Topic: really dumb battery question

[fa fiddy]

Is it okay to leave the battery in the bike, with the leads connected, while using a 1-amp trickle charger? Having bought a miserable quality battery, and not having the time to replace it yet, I'm constantly needing to top off the charge. I ride it every day, but my commute is fairly short with a lot of idling time at red lights, and that seems to be draining the charge.

Anyway, removing and replacing the battery is costing me precious moments in my already frantic morning routine. To say nothing of the fact that I'm running out of techno-babble "this-is-the-nature-of-a-vintage-bike" explanations to placate my already skeptical girlfriend. But that's a whole other matter.

BTW, the charging system on the bike is working just fine.

Thanks fellas!

[MetalHead550]

Yeah thats fine.  Alot of guys leave their batteries in all winter with a trickle charger hooked up no prob.  Does it still have a charge when you start it to ride home?

[fa fiddy]

It's usually got a charge after work, but not always enough for the electric start to fire it up. I more or less rely on the kick start. I'm anxious to see if a "real" battery will solve this.

Thanks for assuaging my concerns about the trickle charger. I figured it was fine, but there was just enough doubt in my head to make me question it.

[El Taco]

I know it's not good for it, but I'll drop 10 amps on it while it's hooked up. Sometimes 20. I really need to figure out what's up with my charging system.

[Bob Wessner]

As in you will apply 10-20 amps of charging to it?? I seem to recall the max you should use on a lead acid batt. is 10% of it amp hour rating.

[eldar]

well for batteries, charging is all relative. You can jump them with higher amperages but only for short time periods. And you want to make sure you have sufficient electrolyte and that the battery is venting properly otherwise you could have a boom. The hydrogen gas output from a car battery can produce enough force to blow the hood off, now think of what would happen to the ever important butt crack?!
As for the original question, a new battery could help but while waiting at the stoplights, turn off any extra accessories that you can and rev the engine every so often. The bad zone is around 2000 rpm though, at that rpm, supposedly the charging system does nothing.

[Paul]

A word or caution, I had the same problem on my bikes as I only use them occasionally (dry weather). My trickle charger <2A. came with a permanent fused lead to install on the battry. So I used it regulary. Firstly... it always comes on when you plug it in first because it needs to charge up to approx 14V and then lets it drop to 12+ before going into monitor mode to hold it there. (Technically the battery should receive no charge whilst monitoring until it falls below 12V ish) or starts to draw a certain amount of Amps (Can't recall how much). trickle charger should only charge up to and not beyond the "gas" stage so everything would seem OK, However my battery only lasted 4 months whilst connected to the trickle charger until one cell went down. Since then I've left it off the charger and check it regularly - rather than leaving it plugged in 100% I just plug it in when the check shows a charge needed. On that note ...if your battery is that bad, then the trickle charger should do no more harm as it will keep it up there and not beyond which seems to have caused my trouble.  ( In a nutshell....bad battery probably won't get much worse....good battery ....only charge it when required provided there isn't something else causing the draw.  :-\even I'm confused now!

[Spear]

. . . and remember - hook the battery up before you turn the charger on, and make sure you turn the charger off before you remove the leads. May not sound important, BUT IT IS!

[Gordon]

This thread reminded me of another one from the Greenspun board a while back.  I remember someone (maybe Terry) saying he had come up with something that would rejuvenate a tired battery.  Does anobody know what I'm talking about? 

If it was Terry, maybe this is just another use for the amazing Vegemite!

Gordon

[Sandcast 2356]

alright, what in the world is the Vegemite of which you guys all speak??

[Bob Wessner]

Oh, oh, you have opened a real jar of worms 

[Gordon]

Worms, huh?  So that's what it's made out of! 

I think it might be about time for a Vegemite FAQ.  We can post those pictures of some of its many uses.

[StephenB]

No need for FAQ, it is all there.

See here, you could have google'd it yourself:

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~macinnis/vegemite.htm

And actually, it is a mere substitute for the good ol' english Marmite (... or was it the other way round?)

http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/marmite.htm

Stephen in ONtario

[El Taco]

This thread reminded me of another one from the Greenspun board a while back.  I remember someone (maybe Terry) saying he had come up with something that would rejuvenate a tired battery.  Does anobody know what I'm talking about? 

If it was Terry, maybe this is just another use for the amazing Vegemite!

Gordon

I've tried asprin. Grind them up and drop one in each cell. It's worked for me in car batteries, but I never tried it on a motorcycle battery.

[SteveD CB500F]

Those who've trolled over from the old board will be familiar with the "Brits vs Aussies" Marmite/Vegemite threads.

Raul was the one (did Terry mention it on this thread) who promised to post pictures of the effects of its use as:

• fuel additive
• carb cleaner
• chain lube
• marital aid

I wonder where he is now??

PS Anyone worked out how to use the "bullet list" feature?  Beats me.

Update - fixed with Bob's help!

[Bob Wessner]

Steve, just had to give the bullet thing a try, not sure it's worth the tedium though..

Click on the bulleted list icon at the point you want to start the list, it inserts several lines of HTML code. The first and last identify it as a list and the intermediate lines of code are where you would insert the items you want to list, each between the li and the /li...see what I mean about the tedium?

• Item 1
• Item 2
• Item 3

[Jonesy]

Raul was the one (did Terry mention it on this thread) who promised to post pictures of the effects of its use as:

• fuel additive
• carb cleaner
• chain lube
• marital aid

I wonder where he is now??

For those who missed it the first time around, here is Raul's website lauding the wonders of Vegemite when used properly on your favorite SOHC/4 motorcycle:

http://perso.wanadoo.es/camelo4/vegemite.html

Here's to "Angels crapping on your tongue!"

[SteveD CB500F]

Heh, heh...   I'd forgotten about that.

We should definitely have a "Humour" forum so that this sort of stuff doesn't get lost...

[Gordon]

Thanks for posting that link!  I used to have it bookmarked, but lost everything in the great computer crash of 2005. 
Anyone heard from Raul lately?

Gordon

[Jonesy]

Well, we can drop him a line and invite him over here....

I have his e-mail addy. I'll give him a shout.