Battery charging?

[maxrpg]

Hi all,

Been using my scooter for a couple of weeks and thought I should give the battery a charge before I take it out in the morning but I'm confused with what is happening.

The charger I have is this one from AUTOXEL:

http://autoxel.com/index.php?m=Home&c=Products&a=detail&id=3

The battery I have is: PTX4L-BS Powerline Motorcycle Battery 12V 4Ah AGM Technology

When I connect it to the charger I leave it on the default selection (Normal 12v/3.8A) and it blinks the charge percentage lights and it always seems to go to 100% within a few seconds.

I’ve been using my bike for a few weeks so don’t understand how the battery can still be at 100% charge.

Am I using the charger wrong?

Thank you.

[TimR]

you should be charging at no more than 1 amp on motorcycle batteries . most car charger will not recognise bike batteries

[TimR]

What bike do you have ?

you should not need to charge the battery as

it should charge itself when the bike is running ...

if it doesnt you have a charging problem or do you leave the bike unused for a while ?

Edited September 9, 2018 by TimR

[mikestrivens]

If you have been using the bike and the electrics are working properly then the battery is likely to be pretty well charged. Remember that the battery is only used for starting. The electrics run from the alternator when the bike is running.

[TimR]

reading charger specs i will say it is not suitable for motorcycle batteries ...Regardless of what it says

[mikestrivens]

I’d be inclined to get a bike specific charger like the Optimate if it a charger is actually required due to being left for long periods

[Stu]

Bikes have a charging system and charge the bike as its running there should be no need to charge the battery if you are using it daily

[maxrpg]

The scooter and battery was sitting doing nothing for a couple of months until 2 weeks ago when I started using it and a friend told me its a good idea to keep the battery in good condition by giving it a charge every month or so. So I got a charger on Friday and thought I'd give it a charge.

The charger does say it is suitable for motorcycle/scooter batteries

[Grumpy Old Git]

If you use the 'scooter' for long runs about once a week, it should not require additional charging. Left for a couple of months (in summer, with no 'active' alarm), it should also be OK. Cold winter months in storage - you should use something like an 'Optimiser' to keep the battery good.

[fastbob]

You say that you have been using the bike recently so surely the battery is fully charged by the bike hence the 100% charged indication on the charger . Happy days .

[Six30]

It’s charged... doesn’t need charging .

[fastbob]

The scooter and battery was sitting doing nothing for a couple of months until 2 weeks ago when I started using it and a friend told me its a good idea to keep the battery in good condition by giving it a charge every month or so. So I got a charger on Friday and thought I'd give it a charge.

The charger does say it is suitable for motorcycle/scooter batteries

Your friend isn't a battery charger salesman is he ?

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Blimey - not this again....

1. If you haven't been riding it for a couple of months the battery may have gone flat. Most chargers won't charge a totally flat battery. Check the battery voltage using a cheap multimeter. A charged battery should read about 12.5v. Anything less than 11v and they won't charge off a standard charger. You can 'prime' the battery using a very low trickle - about 500Ma - and there are cheap plug in chargers designed to do that. Give it a couple of hours then put your standard charger back and it should take the charge.

2. As said - you want to charge bike batteries at low amps. Your charger can put in 3.8 amp but ought to reduce that within a minute of connection to less than 1 amp so in theory it is suitable - but in practice the advice to use a bike specific charger is best. Or just buy one of those 500Ma chargers and leave it on overnight once a month.

3. The bike's charging system maintains battery charge but does not fully charge the battery to 100% capacity. That's not what it's designed for. If ridden regularly it will keep sufficient charge to start the bike so you'd never worry about it - but if you tested the electrolyte in the battery cells you'd find the specific gravity is less than max capacity. So the advice to give all batteries a monthly top up charge will keep the battery in top condition, especially over the winter. Again, you don't need an expensive all singing all dancing charger (though they are nice to have) - a simple low amp plug in jobbie does it fine.

4. If the battery is flat and you ride the bike 100 miles you will put some charge back into the battery - but as said above - the system is not designed to recharge flat batteries. So if you don't use the bike for a while using a trickle charger is the best way to raise the battery back to full capacity.