Letting a battery sit for a while then charging okay?

[Johnny K]

I have an 82' 850 with 21K on it. About 3 weeks ago I took the batter off and put it in my basement for I have about a foot of snow and don't plan on riding until after the snow melts. I do not have a battery tender, only a battery charger. It works fine. Is it okay to let the batter sit for an extended amount of time without charging it until I want to ride? The batter itself has been great starting even in cold temps with no problem. Thanks guys.

[tconroy]

Go get a battery tender with float charge.Harbor freight has them real cheap is your short on cash.20 to 30 bucks for a real good one from the auto parts store or wally world.

[waterman]

The battery will likely be fine. I leave them in the bike all winter and just charge in spring. It would best to charge every month or so during storage to keep charge up, but be mindful of how it is charged. Most automobile chargers renew batteries with 4 or higher amps, for a motorcycle battery, 1 amp in better. If you only have automobile charger, charge no longer than 1 hour. A battery tender uses low amps over longer periods which is better for battery.

[rkubik]

levels

If it's the maintainable type, top up the electrolyte levels with distilled water.

For filling thru those tiny holes, an ear syringe works well - about $3 about at a drug store.

[Steve]

Since you say you have only a charger, not a maintainer, give it a full charge before storage, then top it off every month or so. Lead-acid batteries prefer to remain somewhat fully charged and will degrade rather seriously if left in an uncharged state. Depending on the state (and length) of uncharge, the battery will never fully recover.

And this does not even take into account that most batteries never did operate at full capacity in the first place. :shock: Here is a procedure to follow to properly initialize a new battery. It's written aimed at the BMW group, but the principles are the same for any battery used in a vehicle.

The charger/maintainer from Harbor Freight was mentioned above. It is $7.49 plus $6.99 shipping unless you have a store near you. I was in our local store a couple of weeks ago and it was on sale for $4.99 in the store.

Here is some information on charger/maintainers from an earlier thread:

Good thinking ... it's essentially correct.
Although the battery was replaced last year, there is no guarantee it's still good. In fact, many batteries are not properly initialized before being put into service, so they are not operating at full potential to start with. Anything that negatively affects them will only degrade them further.

Just how do you "trickle charge the bike every night"?
If you use a manual trickle charger, the battery might be overcharged and fried. Have you checked the electrolytle level? An automatic charger would be better, but the best thing for charging a battery is an automatic charger/maintainer. Several models fit that description, and can be found in a variety of prices. Battery Tender Plus ($60), Battery Tender Jr. ($40), Schumacher ($36 from Schumacher, about $30 at Wal-Mart), Sears Die Hard ($30, appears to be made by Schumacher).
All of these can be plugged in and left on the battery indefinitely, assuring proper charge at any time.


The best way to check the electrical parts on your bike is to follow The Stator Papers which are found in the Garage section of this forum.



I don't know about availability in your area, but I get my batteries from Batteries Plus. What you are looking for is a sealed, AGM (absorbed glass mat) battery. Has higher cranking capacity and is sealed, so you never have to check the electrolyte level again. \\/


Check your stator before you replace it, but new ones are available from Elektrex (or is it Electro Sport?). Rewinds are available from Tim Parrot Enterprises in Alabama.


If you need a r/r (rectifier/regulator), the Honda units on eBay are a better choice than the Suzuki models. They seem to have better heat sinks and heavier wires. You can save some of the hassle by getting one from fellow board member Duaneage. He gets used units, tests them, reterminates the wires to match our GS bikes, then sells them at a good price.


.

[zuzu]

The charger/maintainer from Harbor Freight was mentioned above. It is $7.49 plus $6.99 shipping unless you have a store near you. I was in our local store a couple of weeks ago and it was on sale for $4.99 in the store.

Here is some information on charger/maintainers from an earlier thread:

I also saw the Float Chargers on sale at Harbor Freight and picked up two. One for my boat and one for my bike.
Its nice to know that the battery's are ready to go when you are. Your battery life will also be extended using a float charger.

Here is one for $12.95 - free shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/12-VOLT-AUTOMATIC-BATTERY-FLOAT-CHARGER-FREE-SHIPPING_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ63687QQihZ011QQitemZ320197432268QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

[trippivot]

I don't personally like battery tenders. I think the 1.5 amp rate is not enough to really excite the 6 cells of a 12V wet battery. I have found it shadows the battery.

What I like to do is to cycle the battery (charge and discharge slowly in cycles)
Start= charge battery at 2 amp overnight. let batt.sit for 3-4 weeks or so. (don't let it freeze) next hook a test light or a small watt light bulb as a load. let the light shine or discharge battery until the bulb is dim like overnight and a day or so... it depends on your battery. recharge at 2 amp again and start the storage cycle over again.

my ninja 500 battery is going on it's 4th year. I use first interstate batteries. they are more expensive but they last for multiple years with this charging cycle storage technique.