Topic: winter battery charging

[jdj845]

Greetings to everyone.

Again I look to the groups collective wisdom for help!
Can I connect two motorcycles to the same charger?

Thanks in advance for answers..
Jim

[MetalHead550]

I guess you could do it if you hooked them up in series.  I would think hooking them up parallel would be a lot of draw and probably dangerous.  It sounds like a bad idea to me either way but we'll see what others think...

[Bob Wessner]

Just curious, what kind of charger are you talking about, standard trickle charger or some sort of batt. maintainer?

Wouldn't hooking them up in series create 24v?

Guess I would be inclined not to try this at all myself.

[eldar]

Bad idea on this one. If you were to do this, you would hook the batteries up in parallel not series. On top of that, if you are using a battery tender that is supposed to detect when to shutoff, having 2 batteries hooked to it would cause this feature to not work right in most cases unless you have a seriously expensive charger capable of detecting or being connected to 2 batteries. This really is not an issue anyways. Battereies do not lose charge that fast. Pull them out of the bikes and keep them warm. Once a month or so, top them off and that is all you need. There is no reason to keep a battery constantly hooked up to a charger.
After all, we do not constantly keep our car batteries hooked to a charger.

[scott_cb650]

I have charged 4 deep-cycle batteries at one time through the winter, for fishing.
Hook them up in parallel.  (In series sums the voltage, parallel sums the amperage.)
I didn't use a constant tender type charger however. I don't have one.
I would hook up the standard battery charger, that reduces the amperage as the batteries charge, and leave it on for 24 to 48 hours, once a month.

Works great.

[ProTeal55]

To be on the safe side , especially if you are using a " Battery Tender " type trickle , I would run
one charger per battery. I guy I used to work with tried doing two batt's off one
charger, and ended up buring his garage down

yes , he is / was a dumbass , but things do happen.............
Better to be safe then sorry ........

[csendker]

I agree they would have to be hooked in parallel.  But wouldn't the two batteries tend to level their respective charges?  I recall this when looking into a dual battery set-up for my trailer - it was highly recommended the two batteries be identical & new, or the less-charged will suck the charge out of the better one.  I'm not sure if this applies when charging, rather than discharging, but it would'nt be fun to have a good battery trashed by the other one.

[SteveD CB500F]

- it was highly recommended the two batteries be identical & new, or the less-charged will suck the charge out of the better one.

You're right.  Batteries offer a very low impedence and if you hook two lead/acid batteries in parallel, the one with the lower charge will suck an ENORMOUS current for a short time from the good one. This could be a battery destroying (plate bending) event.

[ProTeal55]

The company that makes the "Battery Tender" products does offer one charger designed to
charge mutilple battery's at the same time.

We have one here at work to keep new batt's charged and ready to be sold. The one we have here has the
capicity to charge up to 10 12v batterys at the same time , and maintain them.

Not sure if they sell a smaller unit .....

[eldar]

I bet that thing is pricey

[TwoTired]

Can I connect two motorcycles to the same charger?

Of course you can!  (simple question, simple answer!)

Should you, can you do it safely, and without damage to people and property are quite different questions.  (I know... you didn't ask those.)
But, if you did.  We might be able to answer meaningfully if we had more info:

What are your goals and desired outcome?

May we assume your two motorcycles both have the same cell type, number, and capacity?

Do you have a charger in mind?  What are it's specifications? There are 1000's out there with widely varying capabilities and built in intelligence (or lack thereof).  How much of this intelligence, physical intervention, and attention are you willing to supply?   Can you operate a voltmeter?

Without a lot more info to go with the original question, I'd have to recommend that you don't connect two motorcycles to the same charger.  But, it might be done if approached properly.

Cheers,

[ProTeal55]

Here is a 4 battery charger/Maintainer I found online.
Looks to go from this one , to a 5 and 10 battery model........

http://batterytender.com/product_info.php?products_id=19

[dusterdude]

damn teal,you`re on the ball today!!!

[ProTeal55]

Got the day off from work 

[MetalHead550]

Well #$%*, had it reversed, sorry     good thing Im not an electrician.

$260 for a 4 bank battery tender?  Screw that, Ill save my money and give em turns.  Cool tho.

[jdj845]

Well thanks everyone for all the input.. Two different bikes, not the same make of batteries.
Guess I'll just get another charger. They are cheap enough anyway.

Thanks again,
Jim

[Bob Wessner]

I've used this site before re: battery information. It contains about all you will ever need.. and then some.

http://www.uuhome.de/william.darden/