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I cant remember any more

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
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Anonymous

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I have a battery that is only 6 months old--still looks new abd wont keep a charge over night. I tested it with a hydrometer when it was reading 13.5 volts on my meter and i found the cells to be about 3/4 full except one which was slightly less--one less ball floated. it that a bad cell for sure??
 
Hi Scotty Good possibility.They should all be about the same.Trickle charge the battery for a few hours and try again.A load tester will be a better way to tell if the battery can hold a charge.You could have a short in the battery.Load test will show this better than a hydrometer test.What ever you do DON'T let the battery EVER sit on a concrete floor.Set it on a piece of wood to charge or store it.Good luck
Brian :D
 
I found this info after searching a bit

The basic instruction is a day's charging every month or two

should keep a healthy set of batteries in good shape. If they

are in regular use on a trailer or generator-fitted power car

then more regular recharging will be needed, perhaps even daily

if heaters are in use. Alternator-fitted power cars should need

no charging provided that they are used reasonably often. The

worst thing to do is to undercharge.

Dead Cells
The biggest problem is caused when a cell goes 'dead' and will

not hold any charge. This can be caused by the plates warping

and shorting out, which tends to happen on the old black rubber

cells, often accompanied by the top of the cell lifting away.

Other failures include sedimentation at the bottom of the cell

shorting the plates out and / or the active material on the

plates being destroyed. Repeatedly running a set of batteries

flat is a good way to kill one or more cells by over-discharging

it; regular overcharging can loosen the active material, which

then falls to the bottom of the cells and shorts them out.

A totally dead cell is usually obvious using a hydrometer or

multimeter; what you should look for is one or more 'odd ones

out' in a set. The dead cell will have a much lower voltage

after charging than the others (or even a reverse voltage -

beware with a digital meter, it is easy to miss this), a much

lower hydrometer reading, and may get warm during charging. It

will also use little electrolyte, and the other cells in the set

will use more than usual. Cloudy (ie muddy-looking) electrolyte

is another bad sign.

Having identified the failed cell(s), it / they should be

replaced by one of a similar age and capacity. It is important

that both the replacement cell(s) and the remaining good cells

are fully charged before use - never put a flat cell into a

charged set without an equalising charge, or it will never

charge properly and soon fail.

Inability To Hold Charge For Any Time
This usually indicates a charging circuit fault or a failing

cell - see 'dead cells' above, and also the fault-finding notes

for alternators and generators. During charging from a battery

charger, check the voltage of each cell individually with a

digital multimeter - it must be at least 2.3volts, or the

battery will not be fully charged. The charging current will

drop to only a few amps once charging is complete. There may

also be a continuous drain of some kind on the batteries -
 
What do you mean by it won't hold a charge. If your battery is dying over night while out of the bike return it ASAP but don't put the acid in the warranty battery until you need it.

Can you really take the battery out of the bike after it is charged and it find that it is dead when you put it back in the next time you ride? Or is it that you are just checking with the tester and not trying to start the bike.

I think filling in the info will help us figure out your problem better.

Cheers, Steve
 
Tim the battery was in the used bike when i purchased it. Removing one of the cables from the battery is the same as removing the battery from the bike. This is what i have done. I did it again last night and when the sun comes up i will check again.
My question still is how to correctly read a hydrometer or what readings will indicate that the battery is bad.
I have cleane the top of the battery to be shure it is not conduvting aceoss thwe face and also put an ammeter in series with one of the cablet to the battery to be sure there was no draw of current.
I am more than reasonably sure the battery is bad but would like to get some specific feedback on he use of a htdrometer in checking a battery withouy going through some scientific way of measuring temperature before and after taking the readings.
 
very nice slopoke
reminded me of my apprenticeship and made me happy I had not tried to explain the wide variation possible re battery abuse!
xo
 
The battery passed an extensive light load test at discount auto parts. The battery is rated at 190 CCA acording to theit charts. i am wondering id the colder temperature in the morning when i check the voltage is giving me the lower readings and also i will check the contacts in the starter and starter switch circuit. The bike starts right up after a charge. I am almost ready to buy another battery any way but i thought that the light load test was a sure thing.
What do yall think??
 
:D Hi Scotty :D If your bat passed a load test it is probably ok.You have bad connections some where not letting enough amps through to start it.Check them and run the usual additional ground wires.A fully charged and warm bat will have more amps to start the bike.I'll be on GS garage chat later tonight about 8 PM if you want to ask me questions about how to test for voltage drops in the wire connections.
Later Brian H. :D
 
hoyterb said:
:D Hi Scotty :D If your bat passed a load test it is probably ok.You have bad connections some where not letting enough amps through to start it.Check them and run the usual additional ground wires.A fully charged and warm bat will have more amps to start the bike.I'll be on GS garage chat later tonight about 8 PM if you want to ask me questions about how to test for voltage drops in the wire connections.
Later Brian H. :D
Click to expand...
ok ill look for you :D I notice that you always seem to be logged on to the gs garage but also that you are always away????
 
Scotty, a really simple test is to pull the battery off the bike and take it into the house. (No, disconnecting the terminal is NOT the same thing)


Give the battery a full, slow, charge and check the voltage. Wait at LEAST one hour and check again. Record the voltage....It should have dropped a bit, but not a huge amount. Check it again an hour later...it should be about the same.

Keep the battery at the same temperature....which is likely easy if the battery is in the house....and check the difference in voltage the next morning. There should be little difference....less than one volt.

If what you get is only a part of one volt, then your battery is OK.
If you get a greater variance, take the battery to a shop that specializes in them, and ask for an AMPerage load test.

At that point choices are very simple.....if the battery does not measure up....tell them to keep it for re-cycling. You need a new one.
 
It just passed aload test ron--i am suspecting corosion and not riding it enough after i start it --i will remember your test though thanks
 
I cant remember any more

Is it a Yuasa?

I got a bad battery from them about 2 years ago. Electirical system checked out but the 6 mo old battery wouldn't keep a charge.

Jay
 
Re: I cant remember any more

Jay said:
Is it a Yuasa?

I got a bad battery from them about 2 years ago. Electirical system checked out but the 6 mo old battery wouldn't keep a charge.

Jay
Click to expand...
OK Jay you rat---you had to try and help me when i was happy that the thread was dying down.
Now i have to tell the rest of the story. It was a connection that i didnt clean well enough but thats not the end of the thing-- I had it in my brothers garage and was trying to start it--it now was turning over properly since i re cleaned the connection. it would start and run on one and die as soon as i gave it a bit of throttle. Much conversation and a recharge followed. More choke--too much choke-- no throttle--easy on the throttle. Then some bright soul said "with all this choking etc I dont smell gas" Do I really have to say more.--- I put it in prime and waited a few seconds-- Yes it runs fine now :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

Ray
More that one person has had some negative things to say about yausa batteries. I dont use them i now use nicks method of the cheapest battery and maybe i will even start changing them every year also.((( Now comes the I have used yausa batteries for years and have never had trouble)))
 
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