Battery question

[pano]

I charged up an old battery and put it in my 821100e. The battery would not take a full charge and was a bit under 12vdc. When I turned the key the dash lights went on and the starter sounds like it is not getting enough juice to turn it over. Battery brand Motorcross XTRA type YB14L-A2.

So I bought an AGM Permaseal XTA14AHL-BS from a Battery plus store. It read 12.68 vdc from the store. When installed and the key is turned I get no dash lights and no starter noise. A volt meter across the battery terminals shows near 0 volts when the ignition is turned on.

If I put the old battery in I get dash lights and starter noise but the voltage across the battery drops to 8-9 volts when the ignition is on.

I swapped them back and forth 3 or 4 times and get the same results.

Bad new battery?

It came up as a compatible type on the battery plus site.

http://www.batteriesplus.com/products/558-CC/5171-Motorcycle-Batteries/128172-Suzuki/GS1100E/1.aspx

 

[Nessism]

I'd charge it and then pass judgement. Sounds strange that it shipped with no charge but stranger things have happened.

 

[chrisbertaut]

I charged up an old battery and put it in my 821100e. The battery would not take a full charge and was a bit under 12vdc. When I turned the key the dash lights went on and the starter sounds like it is not getting enough juice to turn it over. Battery brand Motorcross XTRA type YB14L-A2.

So I bought an AGM Permaseal XTA14AHL-BS from a Battery plus store. It read 12.68 vdc from the store. When installed and the key is turned I get no dash lights and no starter noise. A volt meter across the battery terminals shows near 0 volts when the ignition is turned on.

If I put the old battery in I get dash lights and starter noise but the voltage across the battery drops to 8-9 volts when the ignition is on.

I swapped them back and forth 3 or 4 times and get the same results.

Bad new battery?

It came up as a compatible type on the battery plus site.

http://www.batteriesplus.com/products/558-CC/5171-Motorcycle-Batteries/128172-Suzuki/GS1100E/1.aspx

Did you fill it with acid and put it on a charge for a few hours?

 

[Nessism]

Did you fill it with acid and put it on a charge for a few hours?

It's a AGM sealed battery so you don't add acid, could use a charge though.

 

[pano]

The new one measured in at 12.68 vdc before I installed it. After all the swap outs it is down to about 10.68 vdc now.

I haven't seen a behavoir like that before. Maybe I will put it in another bike tomorrow and see what it does.

 

[Nessism]

The new one measured in at 12.68 vdc before I installed it. After all the swap outs it is down to about 10.68 vdc now.

I haven't seen a behavoir like that before. Maybe I will put it in another bike tomorrow and see what it does.

Is there a reason you don't want to charge it?

 

[pano]

I re-read my original post and wanted to clarify.

The new battery would read full voltage with the key in the off position. It would drop to near 0 volts when the key was moved to the on position.

The old battery drops to about 8 or 9 volts when the key is turned on.

 

[pano]

I will throw the battery tender on the new battery overnight.

 

[Nessism]

Sounds like the battery has a surface charge, that's why battery testers have a load cell so you can check how many amps the battery can produce. Checking voltage on an unloaded battery can be very misleading in terms of the information you get. Best to charge the battery over night at 1 amp and try again in the morning.

 

[pano]

I have it charging now.

I will re-install it tomorrow and follow-up.

Thanks.

 

[BassCliff]

Hi,

It's not unheard of to get an AGM battery DOA. A friend of mine recently had to bring back two batteries until he got a good one. The bike shop was very accommodating. Let's hope a good charge fixes you up.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

 

[twr1776]

Pano, check your code on top of the Battery. Steve :clap: posted this and I had one of the bad batteries and I suspect you do too. Mine also read decent voltage when resting, and different voltages with the key on. I took it in to the local store and had them load test it and it failed. You can read through the post to get the specifics but the code on top of the battery is C0902. Again, thanks to Steve for posting this I could have been chasing this issue with the assumption the battery was OK since it was less than a year old, AGM, and tested OK on voltage without load.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=153303&highlight=XTA14AHL-BS

 

[Griffin]

There are two types of AGM batteries available for our bikes. One type comes just like a car battery, charged and sealed. The other type (Yuasa MF comes to mind) arrives with an acid fill packaged seperately. The fill package is a premeasured set of tubes, one for each cell, so it takes all the guesswork out of filling. After you fill it, you charge it just like a regular wet cell. It is then sealed with a permanent strip that installs across the top fill holes.

I've had very good luck with the Yuasas, and not so good luck with the factory sealed types. My two Yuasa AGMs will both be starting their fourth riding season this spring, and hold charges above 12.5 volts after sitting for a month in my utility room. I just charge them up overnight once a month in the off-season, and every spring they've been good to go.

