Battery Woes | GTAMotorcycle.com

Battery Woes

Kri$han

Kri$han

Well-known member
Just tried to start it up for the season and my battery won't start the bike - turns all the lights on, but not enough amperage to turn the motor over.

Background:
- I had a Yuasa battery for ~4 seasons, and I used to leave it in the bike and hook it up to a trickle charger when I stored it (all winter). Never had a problem.
- last winter (fall 2014) I decided to fully take the battery out of the bike and use the trickle charger all winter in my basement.
- this same situation happened in spring: no start. So I took it to a shop and had it tested: it was fried.

- shop guy sells me a "Durabatt" battery and I get a "proper" battery tender from CT, cuz Internet research told me that using a trickle charger all winter can harm the battery.

End of last year (fall 2015): I took the battery out and let it sit on its own for a few months, then hooked it up to my new fancy $100 battery tender.

Tender showed ~11.8 ish volts when I hooked it up (weird), but in a day or two it got to 13.4v.

After trying to start it, I'm back in the basement trying to charge it and it's reading 13.4v again, and charging at 2A... Says battery capacity is "LO"

I am so. *******. Confused.

Any ideas wtf happened? And how the hell to do this properly? :/
 
Battery is toast. It's sulfated from sitting a couple of months. 11.8v is dead.
 
I have had better luck just leaving batteries alone for the winter. No charging, no battery tender. Just leave them sit.
 
AGM's self-discharge very slowly when left unattended. Flooded-cell types are much faster and easier to sulfate.
 
Brian P said:
I have had better luck just leaving batteries alone for the winter. No charging, no battery tender. Just leave them sit.
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Right! Several people have told me this too: no charger, no nothing - just let it sit in the bike all winter.

So how is that different than removing it and letting sit at room temperature?
 
When you leave it in the basement, do you sit it directly on the concrete floor?

Sent from my Le Pan TC802A using Tapatalk
 
Iceman said:
When you leave it in the basement, do you sit it directly on the concrete floor?

Sent from my Le Pan TC802A using Tapatalk
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Nope - it and the tender sat on some boxes. 6-12" up from the floor

Update:

After I created this thread, I brought the battery back home and did a "high voltage" quick charge for 2 hours during the game (GO RAPS!!!)

Took it back, put it in the bike and immediately started it up (earlier today when I put it in, tested the lights first, then took 45 mins to reassemble stuff before trying to start it, and failing)

Got it home now! I'll update you all to report what it does in the morning.

Thanks for the input so far, but I'm not convinced that I did anything wrong or misused this battery in any way.

Both the manual for the tender and battery say it's okay for the battery to fall below 11.8v - it'll just need more time to charge.

I wonder if it'll be covered under warranty.
 
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No dice this morning.

Okay so now I need recommendations: go back to Yuasa?
Does Canadian Tire have good batteries? I've used Eliminators in two of my previous cars with great success...

And lastly, how tf do I store it in winter? I was thinking of keeping it in the bike this time, and hooking the tender up to it. Manual says to connect the negative lead to the chassis, but the bike frame is aluminum :\ where's the best place to connect it? I wanna hear from someone who gets more than 4 years out of an "industry leading" battery...
 
Don't really understand all the issues....most lead acid batteries can sit for a while if stored while near/fully charged and not drop in voltage terribly. What kills them is either freezing or the small parasitic train the bike (plus alarm if you have one) can place on them. Cars do this too, but a 50Ah car battery will last a lot longer in those conditions than a 10Ah motorcycle battery.

In my case, I typically have pulled the battery after about 2-3 weeks of no riding at the end of the season...bring it inside, top it up, and then let it sit on a shelf for 2-3 months...maybe topping it up again once or twice, and then making sure it is topped up before I reinstall it in the bike in spring. I use a CTek 3300 for both the car and bike in case that matters.

Also since my car sleeps most of winter...if it sits for 2-3 weeks or more I'll disconnect the battery and leave it in the car. If it sits more than 4, I'll bring it upstairs and charge it too. I do use an Optima YellowTop in the car, so it is designed to be treated a little more roughly than a traditional car battery.

As for voltages, the big thing is the voltage under load when you are cranking. A battery can test as good at rest, but if it drops too low when there is a 30A or so draw, then likely a cell is bad and it really is nothing more than a paperweight. From my understanding a resting voltage of around 11.5v or under is about the point where it will take damage and might reach the point of no return (plus NEVER try to start on a near dead battery unless you do want to kill it).
 
