Quick Question About Charging The Battery

[mako19]

I have a real quick question about charging my battery.

I have a battery charger/maintainer that came with wire leads that I can screw onto the battery and leave them there. I was going to wire tie the quick connect leads to the frame for easy access. The battery charger is also a maintainer and is 2 amp.

My question is can I charge the battery while it is still hooked up to the bike without damaging anything electrical on the bike?

I have a suzuki 4 wheeler and the manuel says to disconnect the battery before charging. I am just wondering if it is the same on the GS.

By the way I have 1978 GS550 and everything is stock.

Thanks in advance
Mako

 

[Steve]

The battery charger/maintainer should be fine to connect while the battery is in the bike.

Thanks for asking.

.

 

[mako19]

Thank you very much

 

[Zook]

Look at it this way:the alternator charges it while it's on the bike, right?

The alternator puts out much more than 2 amps, too.

 

[Steve]

Look at it this way:the alternator charges it while it's on the bike, right?

The alternator puts out much more than 2 amps, too.

True enough, but I still think it's a valid question.

Although the alternator puts out more than 2 amps, the r/r is sized to handle it. What causes problems is connecting to a running car or a "booster box" type of charger that can overpower the r/r. If a new guy only sees references to "don't charge by using ..." or "don't connect to ...", there could be some confusion.

I still think it was good to ask and verify before blowing something up. :clap:

 

[Zook]

No, the R/R doesn't get "overpowered". The bike can only draw X amps.
The only time there is a problem when jumping from a running auto is if there is a dead short to ground, or the starter is drawing excess current, and the then the bike can draw the full current from the outside source. That's why you don't jump a bike from a running car.

I had to jump my Cal III last weekend. One year old battery shot craps. used the car to do it. The battery was so bad it barely turned over, even with my big car battery hooked up.

When charging with a charger, the R/R isn't using any current whatsoever. It's not even in the circuit becasue the ignition switch is in the OFF position. And current will only flow one way through the R/R, from the alt to the batt, not the other way.

The battery will let you know if you are using too big of a charger by exploding. It can also handle only X amps charge. Most battery makers say 2 amps should be the max charge rate and then for a short time.
there's a formula for charging batteries, but I forget it.

 

[Steve]

When charging with a charger, the R/R isn't using any current whatsoever. It's not even in the circuit becasue the ignition switch is in the OFF position. And current will only flow one way through the R/R, from the alt to the batt, not the other way.

Not sure what's different about the way your bike is wired, but all of the wiring diagrams for the GS bikes show the output of the r/r going through the main fuse then straight to the battery. The other side of the r/r is connected to ground. Connected that way, yes, it's connected all the time.

In the wire from the output of the r/r to the main fuse there is a branch that goes over to the ignition switch. There it gets disconnected from the rest of the bike, but it's connected to the battery all the time.

Also, a popular "mod" for those that have charging issues is to connect the r/r directly to the battery (using a fuse, of course), bypassing the bike's wiring. Again, the r/r is in the circuit all the time.

Most battery makers say 2 amps should be the max charge rate and then for a short time.
there's a formula for charging batteries, but I forget it.

The formula for charging batteries varies, according to the chemical composition of the battery. For the lead-acid batteries in our bikes, it is 0.1 * C, where C is the capacity of the battery in amp-hours. Most of our bikes have 14- or 16-amp-hour batteries, so they should be charged at 1.4 or 1.6 amps for 10 hours. A little higher current won't hurt, within reason, so the 2 amp charger will do just fine, especially if it's an automatic type that tapers off the charge. Even better if it's a charger/maintainer that not only tapers off the charge, but stops it completely and switches to monitor mode, then turns back on if the battery needs it.

.

 

[Pete Logan]

Disregarding the technicalities for the sake of simplicity, I use a permanent on the bike hookup with smart battery tenders for all four bikes. Just plug in when I get home, unplug to leave

Hasn't caused any problems yet.

 

[Steve]

Good man. So do I.

I even have a hook-up on my Wing, in spite of the fact that it has an alternator that is larger than that on many cars.
Of course, it's not the only thing that gets plugged in there, it's also the connection for my heated jacket and gloves.