREME%20PERMASEAL%20HIGH%20PERFORMANCE%20AGM%20POWERSPORT%20BATTERY.aspx

[eldar]

That would be it. Great little battery. It has a lower amp hour rating but delivers more amps but that is always a trade off.  Kinda like when you add more batteries together. The more you add, the higher the voltage which is able to then overcome the internal resistance and deliver more amperage but the batteries will run down quicker. But in this case, the glass mat holds the solution onto the plates for better coverage which produces more amperage but about the same voltage.

[ic455]

cool, Eldar, thanks for the heads up.  Needed a new battery anyway, glad to have a better option.

[johnny-from-bel]

In 2003 I wrote following mail to the sohc4 mailing list.
Until today (2007) the mentioned test battery is still in service.



There have been a lot of messages and discussions on using EDTA. I decided
to try it out for myself.
The object of the test is a battery that I put out of commission 3 years
ago because it could not hold its charge (red light on my batt. charger).

When I diched out the battery it was 90% dry. So I topped with distilled
water, the tension was 5.5V.

So I ordered some EDTA and followed the instructions ; disolve in water and
add 0.5ml per cell for a 12AH battery.

Shake and leave it for a few days. Visualy I can see chips of coppersulfate
falling to the bottem. This means the sulfate is comming lose from the
plates. As it does not conduct electricity it does not do any harm. Now for
the test, I hooked it up to the charger. Orange light good sign, after two
days on the charger still no green light. So I decided to add an other 1 ml
EDTA solution and repeat the treatement. Still no green light after 3 days.

So far I had only been charging so I deceded to reverse the process and
hooked up a 12W lamp for a night. In the morning the battery was completely
depleted (0V). I unhooked the lamp and put the battery on the charger after
two days I had a green light from the charger.

If not completely, the EDTA tratement has made the battery usable again.

I am now adding 1 ml EDTA solution to every battery I have. Just to slow
down the sulfatation process.

This is just my personal experience, yours may vary.

Johnny-from-belgium.

Of course this all does not help faeces if your charging system does not work properly.

The fore mentioned battery died last week. Bought an new Yahusa, it comes with a sulfate stop (EDTA) allready in it.

The weather is fabulous. So I poped the battery in the  F2 and went for a spin. I usualy ride to my brothers place (he has a considerable stock of premium beers   )

Only one though, no drunk driving !