Rob at Cycle Recycle recommends the Yuasas as the only AGMs that he thinks are worth the extra money over a standard wet cell. That's how I got turned on to them. Bikebandit sells them:
http://www.bikebandit.com/yuasa-high-performance-maintenance-free-battery-ytx14ahl-bs

as does this ebay seller:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Yuas...temZ280459756824QQptZLHQ5fDefaultDomainQ5f100


Also, there is a guy on ebay selling what I believe to be the generic version (it looks identical to the Yuasa) for a bit less money:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HOND...1023543QQptZMotorcyclesQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

[pano]

Pano, check your code on top of the Battery. Steve :clap: posted this and I had one of the bad batteries and I suspect you do too. Mine also read decent voltage when resting, and different voltages with the key on. I took it in to the local store and had them load test it and it failed. You can read through the post to get the specifics but the code on top of the battery is C0902. Again, thanks to Steve for posting this I could have been chasing this issue with the assumption the battery was OK since it was less than a year old, AGM, and tested OK on voltage without load.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=153303&highlight=XTA14AHL-BS

Checked the battery and sue enough it is C0902.

They are closed today and hopefully open tomorrow. Screws up my plans a bit, but tomorrows another day.

Thanks for all the feedback

Pano

 

[twr1776]

Apparently they used some re-cycled lead plates in that battery model from what Steve was able to find out. My store was not that informed but did give me full credit on the 9 month old battery. I ended up getting the next model up for another $ 15. That model used all brand new materials and has a two year warranty. I could have asked for full credit and gone elsewhere but was treated fairly by the local store even though I bought it online they did the swap there with no hassle. I was told the actual manufacturer is Deka on this particular battery line.

 

[Billy Ricks]

I had a Westco AGM that gave up the ghost after only about 9 months. Bought it off Ebay and it's been close to a year since I pulled it out of the bike so not much recourse for me.

 

[Steve]

Yep, you got one of the bad batch. Hopefully you will have no problem getting your replacement.

I found it rather amazing that my son and I happened on two batteries of the same bad batch, for the same bike. I got the first one just because the bike came with no battery, then he was having problems with the battery that I put in.

I have had several of these AGM batteries from Batteries Plus, but these two are the only ones I have seen that were not good.

.

 

[Guest]

I've had very good luck with the Yuasas, and not so good luck with the factory sealed types. My two Yuasa AGMs will both be starting their fourth riding season this spring, and hold charges above 12.5 volts after sitting for a month in my utility room. I just charge them up overnight once a month in the off-season, and every spring they've been good to go.

Rob at Cycle Recycle recommends the Yuasas as the only AGMs that he thinks are worth the extra money over a standard wet cell. That's how I got turned on to them.

+1 on this...my Yuasa will be entering it's fifth year in July, and it has never been off the bike (battery tender all winter, in the garage). Can't speak to the Battery Plus brands, since I've only tried the Yuasa AGM, but at the time the Yuasa had the highest CCA of the bunch, beating the Westco, Deka/Big Crank etc.. though some of them have since caught up. There are only a few actual manufacturers....most of the batteries available are re-labeled and sold under different brand names, so a little research might be in order, to get past the marketing hype.

 

[Steve]

..., but at the time the Yuasa had the highest CCA of the bunch, beating the Westco, Deka/Big Crank etc. ...

I never bothered with a comparison on CCA, I just went with something that was either available locally or would have national support.

I am sure that if I had had my battery problems at home, the local Batteries Plus store would have done a fine job.
The fact that another store in the chain actually did the support only gives me warm fuzzies that I made a good choice.

Any way you look at it, any new battery will likely have more CCA than the lump of lead and acid that's in your bike, so any change is an improvement.

.

 

[Guest]

Any way you look at it, any new battery will likely have more CCA than the lump of lead and acid that's in your bike, so any change is an improvement.

I must say, I never thought of it that way. I suppose it's time to change it due to age alone, but the battery has been holding a charge just fine thus far, with no battery related starting issues etc.....was kinda curious though, to see just how long it would last. My earlier wet batteries typically lasted 2 to 3 years, and this was with disconnecting for storage/charging indoors during winter. When I bought the AGM, I recall reading somewhere that cold storage without allowing the battery's charge to drop to less than 80% yielded the best longevity, so I decided to try it. The same season the AGM was installed, I also swapped out the stock reg/rectifier for a near-new one off of a CBR600RR, (only because I got a very good deal on it on ebay.. $ 0.99), so don't know if that made a difference to battery life, though I doubt it.