Battery Observation

[thundermax]

Battery stopped performing at acceptable level, even stopped being charged with trickle charger. Took it out and what I found was a conventional battery that every cell had very little acid in. One cell had 1/2 inch, some had 1 1/2 inch, one had 2 inches, from the bottom up.

Asking for comment: Do you think I was trickle charging too much (used it a lot). Is a Junior, do you think it was using too many amps and causing too much heat, looked like fluid was boiled out the top holes even with caps on.

Replaced with a conventional perfect match Interstate battery. Did the initial trickle charge to solid green light, took it off. Think I will trickle it only monthly now.

This is one thing I did not think of doing and that is topping off the battery once a year in case of low amounts. Intestate battery salesman said to use regular water to fill.

Comments?

 

[jfeagins]

Constant trickle charging would be bad. Constant battery maintainer is good. Be sure the dvc you use is designed to maintain, and not simply trickle charge constantly.

No matter which, if any, charger/maintainer you use, always check the acid levels of a wet-cell type battery regularly. I wouldn't wait a full year, especially during riding season. Top off with only distilled water for longest possible battery life.

 

[DMAN999]

Constant trickle charging would be bad. Constant battery maintainer is good. Be sure the dvc you use is designed to maintain, and not simply trickle charge constantly.

No matter which, if any, charger/maintainer you use, always check the acid levels of a wet-cell type battery regularly. I wouldn't wait a full year, especially during riding season. Top off with only distilled water for longest possible battery life.

+1.

Next time buy a Good SLA-AGM Battery and you won't have to worry about Acid Levels, ever !

 

[gamorg02]

i trickle charged the acid out of my regular battery. at that point i went to a sealed, maint free and didn't trickle charge all the time either.

 

[thundermax]

I wanted an Interstate battery. But they told me they did not have the sealed AGM style for the bike. So I got their conventional.

 

[ZackDaniels]

You really can't 'trickle charge' too much provided it's a proper smart controlled battery maintainer which your Battery Tender Jr. is.

Acid batteries can leak as you described for a load of other reasons though. Typically it starts with a loose connection, a bit of moisture, and/or a bit of corrosion.

Once the smallest bit of corrosion starts it adds resistance which adds heat which adds more corrosion caused by the acid leaking out, which results in even more of the same.

Be sure your connectors are clean, treat with anti-corrosion junk for the $0.99 per packet it comes in, and confidently leave a maintainer on there forever. If you installed the little pigtail guy for quick connect/disconnect then you may want to be sure you got a nice snug connection on the terminals + pigtail loops.

Personally - I only bother with the battery maintainer over the winter or otherwise expected multiple week long storage. Hooking it up regularly doesn't do a lot for the battery life and can disguise charging problems. Though it doesn't directly hurt anything.

 

[m-cman]

Just sitting, the level will go down with evaporation, etc. Should be checked once a month. The battery on the Max is so difficult to check that I will never again use a non-maintenance free battery. Never use tap water, distilled only!

 

[WVxNitemare]

My battery was toast this spring. Took it out and levels were down to two thirds. I bought some distilled water and topped them up and charged for two hours. Figured what the heck if it works great if not ill buy new. Anyway works like a charm now. Tested by starting and shutting off 14 times in a row. I could never do that last year si im happy.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

 

[sdt354]

Just sitting, the level will go down with evaporation, etc. Should be checked once a month. The battery on the Max is so difficult to check that I will never again use a non-maintenance free battery. Never use tap water, distilled only!

+1 on all.
I like a good 1-1 1/2 hr 10-15 amp zap to any battery that's low. I never trickle charge my sealed battery. The AGM batteries are cheaper, less messy and more powerfull too, depending on what brand you buy. I always fully charge a new battery before install.
Steve-o

 

[95spfldmax]

I find I need to check my battery level about halfway thru season......around July or so and obviously at the end of it.......the only other reason your battery should loose fluid too quickly not mentioned here directly is from an overcharging situation brought by the bike's charging system malfunctioning.......more than 15V........but the tell-tale signs of that are acid spots under the bike (hhmmmm :ummm and/or light bulbs failing......

 

[Fire-medic]

I find I need to check my battery level about halfway thru season......around July or so and obviously at the end of it.......the only other reason your battery should loose fluid too quickly not mentioned here directly is from an overcharging situation brought by the bike's charging system malfunctioning.......more than 15V........but the tell-tale signs of that are acid spots under the bike (hhmmmm :ummm and/or light bulbs failing......

Yeah, but for a few moments, you have really-great night-time vision!:biglaugh:

I've had the failed voltage regulator issue on multiple bikes, and yes, the headlight gets very bright, just before the filament fails. The headlight acts like an expensive fuse.

 

[RaWarrior]

Ditch the el cheapo open cell batteries. Trust me, spending a little more on a high quality sealed battery can and will save you headaches and money in the long run. The vmax needs a lot of power to start as well.

The Odyssey PC680 sealed I had in mine was going on 8 years old when I sold the bike and still tested like brand new and spun the motor over like a top. In the winter it was left plugged into a battery tender junior, otherwise untouched the entire time. A battery tender can be left plugged in indefinitely, it will never overcharge the battery. Once it's "full", it switches to a super low current "maintenance" charge.

Pop for a good sealed battery, another $40 for a Deltran junior, and you can kiss battery issues goodbye.

The lightweight lithium batteries are the latest thing, though I'm not sold on them yet. Give it another few years to see how they hold up over time.