On Dec 31, 2010, at 7:25 AM, bigshankhank wrote:
> I am not discounting the idea that my battery "just went bad", the
> charger I use is Battery Tender brand charger, which I understand is
> highly thought of. Nevertheless after just over two years being on
> said tender for 25-28 days out of 30, and sometimes longer
> stretches, my battery is now dead. Perhaps there are other issues,
> the regulator burned (literally) up about three months ago
> necessitating a new Electrosport unit. The bike ran flawlessly after
> that little breakdown, but perhaps the fatal blow had been delivered
> and the battery was just pining at that point.
Could be both a bad/out of spec charger and the regulator hammering
the battery, ganging up to kill it prematurely.
Best way to check if the charger is working right is to suck down the
battery a ways (leave the lights on for 5 minutes) and then have it
charge it up to the float point.
Remove the charger and check the voltage with a meter, should be right
about 13.2 volts.
If you then run the headlight for 30 seconds and check again you will
have the true charge of the battery, at 100% charge it is usually
between 12.75 and 12.85 depending on type.
Here's the product pitch from a charger maker that claims a 5 step
charge profile (I had only ever heard of 3 steps prior to seeing this
text)
"The Optimate 12 volt battery charger is completely automatic, safe
and simple to use. The 5-stage program features not only constant
current and constant voltage charging to completely and correctly
charge most battery types, but it also has a unique desulfation
circuit that recovers deeply discharged or sulfated batteries. The
Optimate is designed to be left on indefinitely during periods of
battery inactivity without any worry of overcharging. The Optimate is
reverse polarity protected and spark proof and features 5 stages. The
Optimate is the #1 charger sold in Europe and is used by major vehicle
manufactures such as Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, and Suzuki. "
I'll be adding this to my site for batteries that are other than an
Odyssey. The Odyssey require a specific profile and the Odyssey
charger is not suitable for other batteries.
If you have a good brand of AGM battery (and that probably means NOT
made in China) and a properly functioning float charger you should get
between 2 and maybe 5-6 years out of a battery. Odyssey claim that
their battery (when used with their charger) can have from a 2-10 year
lifespan.
HTH,
Happy New Year folks,
Thanks,
M./
Michael Heth
mheth@motolectric.com
(415) 992-7840
0 comments:
Post a Comment