• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Filling new battery - question/weirdness

  • Thread starter Thread starter MissFabulous
  • Start date Start date
M

MissFabulous

Guest
Red Bandit came over today to help me with a couple things on the 550. After discovering how lousy a third passenger a new boxed battery makes on a Bandit, we got back here and filled it up with the supplied acid.

Each cell had an appropriate amount between the low and high. After charging, three of the cells, some of the ones in the middle that actually had lower amounts, are now well over the high line. One looks like it's right up to the top now. I tapped for bubbles and that didn't make any difference. When we first put the acid in, the battery got warm (I assume this is normal) and it was no warmer after charging than it was when it was filled.

So, is this a typical occurrence? Do I need to drain some of those cells, or will they go back to normal shortly? Why is it that simple things so often become mind boggling?? Ok... rhetorical question on that last one...

Anyway, thanks in advance!!
 
To make things really, simple, MissFabulous, you should've bought a maintenance-free battery, the kind you don't have to fill. Just charge and go.
 
Grandpa said:
To make things really, simple, MissFabulous, you should've bought a maintenance-free battery, the kind you don't have to fill. Just charge and go.
Click to expand...

Not many options in my town and I didn't want to hit Wallyworld - I avoid it like the plague (and since they expanded, they have less and less useful merchandise anyway), so I got what they had that fit!!
 
Sounds like all is normal. If the acid level is too high, you may want to drain some out of just that cell or two and recheck the level. As far as the heat created while filling, tis normal. :-D
 
MissFabulous said:
Not many options in my town and I didn't want to hit Wallyworld - I avoid it like the plague (and since they expanded, they have less and less useful merchandise anyway), so I got what they had that fit!!
Click to expand...

MissFabulous, I don't think Walmart has that kind of battery, the sealed kind, available for sale. At least not in my neighborhood. I get mine from Motorcycle Batteries USA, http://www.motorcyclebatteriesusa.com/ . These batteries are not cheap, but this place ships promptly and their website makes it easy to select the right battery and have it shipped.

I live in the country, where options are also limited. That's why I seldom if ever do any retail shopping in person (yeah!).

Dave8338 is correct. The condition you described is normal.
 
MissFabulous said:
So, is this a typical occurrence? Do I need to drain some of those cells, or will they go back to normal shortly? Why is it that simple things so often become mind boggling?? Ok... rhetorical question on that last one...

Anyway, thanks in advance!!
Click to expand...
It's gassing from being charged that is what raised the levels, let it set for a while and the levels should return to normal.
 
Shirley, the battery getting warm is completely normal. After you filled it with acid solution (you should have filled all the cells to the upper level indicated on the case). You should have waited about 1/2 hour and then hooked it up to a 1/2 to 1 amp trickle charger for 12 to 18 hours. Then tipped the battery back and forth to allow gas to escape and let set for at least 2 hours, then any cells that were below the low limit should have been replenished with distilled water. Any that were above the upper limit line should have been drained with an eyedropper to the upper limit. I think you'll find that after the battery sets for two hours that cells that were above the upper limit line have returned to about normal.

Caution: After the initial fill you are done with the electrolite solution and SHOULD NOT be used to top off the battery ever again. Distilled water only.

I have found out that this initial charge procedure alone can add many, many months to a battery's life. An undercharged battery is a very unhappy battery.
 
Last edited:
jimcor said:
Shirley, the battery getting warm is completely normal. After you filled it with acid solution (you should have filled all the cells to the upper level indicated on the case). You should have waited about 1/2 hour and then hooked it up to a 1/2 to 1 amp trickle charger for 12 to 18 hours. Then tipped the battery back and forth to allow gas to escape and let set for at least 2 hours, then any cells that were below the low limit should have been replenished with distilled water. Any that were above the upper limit line should have been drained with an eyedropper to the upper limit. I think you'll find that after the battery sets for two hours that cells that were above the upper limit line have returned to about normal.

Caution: After the initial fill you are done with the electrolite solution and SHOULD NOT be used to top off the battery ever again. Distilled water only.

I have found out that this initial charge procedure alone can add many, many months to a battery's life. An undercharged battery is a very unhappy battery.
Click to expand...

Ok... you need to completely copy and paste that and post it to Tips and Tricks section of the forum. Seriously, it deserves a sticky... as much as I've read about batteries, that is as thorough and clear as anything I've read. I've copied and pasted it to a Word Pad document and saved on my PC for future reference. THANK YOU.

Thanks for the replies... we didn't get into batteries much in any of my chemistry classes, so I wasn't sure... warmth and expansion didn't seem far fetched to me, but I wanted to make sure before I did anything else. Like I told Bob (red bandit) earlier today... "you ever notice Jethro's signature that says 'I ride, therefore I am... always buying tires?' Well something tells me it's the same thing with batteries" so now once again, thanks to you guys, I'm armed with more knowledge. Now if you can just tell me how to make tires last forever...
 
MissFabulous said:
Now if you can just tell me how to make tires last forever...
Click to expand...

No problem. Turn your bike into a trailer queen and use plenty of Armor All on the tires. Of course, you won't get to ride it and all of the real bikers will laugh at you, but your tires should last at least a couple of decades!

Honestly, though, try Cheng Shin HiMax. I've had Dunlop, Avon and Continental and the only tire that came close to lasting as long as the HiMax was a Continental MileMarker, and the CS still beat it by a couple hundred miles.

Back to batteries, my brother-in-law (about the only other true bike rider in the family) swears by lawn tractor batteries. Haven't tried this myself, but he had a riding lawnmower battery from Tractor Supply in his Moto Guzzi, daily ridden and with aftermarket light bars and a functional AM/FM/8-track player, for over three years. All he did was find one with the closest dimensions and slapped it in (after charging, of course). The battery was still fine when the u-joints went out and he sold it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top