New battery question.

[Guest]

I had a gift card from Xmas and some cash from B'Day so i thought I'd treat the GS to a new battery and move the battery I put in new last year to the XS which I'm likely selling.

I figured I'd get something with lots of cranking amps. At the store (Canadian Tire) I ask the guy for something with the most power. Unfortunately, bike batteries don't seem to show their cranking amperages so I figure I'll order something for a big bike. The largest they had on the shelf was for an 1100cc bike. Good enough I figure.

Out comes the battery in a box that is way larger than I'm expecting but when I open it the battery is the right size but there is a bottle of acid mix which you need to put in. I get the guy to put it in while I go pay for it. Five minutes later, I pick it up and walk out thinking that I'll get it on the trickle charge when I get home.

Two hours later, I get home and as I'm taking the battery into the man room I feel the box is quite warm. Strange I think but don't worry on it as I have lunch. When I come out to it an hour later the battery is hot. WTF????

Out comes the multimeter and I've got 17.6 volts. What is going on?????
Five hours later its down to 13.25 volts and there is no heat to the battery case. Weird.

I didn't ask and they didn't say but I wonder if there is a rapid charger that they may have put it on ? Is there something that could dump in 17+ volts in no more than 2 or 3 minutes?

I'm still scratching my bald dome.

Any ideas about this?

Cheers all.
Spyug

[earlfor]

The only way a new battery could show 17 volts and be warm/hot is if the auto parts guy put it on a battery charger set to quick charge. That would probably be jamming 50 amps into the poor little thing. They do not get hot just from having electrolyte put into them. I would take it back and exchange it for a new one. That one is now already on its way to being done for. (my opinion)

Earl

I had a gift card from Xmas and some cash from B'Day so i thought I'd treat the GS to a new battery and move the battery I put in new last year to the XS which I'm likely selling.

I figured I'd get something with lots of cranking amps. At the store (Canadian Tire) I ask the guy for something with the most power. Unfortunately, bike batteries don't seem to show their cranking amperages so I figure I'll order something for a big bike. The largest they had on the shelf was for an 1100cc bike. Good enough I figure.

Out comes the battery in a box that is way larger than I'm expecting but when I open it the battery is the right size but there is a bottle of acid mix which you need to put in. I get the guy to put it in while I go pay for it. Five minutes later, I pick it up and walk out thinking that I'll get it on the trickle charge when I get home.

Two hours later, I get home and as I'm taking the battery into the man room I feel the box is quite warm. Strange I think but don't worry on it as I have lunch. When I come out to it an hour later the battery is hot. WTF????

Out comes the multimeter and I've got 17.6 volts. What is going on?????
Five hours later its down to 13.25 volts and there is no heat to the battery case. Weird.

I didn't ask and they didn't say but I wonder if there is a rapid charger that they may have put it on ? Is there something that could dump in 17+ volts in no more than 2 or 3 minutes?

I'm still scratching my bald dome.

Any ideas about this?

Cheers all.
Spyug

[tkent02]

The only way a new battery could show 17 volts and be warm/hot is if the auto parts guy put it on a battery charger set to quick charge. That would probably be jamming 50 amps into the poor little thing. They do not get hot just from having electrolyte put into them. I would take it back and exchange it for a new one. That one is now already on its way to being done for. (my opinion)

Earl

I would say the same, if you are smart get a different one and fill and charge it yourself.
But if you are real smart, exchange it for an AGM type battery.

[tone]

some batteries come dry charged & putting the acid in then charging it could have over charged it even if only done for a short time 8-[

the last battery i bought was a YB14LA2 .................... yb=yuasa battery 14= cranking amps

not sure on the last bit but i think its to do with the charge rate

[tkent02]

some batteries come dry charged & putting the acid in then charging it could have over charged it even if only done for a short time 8-[

the last battery i bought was a YB14LA2 .................... yb=yuasa battery 14= cranking amps

not sure on the last bit but i think its to do with the charge rate

I think the LA2 is the physical size, shape and polarity of the terminals.

[catbed]

actually tone, the 14 is the amp-hour rating, the current which can be drawn from the battery for an hour, within a certain number of hours. i think suzukis are 14 amp-hours for 10 hours.