I have an '03 'Wing and it's still on it's first battery (OEM). When not in use it's connected to a Battery Tender Plus, year round. I ran the plug-in lead from the battery terminals, through the frame, to an unobtrusive, out of the way spot, that's easy to get to. Park the bike, take a couple of seconds to plug it in - walk away.
In the winter, if you leave it on a "maintainer" - you can leave the battery connected to the bike - the maintainer will kick in, once the battery voltage drops below a pre-programmed value. If the battery is disconnected, just make sure it's fully charged and leave it in your garage. A cold battery will self-discharge much slower than a warm one. Get yourself a multi-meter, if you don't have one - you can get something adequate at CTC for $20-$30 - they go on sale all the time. Once a month, while the battery is sitting (and not hooked up) check the voltage - once it drops below 12.5 V (in a good condition battery, this could take a long time) hook it up to a charger that will charge around 1.5 - 2 amps max. Check your battery every couple of hours - don't leave it charging overnight (unattended), unless you are using a "maintainer" style of charger. Once the battery is charged, let it sit for 12 -24 hours and check the voltage level again - it will be between a quarter and a half a volt lower than when you first disconnected it, which is normal, as it can take that long for the surface charge to dissipate.
 
Go to Glen @ FS MOTORCYCLE ; he will sell you a good quality (Yuasa) and have options for less expensive batteries.


Sounds like the battery you got is a dud, might have a dead cell. Glen will stand behind what it sells and try his best to warranty stuff even if its just out if its warranty.
 
^ Thanks gents - I emailed Ace Moto Tech and Brampton Power Sports today to see what their pricing is like. I think I'd like to try an "AGM" battery this time, as they should be more durable.

Looks like I should've checked the reviews before buying this ****ing POS:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/m...ry-charger-12-8-2a-0111518p.html#.VxoYRPkrJD_

Gonna try to exchange it for this one:
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/noco-genius-g3500-smart-battery-charger-0111927p.html#.VxoYTfkrJD8

And from now on, I'm leaving the damn battery in the bike over winter and hooking up the smart charger to it.

Typically during summer, my bike rarely sits for more than 14 days without being used.

When that Yuasa battery died on me after only 4 seasons (April 2010 - April 2014), I was really disheartened, and thought this "intelligent" charger thing would solve my issues. IMO a battery should last 6 years, especially if you're keeping it charged when not in use like I was, and I assumed that trickle charger just destroyed it.
 
I've used these chargers on my moto batteries for years without any issues, maybe consider them?

bt.plus.12v.01.lg.jpg


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Are you certain your reg/rec (regulator/rectifier) is working properly? A bad rectifier diode can drain a battery fairly quickly.
 
Blackfin said:
Are you certain your reg/rec (regulator/rectifier) is working properly? A bad rectifier diode can drain a battery fairly quickly.
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What would it be like during the summers if I had a bad regulator/rectifier?

When I use the bike during riding season it never has any issues - starts up every time and is very reliable.
 
Kri$han said:
What would it be like during the summers if I had a bad regulator/rectifier?

When I use the bike during riding season it never has any issues - starts up every time and is very reliable.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking specifically of your posts 10 & 11 here where you charged it last night and this morning it's dead. Try charging it, installing it and disconnecting the reg/rec. The next morning, plug in the reg/rec and try to start it. If it starts you may have found the drain path in the rectifier. With it running, use a DVM to measure the DC and AC voltage at the battery terminals. A bad diode can show up as excessive AC ripple when the engine is running...

A bad diode will be agnostic about season or temperature: if it's bad, it will drain the battery. I'm just wondering if this is a new development this season and you're thinking it's the battery when it's actually something else.

You didn't accidentally connect the battery backwards while installing it the first time this season did you?
 
Blackfin said:
I'm thinking specifically of your posts 10 & 11 here where you charged it last night and this morning it's dead. Try charging it, installing it and disconnecting the reg/rec. The next morning, plug in the reg/rec and try to start it. If it starts you may have found the drain path in the rectifier. With it running, use a DVM to measure the DC and AC voltage at the battery terminals. A bad diode can show up as excessive AC ripple when the engine is running...

A bad diode will be agnostic about season or temperature: if it's bad, it will drain the battery. I'm just wondering if this is a new development this season and you're thinking it's the battery when it's actually something else.

You didn't accidentally connect the battery backwards while installing it the first time this season did you?
Click to expand...

haha, no definitely didn't install it backwards. ever.

I actually attempted to start the bike twice last night;

First time: took it off the tender, went to storage spot, installed battery, checked lights - all was good. Took about 45 mins to gear up, reassemble the seat, etc, pack tools away in car, then tried to start it *click*. Lights go out, nothing.

Went home, put it back on the tender and tried the "high voltage repair/quick charge thing"... got it full in a bit over an hour.

Second try: put battery in, immediately turned key and started it right up. Assemble while running and rode home. Left battery in the bike all night.

This morning when I tried it, it would turn the bike over (had more juice than the first attempt from yesterday), but too slowly to start it.

I'll try your procedure tonight, but I dunno since it doesn't make sense that it was in the bike with presumably full charge for 45 mins and couldn't start it BUT when left overnight in the bike for ~6 hours it could crank it, albeit slowly.

So what am I looking for, an "AC ripple"? I have a pretty cheap DVM, so be specific if you can. And thanks.
 
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