battery charge question | GTAMotorcycle.com

battery charge question

mac_135

mac_135

Well-known member
So I stored the bike at the end of November, didn't have the battery tender with me when I parked the bike (at another location) and it still hasn't been hooked up. I've heard batteries lose about 1% of their charge per day, and its been roughly 35 days.

If I hook up the battery tender now will the bike be good to go in the spring, or should I take it out and have it fully charged before hooking the battery tender up? Basically I need to know if a battery tender will bring the charge back up to 100%, or if it just holds it at the current charge.

If that is the case and the battery is sitting over the winter at roughly 65% will I have any issues with it in the spring? I have no problem starting the bike without any charge on the battery but I don't want to screw up the long term battery life by leaving it just over half charged (or will it not make a difference and be back to 100% after a couple hours of riding?)... Thanks.
 
The battery tender will bring it back up to 100% and then go into a float mode to keep it there.

This assumes that you have a proper battery tender with some smarts built into it, and not just a low amp trickle charger. A dumb trickle charger could overcharge your battery given time and eventually kill it.

Some really good battery tenders will desulphate (recondition) your battery, but that's usually an issue only if you have severely drained your battery a number of times. Think of that as a nice-to-have feature, but not a necessity.
 
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how long does it take for battery to die? mine has been about one week no charge
 
Numb said:
how long does it take for battery to die? mine has been about one week no charge
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it would depend on the parasitic draw, and the type / quality of battery. Some may discharge quicker than others.
 
turbodish said:
The battery tender will bring it back up to 100% and then go into a float mode to keep it there.

This assumes that you have a proper battery tender with some smarts built into it, and not just a low amp trickle charger. A dumb trickle charger could overcharge your battery given time and eventually kill it.

Some really good battery tenders will desulphate (recondition) your battery, but that's usually an issue only if you have severely drained your battery a number of times. Think of that as a nice-to-have feature, but not a necessity.
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I don't beleive that's true. IF the battery has no charge, then there's no charge for the tender to maintain. IE acting like your stator recharging things while you ride.

You can try using an actual battery charger to bring it up to full, and hope it's ok (IE may not hold a proper charge anymore), and putting it back on tender at that point, just to keep it topped up...
 
JFD said:
I don't beleive that's true. IF the battery has no charge, then there's no charge for the tender to maintain. IE acting like your stator recharging things while you ride.

You can try using an actual battery charger to bring it up to full, and hope it's ok (IE may not hold a proper charge anymore), and putting it back on tender at that point, just to keep it topped up...
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A battery tender is just a smarter kind of battery charger. It will bring a discharged battery back up to full charge, assuming of course that the battery is not damaged.
 
turbodish said:
A battery tender is just a smarter kind of battery charger. It will bring a discharged battery back up to full charge, assuming of course that the battery is not damaged.
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I left my bike sitting for over a month, and it was dry.

tender wouldn't even register that it was hooked up to a battery, until i left it on an actual charger.

I'm hoping that it actually holds a charge come spring, cuz it COULD be damaged, as you noted.

We'll see what happens. But I understood the tender to just mimic a stator, keeping a charge cycling.
 
- Intelligent chargers/maintainers (Battery Tender is just a brand name of one) - will charge the battery fully and then switch to trickle charge to maintain it. Can be left connected indefinitely and are usually good for either car or motorcycle batteries.

- Trickle charger will not charge a discharged battery fast enough. Typical output is 100-500mA. They are quite rare. Those designed for higher capacity car batteries will behave more-less like a standard charger on motorcycle batteries.

- Standard (dumb) charger - will charge the battery quickly but will need to be disconnected after the battery is fully charged. Motorcycle batteries should not be charged with more than ~2A, so if your charger puts out more juice it's probably a car charger.
 
JFD said:
tender wouldn't even register that it was hooked up to a battery, until i left it on an actual charger.
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I can attest to this as well. Most tenders, including the branded Deltran Battery Tender, have a safety circuit which will prevent the tender from producing voltage unless it senses at least 3V from the battery. A totally dead battery will not trigger the tender to start charging, unless you use a "dumb" charger to bring it up above 3V. Or you could hook a live battery in parallel to the dead battery to trick the tender into starting the charge.
 
LeetViet said:
The C-TEK 3300 is good to be left on the motorcycle option, right? http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...3300%2B3.3A%2BBattery%2BCharger.jsp?locale=en
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I have the yuasa hotshot, pictured here...(and actually purchased from Matt (at moto impacts) as well...great guy to work with)
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http://www.motorcycleimpacts.com/Electrical.html
 
Distrust, paranoia, it's a fine line :)

I'm sure the instructions are accurate 99.9% of the time... it's just that I pass by the batter at least once every few days, so I'm not exactly going out of my way to do this, or keeping track on a calendar, just something out of habit.
 
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Hey, I've got a question.

Today I picked up a Motomaster Eliminator Intelligent Battery Charger/Maintainer (http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/3/Batteries/BatteryChargers/PRD~0111506P/MotoMaster+Eliminator+Intelligent+Battery+Charger%2C+2A.jsp?locale=en). It's a battery tender which'll charge and maintain the battery over long periods of times of storage.

My question was, would it be ok if I keep the battery connected to the tender in my garage which is currently very cold due to the weather outside. Would the battery still be in condition come riding season?
 
nuzzy said:
Hey, I've got a question.

Today I picked up a Motomaster Eliminator Intelligent Battery Charger/Maintainer (http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...Intelligent+Battery+Charger,+2A.jsp?locale=en). It's a battery tender which'll charge and maintain the battery over long periods of times of storage.

My question was, would it be ok if I keep the battery connected to the tender in my garage which is currently very cold due to the weather outside. Would the battery still be in condition come riding season?
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yup
 
How old is your battery? Is it a lead acid battery? If it is fully discharged and old, it may be toast. If it is not too old you may be able to charge it with a charger, then put it on a tender. If it is stored in a very cold area and not charged, it will not do the battery any good. I've toasted good battery's by over charging them over the winter (using a charger, and not a tender).
 
I was not in that class
 
a good healthy AGM battery can be stored for 6 months without charging.

i let my battery sat for two months already after getting a full charged from tender.

13.2V measured at the beginning, now it measures 12.9V. It will take a long time to reach 12.8V
 
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