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Whats the easist way to test a battery?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Draketh
  • Start date Start date
D

Draketh

Guest
I've never had problems all summer with my bike until lately its just been dying on me and the battery has to be yanked and charged. The battery charged fine the second time, and I left it on the charger all night and the charge status lights haven't been going up like they did last time.

I charger says the battery is connected etc. I'm starting to think my problems are stemming from a bum battery and not my charging system. The battery said 75% on the charger last night, it was getting late and I wanted to get my bike home so I figured 75% would be fine to ride it around the corner. Got it to the bike and nothing. No lights, nothing when I turn the key. Pushed the bike home and the battery has been on the charger all night and the first charge indicator light has not lit up yet. Do I have a bum battery? :-k
 
What kind of charger are you using? I think it is possible to overcharge them and kind of mess them up with a big charger vs. a trickle charger.

How are the water levels?

I just check my battery with a auto-ranging voltmeter. I am not sure if it tells me if the battery is good, but I know a good battery usually puts out 13 plus volts with the bike off, then drops to 11 plus with the bike running.

You might want to consider your whole charging system; but it's hard to know how accurate that would be if your battery is suspect.

Good luck!

Rick
 
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You can probably tell if it's the battery or not.
Do you know how old the battery is ? All you need is one dead cell to kill it.
When adding water, be sure it's not from the tap. Should be distilled water.
Typically 3 years is about their lifetime.
Maybe time for a new one ?
 
Sorry, I should have provided more info about the battery.

I have no idea how old the battery is, its a sealed everstart from wal-mart. It came with the bike. On the battery is says the charging schedule is 12Ax0.5/hr. So assume that means it can be charged in a half hour at 12 amps. I have been charging it at 6amp because that is the most my charger will do. I left it on 2amp overnight to see what would happen.
 
ryonker said:
What kind of charger are you using? I think it is possible to overcharge them and kind of mess them up with a big charger vs. a trickle charger.

How are the water levels?

I just check my battery with a auto-ranging voltmeter. I am not sure if it tells me if the battery is good, but I know a good battery usually puts out 13 plus volts with the bike off, then drops to 11 plus with the bike running.

You might want to consider your whole charging system; but it's hard to know how accurate that would be if your battery is suspect.

Good luck!

Rick
Click to expand...

A couple of years ago I had the same situation, with
my battery showing over 13 volts. I thought it was
good. But after taking in the starter and battery to
get tested I learned that you also want to get
the cold cranking amps tested before you assume
the battery was good. I wasted a lot of time removing
my starter because I did not know that....
 
Charging at 2 amps is prob. even too much for a motorcycle battery; something more like 1.5 amps (1500mA) is more like it.
 
I'd say if you put a battery in and you don't even get any lights, that's a pretty good sign the battery is shot.

In the case of an older battery that has sulphated slightly a 1.5 amp charger doesn't have enough current capability to get past the sulphation and break it down.
 
Zook said:
I'd say if you put a battery in and you don't even get any lights, that's a pretty good sign the battery is shot.

In the case of an older battery that has sulphated slightly a 1.5 amp charger doesn't have enough current capability to get past the sulphation and break it down.
Click to expand...

Well, the battery says the charging schedule is 12AMPx0.5hr so I don't think 6amps is too much unless the people that made the battery are retarded. I'm pretty sure my charging system is working. I haven't hit it with a voltmeter yet (because I don't own one!), but when I lay the throttle on I can see the lights on my gauges get brighter. :-k

edit: I know I should check the charging system the right way, but I recently quit my job because the stress was starting to affect my health, and I don't have a whole lot of spare cash. I need to work on getting better and finding a new job,
 
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When I got a new battery for my bike it said not to charge it at any higher than 2 amps ever... It is a wet cell type from Wall Mart it said 1.5 amps was the prefered charge rate. In your case I think it is telling you to charge it for 12 hours at .5 amps. Look at the battery if the ends are bowed out it has been over charged and time for a new 1.
 
Alright. If you have a good stator these bikes should run without a battery once they get going like a car, or is that not the case? Because what happened is my bike started sputtering while I was riding it, and died, and then the battery was dead.
 
