First Battery

[Guest]

Today I bought my very first battery! yay.

I plug it into my charger set to 2A and deep cycle mode (dont really know what that means) then it appears to be charging, bubbling like CRAZY, garage smells like farts. great.
about 45 minutes pass and the charger stops charging, it says its full.

I say, "huh? isnt that supposed to take like 7 hours? so i plug it into the bike and the lights come on no problem, but it wont start. registers about 12.7v.

I plug it BACK into the charger and it now says 0% charge and it starts bubbling all over again.

What gives?

[BassCliff]

Hi,

Here is a very thorough article about how to initialize and charge a motorcycle battery:

http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/newbattery.htm

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[chuckycheese]

Charger

Take it off the charger! It's fully charged at 12.7V (12.6V is considered a full charge). Since your lights work, the first thing to do is check your fuses. Assuming that everyhting worked before you replaced the battery, that's most likely going to turn out to be the problem.

Interrupting the electrical circuit can sometimes cause fuses to blow. If that doesn't take care of the problem, then it has to be something coincidental (unlikely, but always possible). Let us know!

[Adler]

Take it off the charger! It's fully charged at 12.7V (12.6V is considered a full charge). Since your lights work, the first thing to do is check your fuses. Assuming that the bike worked before you replaced the battery, that's most likely going to turn out to be the problem.

Interrupting the electrical circuit can sometimes cause fuses to blow. If that doesn't take care of the problem, then it has to be something coincidental (unlikely, but always possible). Let us know!

how can it be charged after 45 minutes?!? Is a car charger a bad idea....

EDIT: Is crazy bubbling bad?

EDIT AGAIN: I took it off the charger, and I noted that it is quite hot. According to the aricle BassCliff posted (thanks by the way) its only supposed to get lukewarm and bubble a little... What am I doing wrong?? I really dont want to have wasted a pile of money.

[chuckycheese]

It's charged!

how can it be charged after 45 minutes?!? Is a car charger a bad idea....

EDIT: Is crazy bubbling bad?

EDIT AGAIN: I took it off the charger, and I noted that it is quite hot. According to the aricle BassCliff posted (thanks by the way) its only supposed to get lukewarm and bubble a little... What am I doing wrong?? I really dont want to have wasted a pile of money.

If it's a 2 amp charger, it's considered a "trickle charger"...which is good. A discharged battery would take a number of hours to charge at 2 amps so one would have to assume that the battery was probably almost completely charged when you brought it home.

Time doesn't matter because the battery doesn't 'know' the difference..only the stored and available voltage. If you've used a multimeter and it registers at 12.7 volts, you've got yourself a fully charged battery.

Personally, I've got several chargers and have never seen a 2 amp charger cause boiling...never. If it's boiling, hot and smelling up your garage, that sounds far too aggressive for a 2 amp charge. I'd look into that charger...something's not right.

[DanTheMan]

The charger shouldn't have been on deep cycle, just 2 amp. Deep cycle is for deep cycle batteries like what are used in boats and RVs for "house" purposes (interior lights, water pumps, trolling motors etc.). Never charge a standard cycle battery on the deep cycle setting, the plates aren't made for it. This is the reason your battery was hot and bubbling.

[chuckycheese]

Right!

Yes, and if you continue to keep charging it....you're gonna ruin it! Move on and find out why your bike won't start.

[Adler]

alrighty... I figured it out... kinda.
Not quite sure how the battery is fully charged already but now the bike starts. I wont say why it wasnt working before because im embarrassed. I'm an idiot.

[Baatfam]

alrighty... I figured it out... kinda.
Not quite sure how the battery is fully charged already but now the bike starts. I wont say why it wasnt working before because im embarrassed. I'm an idiot.

Clutch not pulled in....?
Kill switch...?

Come on, it's OK, we've all done it...

[Adler]

Clutch not pulled in....?

Bingo!...
On the plus side, I put a little gas in the carbs and this machine turned on for the first time in 3 years... Im more then a little happy.

[chuckycheese]

Nooooooo

alrighty... I figured it out... kinda.
Not quite sure how the battery is fully charged already but now the bike starts. I wont say why it wasnt working before because im embarrassed. I'm an idiot.

No, you're not! You asked a few questions and got it figured out. That's the way this forum works. Ride safe!

[koolaid_kid]

I got on this late, but...
The odor is sulfuric acid.
The bubbling is normal.
A new battery is almost fully charged when new.
Each battery cell is good for 2.1 volts when fully charged. A 12v battery, which has 6 cells, is good for 12.6 volts as mentioned.
Glad you found your way through this.

[themess]

...I'm an idiot.

NO!

You're a beginner. There's a big difference. You're learning, so you aren't an idiot.

2A may be a trickle charge for a car battery, but it isn't exactly a trickle charger for a motorcycle battery, unless it is controlled like a Battery Tender.

[koolaid_kid]

An accurate observation. You can get a cheap tender at Harbor Freight or such for $5-10. It will shut itself off when it is done, a desired result.

[Adler]

Thanks for all the encouragement.

Either my messings about last night caused some badness, or this battery was deffective to begin with. This morning it registers a 1.4v charge and the charger seems to think its full...

EDIT: Ok, now I'm thinking that the charger I have is defective, the amount of bubbling makes me think that the "2A" setting was for some reason pumping 100A into the battery (the charger has a 100A feature for starting cars). Who do you guys think I should be complaining to?