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EASY Bike Battery load test!

  • Thread starter Thread starter barnbiketom
  • Start date Start date
B

barnbiketom

Guest
ok here's the disclaimer.

If you are electrically challenged, then this may not be for you.

If you are hesitant at all doing this. it is not for you.

Please check any battery in this manner OUT OF THE BIKE
and outside away from gas fumes etc.
please use goggles or eye protection.
keep kids pets and enemies away also.

Now that said.. I've seen many many batteries that would test 12, 13, 14 volts open circuit (no load.)

There are all kind s of load testers you can spend bucks on, but my method takes 5 seconds and two screwdrivers .. and not your best favorite screwdrivers either.

Again, with bat out of the bike and way from anything flammable etc. simply place a screwdriver on each terminal and then bring them together , shorting them out momentarily. MOMENTARILY!!!!

This takes practice. you don't really need to HOLD them together, but just click them quickly.

A GOOD battery will make a LARGE POP AND A LARGE SPARK.. even to the point of trying to weld them together in your hands.

A BAD battery will make a TEENY tiny spark and nothing much else.... maybe some very slight heat will occur at the junction. but probably not ifthe battery is failing...

of course there are many results in between, but if your battery is really bad , this is a quick and nasty method to rule it out.

For the naysayers, I've tried to explain this as best I can, and have done it for 40 years with no bad results, but have saved countless hours on countless batteries and no, I have not ruined any batteries.. I do have 2 choice screwdrivers that have no tips left..

The secret in this its to place a short on it MOMENTARILY to see what kind of AMPERAGE OUTPUT it has...not volts

I realize that you can take a battery to be 'checked' but i'd much rather do it myself. I do have a cheepo HF load tester , but the thing places such a load on a small battery that i'm thinking most would show weak anyway!!:)
 
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cool, i'll connect my battery up with croc clips to my wifes knife and fork. if her roast potatos explode when she tries to eat them, then i know the battery is good!
 
barnbiketom said:
ok here's the disclaimer.

If you are electrically challenged, then this may not be for you.

If you are hesitant at all doing this. it is not for you.

Please check any battery in this manner OUT OF THE BIKE
and outside away from gas fumes etc.
please use goggles or eye protection.
keep kids pets and enemies away also.

Now that said.. I've seen many many batteries that would test 12, 13, 14 volts open circuit (no load.)

There are all kind s of load testers you can spend bucks on, but my method takes 5 seconds and two screwdrivers .. and not your best favorite screwdrivers either.

Again, with bat out of the bike and way from anything flammable etc. simply place a screwdriver on each terminal and then bring them together , shorting them out momentarily. MOMENTARILY!!!!

This takes practice. you don't really need to HOLD them together, but just click them quickly.

A GOOD battery will make a LARGE POP AND A LARGE SPARK.. even to the point of trying to weld them together in your hands.

A BAD battery will make a TEENY tiny spark and nothing much else.... maybe some very slight heat will occur at the junction. but probably not ifthe battery is failing...

of course there are many results in between, but if your battery is really bad , this is a quick and nasty method to rule it out.

For the naysayers, I've tried to explain this as best I can, and have done it for 40 years with no bad results, but have saved countless hours on countless batteries and no, I have not ruined any batteries.. I do have 2 choice screwdrivers that have no tips left..

The secret in this its to place a short on it MOMENTARILY to see what kind of AMPERAGE OUTPUT it has...not volts

I realize that you can take a battery to be 'checked' but i'd much rather do it myself. I do have a cheepo HF load tester , but the thing places such a load on a small battery that i'm thinking most would show weak anyway!!:)
Click to expand...

Even simpler, see step one-two of the quick test. You should not drop more than about 0.5 volts from 12.8 down to 12.2 with the key on.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=1272192#post1272192

I'm sure this works for you but I coudl hardly recommend it to the general masses......:(
 
Hi,

Oh boy, does that sound like fun! :D

Still, sometimes you just got to get things done "down and dirty". Thanks for the tip AND all the disclaimers.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
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(My own disclaimer: I'm not trying to berate anyone, they may test batteries how they please. I'm just stating my preferences and the facts behind them. Cheers!)

I guess I'm going to be the dissenter here... I may be new to motorcycles but I am not new to electricity and short-circuiting the battery terminals is NOT something I would recommend.

Batteries make hydrogen, hydrogen is flammable, sparks make hydrogen go boom. I generally go to great lengths to avoid making sparks anywhere near a battery even by accident. Ever jump start a car? The recommended procedure is to always place the last connection on the engine. It's not for any electrical reason, it's so that when the circuit is completed, the sparks are made as far away from the battery as possible. (Sealed batteries are perhaps an exception to this, but I'm still not convinced that short-circuiting them is good for their life span.)

The correct way to load test a battery is with a $20-$30 tool that lasts forever, is just as quick and easy to use, and is far more accurate at judging the state of a battery: http://www.harborfreight.com/100-amp-6-volt-12-volt-battery-load-tester-90636.html

Edit: I just noticed that you said you already own a load tester... maybe there are others that would give more accurate readings on smaller batteries?
 
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Another disclaimer lol.

I never do this on a 'new' battery of course. merely ones that I already have , in my mind, the question of whether or not they are up to snuff..

A digital meter test , with a load on and off can be true..or a 'load test device' but also misleading if the battery plates are on the verge of shorting out under a longer time of load and temperature from running.

Thanks to all the comments.. I knew ahead of time i might be stirring the bee's nest!
 
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