Draketh said:
Alright. If you have a good stator these bikes should run without a battery once they get going like a car, or is that not the case? Because what happened is my bike started sputtering while I was riding it, and died, and then the battery was dead.
Click to expand...
If the battery has an internal short it would bring all the voltage from the R/R down with it. Try to start it with an other battery from say a car with jumpers , don't run the car it puts out to much current. See if it starts and runs once running remove the jumpers and see what happens. I'm not sure if it works like a car but give it a try and see. Good luck.
 
Dont ride with a faulty battery, you could lose your R/R and stator and it becomes expensive. Never run a bike without a battery, you could lose the above as well as your ignitor and other electronic components!! :eek:
Charging at high current such a 6 amps for long periods is going to make you battery toast. Trickle charge is better at 1/2 or 1 amp for longer periods. if you use a "Boost" charge such as 6 Amp, it should only be for a very short period, but eventualy reduces the capacity of the battery.:eek:

I suggest you replace the battery and get a voltmeter, then test you charging system as per the stator papers to ensure all is well.:)
 
Florida Guy said:
You can probably tell if it's the battery or not.
Do you know how old the battery is ? All you need is one dead cell to kill it.
When adding water, be sure it's not from the tap. Should be distilled water.
Typically 3 years is about their lifetime.
Maybe time for a new one ?
Click to expand...

Shhhh don't tell my battery that :D

Draketh said:
Sorry, I should have provided more info about the battery.

I have no idea how old the battery is, its a sealed everstart from wal-mart. It came with the bike. On the battery is says the charging schedule is 12Ax0.5/hr. So assume that means it can be charged in a half hour at 12 amps. I have been charging it at 6amp because that is the most my charger will do. I left it on 2amp overnight to see what would happen.
Click to expand...

Whoa your frying the battery charging at 6 amps, I think the label is trying to tell you (as the other poster pointed out) 12 hours at 0.5 amps.

You can't disconnect the battery from the bike while it's running, at idle the output from the regulator is too low to run the bike and at speed removing the battery will surge the electrical system and kill it.
 
Thanks for all the help everyone. After having my old battery sat overnight at 2amps it still only read 11.45v. I just got back from wawa and got a new one. Dumped the acid in and am waiting for an hour before charging it. The lowest my charger can do is 2a, and the manual for this battery says never charge it at anything OVER 2a so 2a will have to do.
 
Draketh said:
Thanks for all the help everyone. After having my old battery sat overnight at 2amps it still only read 11.45v. I just got back from wawa and got a new one. Dumped the acid in and am waiting for an hour before charging it. The lowest my charger can do is 2a, and the manual for this battery says never charge it at anything OVER 2a so 2a will have to do.
Click to expand...

Every motorcyclist needs a Battery Tender Plus....the best thing you will ever do for your battery...;)
 
Draketh said:
Thanks for all the help everyone. After having my old battery sat overnight at 2amps it still only read 11.45v. I just got back from wawa and got a new one. Dumped the acid in and am waiting for an hour before charging it. The lowest my charger can do is 2a, and the manual for this battery says never charge it at anything OVER 2a so 2a will have to do.
Click to expand...

If you have a 12V test light, put it in series with your 2A charger to bring the amperage down.
Less is definately more for a motorcycle battery
 
I guess I'm a little bit late in the game, but just for information's sake.

When a battery goes bad, it can still read decent voltage around 12V. A quick way to check the battery is to put your meter on it, turn on your ignition, and you should see something like 2 - 5V. That means that the internal resistance of the battery is really high. The reason why you read 12V before is because it's not under load. No load = no current = no voltage drop = you get ****ed off cuz you think it's something else that's the problem.
 
Alright. Got the new battery in. 12.56 with the bike off, 13.48 with the bike on, and mid to low 14's with bike revved. Went for a ride for about a half hour, came back, turned the bike off, checked the voltage, 13.18. Is this too high or am I fine. Maybe I should just stop worrying and ride the damn thing. :rolleyes:
 
It looks good. After few days riding (use) and standing overnight it should test close to 12.6 volt showing its good.
 
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