[tone]

actually tone, the 14 is the amp-hour rating, the current which can be drawn from the battery for an hour, within a certain number of hours. i think suzukis are 14 amp-hours for 10 hours.

Err i think thats what i said but shorter lol :-D

[tkent02]

14 amps for an hour, 2 amps for 7 hours, 28 amps for 1/2 hour, 1 amp for 14 hours, or any other ratio that works out the same.
Plus a little fudge factor if it's fairly new.

[catbed]

cranking amps and amp hours are differents

[tkent02]

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_11/3.html

[Nessism]

I'm not a battery expert but it sounds reasonable to me that the battery would get warm when adding the acid. There is a chemical reaction taking place which caused the temporary heat. My guess is that it's okay to use. If not, that's what warranties are for.

[bakalorz]

I had a gift card from Xmas and some cash from B'Day so i thought I'd treat the GS to a new battery and move the battery I put in new last year to the XS which I'm likely selling.

I figured I'd get something with lots of cranking amps. At the store (Canadian Tire) I ask the guy for something with the most power. Unfortunately, bike batteries don't seem to show their cranking amperages so I figure I'll order something for a big bike. The largest they had on the shelf was for an 1100cc bike. Good enough I figure.

Out comes the battery in a box that is way larger than I'm expecting but when I open it the battery is the right size but there is a bottle of acid mix which you need to put in. I get the guy to put it in while I go pay for it. Five minutes later, I pick it up and walk out thinking that I'll get it on the trickle charge when I get home.

Two hours later, I get home and as I'm taking the battery into the man room I feel the box is quite warm. Strange I think but don't worry on it as I have lunch. When I come out to it an hour later the battery is hot. WTF????

Out comes the multimeter and I've got 17.6 volts. What is going on?????
Five hours later its down to 13.25 volts and there is no heat to the battery case. Weird.

I didn't ask and they didn't say but I wonder if there is a rapid charger that they may have put it on ? Is there something that could dump in 17+ volts in no more than 2 or 3 minutes?

I'm still scratching my bald dome.

Any ideas about this?

Cheers all.
Spyug

I remember when I did my battery, it got pretty warm after adding the acid, and it was sitting outside, with a breeze blowing.

I could imagine it getting pretty hot in an insulating cardboard box.

Battery voltage is affected by heat, that may have been part of why it was so high. In any case, no matter how hard he could have charged it, 3 hours later any surface charge would have dissipated, and not left the voltage that high. My money is on it being from the addition of acid.

I doubt he charged it at all. If the acid level is ok, and you charged it properly, its probably good to go.

[spyug]

Thanks for all the responses folks. Much appreciated.

I'm still befuddled about this. I think I understand that the chemical reaction may have caused the heat in the battery but how come the voltage? I need to go talk to them at the store to see what they may have done. I can't really believe that they could push in a large charge in less than 5 minutes. According to what I researched last night motorcycle batteries are not designed for rapid charge/discharge and if it was forced charged it can't be good.

Another strange thing I've noticed is that while the stored charge had dropped to about 12.6 volts if i held the probes of the multimeter to the posts for more than 3 or 4 minutes the charge indicated went up gradually to about 13 .7 volts. I had never noticed that phenomena before and I'm wondering if it is something wrong with my meter. I'll need to get another meter to check that.

Interesting stuff this electricals.

Cheers all,
Spyug.

[bakalorz]

Another strange thing I've noticed is that while the stored charge had dropped to about 12.6 volts if i held the probes of the multimeter to the posts for more than 3 or 4 minutes the charge indicated went up gradually to about 13 .7 volts. I had never noticed that phenomena before and I'm wondering if it is something wrong with my meter. I'll need to get another meter to check that..,
Spyug.

Hmmmm...

Maybe your battery is dying ....

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... no, not the big battery ... the 9 volt one in the meter. :-P :roll:

[gsgeezer]

battery

I would say the same, if you are smart get a different one and fill and charge it yourself.
But if you are real smart, exchange it for an AGM type battery.

As mentioned already^^^

Exchange for a sealed battery and don't let anbody but you charge it.