Ingah Posted October 27, 2009 Posted October 27, 2009 I did a 45 minute journey on my CB500 (most of it on the motorway) to where i am staying now.Does anyone know if that have been a "quick" charge or a "normal" charge?In my Haynes and workshop manual i'm presented with:A charging rate of:Normal: 0.9A for 5-10 hours.Quick: 4.0A for 1 hour.Battery is 12V, 8AhI managed to completely drain my (just weeks old) battery out over the weekend, by starting and stopping the bike for a coolant change/flush, changing the oil and a few other odd jobs, and using the headlights like a lamp . As it was at the top of a steep hill, it was easy to bump start it away. But i'm not there now, i'm miles away, on flat land...I'm trying to work out approximately how much charge the journey will have put back in the battery so it doesn't flatten again as i have never been able to successfully bump start it on flat land.The big reason for my concern is that the bike has a fancy alarm that i think drains ~35mA when active (which it has to be).That and i'm not in possession of a battery charger and am trying to avoid buying one until i really have to. Quote
Guest Posted October 27, 2009 Posted October 27, 2009 as long as the bike is used regularly, you should have no dramas. you can get bike chargers quite cheaply, but frequent riding will save the need to put it on charge.. Quote
Ingah Posted October 27, 2009 Author Posted October 27, 2009 On this occasion i'm probably not going to use the bike for a week. Oh wait...35 x 24 x 7 = 5800mA...I think i've just answered my own question - I'm pretty certain that i haven't just put 5.8Ah back in that battery Assuming it was even a quick charge it will have 3Ah in it (4A x 0.75hours)Maybe it's time to bite the bullet and turn the motion sensor off (20mA). Or invent a reason to go riding Quote
Guest Posted October 27, 2009 Posted October 27, 2009 where is it stored?do you have a big chain/cable lock to tether it to an immovable object, thereby not needing the motion sensor (insurance ?) or alarm. Quote
Pete Posted October 27, 2009 Posted October 27, 2009 Once a battery is drained entirely it will never be the same again The best example of this that I have is that the battery on one of my bikes went last year, I bumped it, ran it for about 2 hours, pulled over to make a call to my mate who I was staying with, after literally 3 minutes on the phone...nothing. Battery was totally buggered. However, a decent battery charger can help lots and lots. You say you're trying to avoid getting one, but I personally consider them a must have accessory for any bike. Lots of bike owners will say one of the main problems with bikes is the battery. If you can just plug the bike in when you get home from a ride and leave it, the charger will take care of it. There are a few good ones, I use an Optimate 3 (there's a newer one out now, but they do the same thing) and I hear the Oxford Oximiser is a good 'un too.My best success story so far is when I went to pick up my current bike. The guy fired it up outside his house, seemed to start OK, switched it off. Signed all the paperwork, started it again. Rode literally 2 minutes away to fill it up (tight arse didn't even fill it up!)...dead. Had to get someone to bump me on the forecourt! The first thing I did when I got home was get my Optimate on the case and it's been plain sailing ever since, like new (well, it starts great every time now anyway!).Many new chargers like the Optimate and Oximiser (I think) "condition" the battery and can go a long way to bringing the general "health" back up to scratch. Regarding your battery I think it may be a worthwhile investment to get a new charger (or second hand off ebay ). The worst thing in the world (OK, praps not that bad) is to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with a dead battery...like you are now Quote
urbanmark Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 Hey! What a nice post from Pete! Very informative. Quote
Chrissb6 Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 Hi, The amount of charge put into a battery is controlled by the bikes voltage regulator. So time is not the factor, the condition of the battery governs how much charge the alternator puts out. A battery that kept in a poor state of charge can and will put unnessasary strain on the charging circuit and componants you could end up with a knackerd alternator or voltage regulator, also doing this puts an excessive voltage - charge into the flat battery which ends up boiling it dry - shortning the batterys life. So, as said, if your running a alarm that you know is a drain on the battery its best to connect the bike up to an optimate charger. Long term they well pay for themselves. Quote
Ingah Posted October 28, 2009 Author Posted October 28, 2009 Thank you for those responses, given me plenty to think about.WF:1) Most of the time (at uni) the bike is stored in a city, out in the open, chained with an Almax 3 to a nearby lamppost. The reason i like the motion sensor is that if someone has thoughts about angle-grinding the chain off (if they really want an crusty old CB5 that is...) they will decide against it when they realise they can't even do that, without setting the motion sensor alarm off. The advantage to this is that my fob will also tell me that the sensor is going off, and that even if people are happy to ignore a few big blokes angle-grinding a bike chain, they (and me, via key fob), WILL know that the guy(s) is(are) trying to steal it (as the alarm will be going off too...) The additional protection here is against vandalism and other students that could attempt to steal a trophy from the bike (neither of which the chain alone would deter). The downside to the motion sensor (which can be disabled without taking off the alarm) is both the extra current drain and the fact that i can't cover the bike too else the wind-caused movement will set the alarm off. I tend to opt for one or the other, so i've decided to switch the motion sensor off and cover the bike instead for a few days.2) At the girlfriends (where i spend far too much time for my own good rather than studying ) the bike is stored outside again, in a similar sort of way (except her house is a run-down village rather than a busy city).You've made me think again pete, i see your point.A problem i've got with chargers though is no garage in which to plug the bike in for a maintainance/trickle charge/top up - the only way i can fathom would be to pull the fuse out the alarm system (which as a plus the alarm manufacturer does say is safe), take the battery out the bike, and then put it on charge indoors. It's not something i would want to faff with often.Thinking about it though, i'll go and buy a charger with:Dead battery recovery.Over-charging prevention (i'm forgetful).Safety (don't want my heavy-handedness to blow fuses etc).Other features that mean with only occassional use will make my battery last longer.Have read the Oxford Oximiser doesn't prevent over-charging Unfortunately price is very much an issue (left my part-time job recently as the place i started working at was making me feel really down), otherwise i'd just buy an Optimate 4 (50 damn quid though!!!?), does anyone have any further ideas on which charger might suit me (never had one)? Quote
Ingah Posted October 28, 2009 Author Posted October 28, 2009 Just looking at a cheap one:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/12V-ATV-CAR-QUAD-VAN-MOTORCYCLE-BATTERY-TRICKLE-CHARGER_W0QQitemZ310174326832QQcmdZViewItem?rvr_id=&rvr_id=&cguid=01de9b921240a0aad4d18041fce55c60Is that up to the job of the odd battery top up? (a few hours charging it just to keep it from running completely flat).Granted, it doesn't have any advanced features but it's really cheap and claims to be suitable for motorbikes. It can't blow up my battery, right?Edit: In the end i went and bought the Oxford Oximiser as it turns out that it actually does do all the things i listed, and as it's under half the price of the Optimate i thought i could strech my wallet to it http://www.countybatteryservices.co.uk/12v-oximiser-motorcycle-battery-charger-up-to-30ah-gelmflead-f010101-p-2941.html - Once postage is added it cost £23. Quote
Pete Posted October 28, 2009 Posted October 28, 2009 Job well done although I can't get the site to load at the moment, must be having a tea break or something.I'm glad you didn't go for the cheap-o plug in jobby. I've never used one, but I do wonder why they're so cheap... Quote
Takanta Posted October 29, 2009 Posted October 29, 2009 Job well done although I can't get the site to load at the moment, must be having a tea break or something.I'm glad you didn't go for the cheap-o plug in jobby. I've never used one, but I do wonder why they're so cheap... needing to get myself a charger soon aswell,haha the cheap ones probably a homemade laptop charger with crocodile clips attacted Quote
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