Battery

[bmlbytes]

If its not one thing its the other.

Last week I was having problems with getting my bike to run properly. In the process of trying to diagnose it, I left the keys in the ignition with it in the On position, and the headlight switch on. Needless to say, when I came back a few hours later, the battery was drained.

Since my bike is my only source of transportation, its only been today that I was able to buy a slow charger for it. I went to Batteries Plus and bought a 1 Amp slow charger. The instructions said to leave it on the charger for about 12 hours. Its now been 12 hours, and I went out to check it. The battery barely powers the instrument panel lights, even with the headlight switch off. Should I let it charge some more, or is there a problem I am unaware of?

[bwringer]

That's a good automatic charger, but it needs to read voltage to start charging. A completely dead battery may not activate the charger.

Did the yellow "charging" light come on when you clipped the leads to the battery? Is the green "charged" light on now?

[resjudicata]

Maybe check the switch on the front of the charger to make sure it is set for 12 volts? Also, to see if you are getting a charge check the voltage on the battery before connecting the charger. Then connect the charger and check the voltage on the battery terminals again. Don't touch the probes to the charger clips, only to the battery terminals. This way you can tell if you have a good connection to the battery with the charger clips.

You may have just had a bad connection with the clips the first time you charged it. Hopefully the charger isn't bad.

Chris

[bmlbytes]

I checked that the charger was offering voltage about halfway through. It was. Also, the charger is not an automatic one, it is a manual one. And there are no lights on it.

I believe the battery is a 6 volt battery, and I set the switch to 6 volts.

Im going to let it charge overnight. I dont see the harm in this if it failed to fully charge the battery so far.

[bwringer]

My bad; I thought that was the similar-looking automatic model.

Sounds like your battery is indeed stuffed, expired, finito, and has passed on.

There's no harm in trying again (just in case there's some electrical drain that you don't know about, make sure the battery is disconnected from the bike), but NEVER EVER EVER EVER leave a manual charger hooked up for more than 10-12 hours. More than a few hours won't do any good, and could boil the battery dry and leave you with a very nasty dangerous mess.

Also, if it's not a sealed battery, how's the electrolyte level?

[resjudicata]

What bike is this on? What makes you think it has a 6 volt system?

Chris

[bwringer]

I checked that the charger was offering voltage about halfway through. It was. Also, the charger is not an automatic one, it is a manual one. And there are no lights on it.

I believe the battery is a 6 volt battery, and I set the switch to 6 volts.

Im going to let it charge overnight. I dont see the harm in this if it failed to fully charge the battery so far.

Well, there's yer problem -- it's a 12 volt battery.

Assuming it's on a GS and not some weirdo scooter.

[Steve]

Two things are necessary here:
1. Set the charger to 12 volts and get that battery charged up PRONTO. The longer the battery sits uncharged, the lower the success rate at recharging.
2. Exchage that charger for one that looks just like it, but is labeled "Battery Maintainer" or "Battery Companion".
Don't settle for just an "Automatic" charger, go straight for the maintainer.

The difference is what happens when the battery is charged.
A manual charger, like yours, will keep trying to charge the battery and eventually kill it unless you disconnect it.
An automatic charger will reduce the charge rate, but will still keep charging. That's OK for overnight or maybe a week, but can still overcharge a battery and kill it.
A maintainer will stop charging completely, then simply monitor the voltage. If the voltage drops, it will kick in and top off the charge. Perfect for long-term storage over the winter.

Actually, there is a third item for the list:
3. Plan on getting a new battery.

.

[bmlbytes]

Thanks guys, looks like I was getting my GS550L battery confused with my Kawasaki 100 Dirtbike

[posplayr]

also a 1 amp trickle charger will take a long time to charge a motorcycle battery.

It it is C=14 Ahr, a typical charging rate is 20%C = C/5

So you would want to charge at 14/5 = almost 3 amps.

[mrbill5491]

This too...

How old is the battery? If it is over 3 years old and you discharged it all the way down, it could have started sulfating (battery death!) anyways, if it is that old, get a new one. If not make sure you start charging a completely discharged battery with a bit stronger charger for a bit then switch to the trickle charger for the rest of the charge. Anyways, that's my thought.