Battery Question

[hardleydavidson]

Hi,

I know nothing about batteries and I'm guessing mine's dead, it's been sitting for a couple of years, I tried charging it yesterday and the charger says it's full as soon as I connect it, left it on trickle for a couple of hours and tried it but nothing, is it completely dead?

[WD-40]

it's definitely dead

[hardleydavidson]

Thanks

[husoi]

It could be that is "sulphated" this happens when they sit doing nothing for long periods (anything over 6 weeks is a very long time for a battery)

There are some chargers that can fix the battery and they aren't expensive.

If you live in Scotland, I'll be happy to plug your battery to my charger and see if it can revive it.

It happened to me with my old battery, I thought was dead and now I have 2 working batteries

[hardleydavidson]

Thanks Husoi, alas being in Eastbourne I'm about as far as you can go from Scotland without getting wet

[Rob Taylor]

Just get a new battery mate and while you're at it, get yourself an optimate maintenance charger, it will save you a small fortune in batteries over the years.

[TimR]

Hi,

I know nothing about batteries and I'm guessing mine's dead, it's been sitting for a couple of years, I tried charging it yesterday and the charger says it's full as soon as I connect it, left it on trickle for a couple of hours and tried it but nothing, is it completely dead?

 

1. Have you checked the fluid level in battery if its possible ...?

2.Are you using a charger that is designed for motorcycle batteries as most car chargers will not recognise mc batteries .( Similar to what your described.

Generally max amperage charge is 1A for MC batteries whilst car battery chargers are 4A.

[WD-40]

If he left it sitting for a couple of years without charging it the chances of it coming back and being a good reliable battery are very slim. Better to get a new one and look after it properly in my opinion.

[hardleydavidson]

hi, it's the same charger I always used to use for it, worked back then. I've bitten the bullet and got a new battery, has a weird tube on the side of it, does that stay on or do I remove it? guessing it' some kind of ventilation port

[JRH]

Should stay on. My GPX battery had that and the tube went into a catch pot that exited just above the road surface .

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

hi, it's the same charger I always used to use for it, worked back then. I've bitten the bullet and got a new battery, has a weird tube on the side of it, does that stay on or do I remove it? guessing it' some kind of ventilation port

 

That's the vent tube. Leave it on.

If you're not using a battery either charge it something like once a month using a conventional charger. Or invest in an intelligent charger. I use CTEK chargers to maintain the bike batteries over the winter. They do a 0.8A bike specific one which I use on one bike. I have a 5.0A version which has a bike setting which I use on the other. You can get a remote lead which allows you to connect without needing to get at the battery.

A very flat battery often won't take a charge off a conventional charger. It depends on the voltage the battery is at. If it's below 10v most chargers will just refuse to charge them. You need to input a very low amp (about 500Ma) for a couple of hours to bring them back to 12v before connecting the usual charger.

But a battery left for 2 years will be toast. Batteries are really 6 batteries connected in series. So one cell always fails first and then the rest try to reverse charge it - then the whole lot is scrap.

[hardleydavidson]

Thanks,

This tube is filled with black putty like stuff half way up so is acting more like a cap than a vent, do I just swap it out for a regular tube(no gunk)?

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

I've never seen a vent tube blocked with putty. A photo would help. Are you sure something hasn't got into it by accident?

Any instructions with it? Or contact the place you bought it from.

[hardleydavidson]

Definitely been sealed, inch and a half pipe with black sealant of somekind looks like silicon sealent you'ld use for a bathroom but black.

Most bike pics I've seen just have a tube. wondering if this was put on for transport to stop it leaking.

http://www.systemben.com/battery.jpg

Edited May 20, 2020 by hardleydavidson

[rennie]

I think I'd be pulling it out!

no point in having a tube if it's blocked

[hardleydavidson]

Well I hope it wasn't important as I've just lost it, well that solves that one then.

[WD-40]

Yeah take that off. It's blocking the vent on the battery. There's usually a rubber pipe in the battery box on the bike. That goes from battery box to ground. You attach that onto the battery.

[WD-40]

hi, it's the same charger I always used to use for it, worked back then. I've bitten the bullet and got a new battery, has a weird tube on the side of it, does that stay on or do I remove it? guessing it' some kind of ventilation port

 

That's the vent tube. Leave it on.

If you're not using a battery either charge it something like once a month using a conventional charger. Or invest in an intelligent charger. I use CTEK chargers to maintain the bike batteries over the winter. They do a 0.8A bike specific one which I use on one bike. I have a 5.0A version which has a bike setting which I use on the other. You can get a remote lead which allows you to connect without needing to get at the battery.

A very flat battery often won't take a charge off a conventional charger. It depends on the voltage the battery is at. If it's below 10v most chargers will just refuse to charge them. You need to input a very low amp (about 500Ma) for a couple of hours to bring them back to 12v before connecting the usual charger.

But a battery left for 2 years will be toast. Batteries are really 6 batteries connected in series. So one cell always fails first and then the rest try to reverse charge it - then the whole lot is scrap.

 

If you've got a battery and it's voltage is too low for the charger to come on. You can make the charger come on by connecting a second battery in parallel to the low voltage battery. Parallel means connect the two batteries positive to positive and negative to negative. Then connect the charger to one of the batteries and it will come on and start to charge both batteries. Leave it for a few minutes to bring up the voltage on the low battery, then disconnect everything. The voltage on the low battery will now be high enough for the charger to come on and you can charge it as normal.

[hardleydavidson]

Thanks guys,

Battery charged and now on the bike, spent half an hour trying to get the lights working before I remembered the bike has to be running (been a while).

[TimR]

Re plastic pipe .

Batteries used to be supplied dry

But now they are shop filled and the plastic vent /drain pipe is temporarily plugged for transportation reason.

It should be stated in instructions /by supplier of the need to either change the pipe or remove the stopper

[WD-40]

Here's a bit of info on the new rules for buying batteries.

https://www.yuasa.co.uk/bike/motorcycle-epp-regulations-all-you-need-to-know/