Battery Question

[loehring]

I have a battery question. I had to purchase a new battery so I purchased a charger to make sure I had a good charge from the start. While I was getting the battery I had a mechanic tell me that it took approx 30 minutes of riding to recharge the battery from what it took to start the bike. I tend to ride some shoert distances because I use my bike as a primary mode of transportation. My question is this, is it bad to charge the battery frequently? If I were to plug the charger in weekly, or even nightly would it be bad for the battery or would it actually help? I don't know that much about it so I figured I'd ask the smartest group I know.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[BuddyRich]

As I understand it a battery should be charged all the time. Its not good to keep draining a standard automotive/motorcycle battery. So keeping it charged is a good thing

[GeorgeS]

If your charging system is functioning Correctly, you should have no problem.

 

Except if All of your rides are short, then I would suggest useing the charger about once a month.

 

A good Quick check of your charging system, is Read the Voltage on the + Stud of the battery, with engine running at about 2000 RPM.

 

You should see at least 13.5 Volts on a good Digital Meter. ( not the instrument panel meter ) If in the low 13 range, or high 12 volt range, I would do some more serious checking of the Alternater Output. Which is, 3 phase AC, check the AC voltage on Each leg, at the large white Plug on left side of bike, ( has 3 , White, #14 wires going thru it) Open the plug, clean the pins with contact cleaner, make sure there is no sign of carbon build up in the pull apart plugs.

 

Reconnect plug, stick meter probes in end of plug, read voltage to ground on each of the 3 wires. You should see 6 to 14 volts AC.

Each leg should be almost the same. ( AC, NOT DC !! )

 

If one leg is substantialy lower then the other two, you may need a new Stator Assembly.

[loehring]

Wow George. Now you're way over my head. I wish one of you guys lived near Buford GA. I am a novice when it comes to mechanics. I try to do a lot myself but I don't have the tools or expertise for a lot of these tests.

[Ozmonster]

I do quite a bit of work on stand-by power generators, which sit for periods without running. The batteries are kept at a constant charge by battery chargers. The most common problem I see, LOW ELECTROLYTE LEVELS. While the charger is on, and applying current to the battery, it will evapourate the fluid from the cells. If you're going to apply a charge to your battery, on a weekly or monthly overnight basis, I would highly recommend that you monitor the fluid levels, and top off with distilled water when needed. The chargers we use are industrial, automatic types, 10 Amps DC on high, 200 milli amps on low. A regular automotive type purchased from a local parts dealer, will probably be in the 6-10 Amp range, the higher the current the more fluid which will be lost on extended charges.

 

Food for thought, and just my 2 cents.

 

Jim

[GeorgeS]

Charge it once a month, no matter what anybody tells you !!!

 

Check the water level once a month.

 

If its NOT a Sealed battery, keep the water level correct.

ONLY ADD DISTILLED WATER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steal the Distilled water, that your wife keeps in the laundry room for

her Steam Iron, IT WORKS GREAT, AND DON'T COST ANYTHING.

 

At local auto parts, you can order a small battery Hydrometer for motorcycle batteries, ( About $3.00) for checking the specific gravity of the fluid.

( It doubles for adding distilled water when necessary )

 

Don't over charge, Only set your charger, to 2 amps, 2 to 4 hours once a month should do it.

 

If completly dead battery, would take abouth 8 hours at 2 amp rate.

 

Do Not charge a motorcycle battery at MORE then a 2 AMP Rate. (Never, ever )

 

A Trickle charger, is for keeping a fully charged battery at full charge,

it will not bring a very low state battery up to full charge.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

................ My question is this, is it bad to charge the battery frequently? If I were to plug the charger in weekly, or even nightly would it be bad for the battery or would it actually help? I don't know that much about it so I figured I'd ask the smartest group I know.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

 

If you bought a float type automatic charger, like a Battery Tender, (about .75 to 1.25 amps) you can leave it on all the time if you want. It wont hurt the battery to leave it on everytime you park the bike. If you only short trip the bike then its a good idea to plug in the charger every night or two, or during the week if the bike is parked. They make a little pigtail to attach to the bike's battery to make it easy to hook and unhook quickly.

 

If you bought some kind of trickle charger, (2 amps)or a small automobile charger( 6-10 amps), then no...dont leave it on long. MAYBE for a few hours at a time. Other wise it will overcharge the battery. Dont even think of using a large automotive charger, (12 amps or more).

 

I use the automatic chargers and keep my bikes on life support all year long, whenever they will be parked for more than a couple of days. Batteries have a self discharge rate of 1-5% per month, depending on temperature, and the battery in my Electraglide is now 7 years old, and still going strong.

 

YMMV!

 

 

[Dano]

You can go to any auto parts place and buy a standard analog (needle) type voltmeter for 10-15 bucks. Read the manual that comes with it (the AC/DC measuring section), you won't need any of the other stuff it can do. Check your voltage (DC) from the red wire post (+) to a ground (screw head or bare metal). This is where you read the 13.5 or more volts as you are twisting the throttle up to around 2000 rpm's. These stators do not put out enough voltage at idle to charge. The white plug he is talking about is under the left side panel, it just pops off after you take the lower strap off. Next to the frame riser you see under the seat, is the white plug GeorgeS was telling about. Follow his instructions, clean the plug with some contact cleaner you can also find at the parts store, and hope for the best.

 

Or,,,, have someone look at the headlight on high beam while you are at idle, then rev the motor up to 2000 rpm and see if it gets brighter(cheater way of checking it!) If it doesn't get brighter, THEN check with the voltmeter.

Good luck! and Merry Christmas!

Dan

[loehring]

This is all great information. Thanks everyone. I bought the Deltran Battery Tender Jr. It has that pigtail mentioned. It has an LED that glows red when it's charging, flashes green when the battery is at 85% and steady green when the battery is fully charged. It looks like something I could connect regularly. The battery is a wet cell so the information about keeping an eye on the levels is great. I knew to use distilled water but I didn't know that charging could evaporate the water. I would like to do the real test but the headlight one is something I can do now without borrowing any tools.

 

Thanks again. You guys are great.