Time for new battery? Which type?

[Guest]

Hello gang,

My first post to the technical forum after brailnlessly posting in the top forum!

I got my GS1100 GL about six weeks ago and racked up about 1700 miles so far. Previous owner put a brand new sealed battery in the bike before he sold it to me and he said he always kept it on a Battery Tender because he rode only once every couple weeks.

I've got charging problems I have ignored and kept at bay with external charging every night with a .75 Amp "Battery Tender brand and in the last week moved up to using a 2/10-Amp charger (seemed the tender just didn't top it off but probably more to do with battery condition/bike charging system).

In any event, I think I've burned up the battery through all the external daily charging. What I'm getting at is I think the battery cannot be trusted to be used for troubleshooting the charging system using the GSR troubleshooting flow chart.

With that in mind, what type of battery should I get going forward, sealed or unsealed? Which battery is best for using for testing the system, and would become the permanent battery once I am confident my charging system is not killing my battery!

Thanks for any advice and let me know if you have other questions.

-Bob

[ryonker]

Here's what I just put in my bike;

http://www.batteriesplus.com/p-32699-xt14l-a2-xtreme-conventional-12v-14ah-power-sport-battery.aspx

Rick

[Dave8338]

And here is what I use:

http://www.batteriesplus.com/p-34344-xtreme-permaseal-high-performance-agm-powersport-battery.aspx

Make sure that the charging system is up and working correctly or you'll spend more money on another battery.

[ereckerdeet]

If you have voltage on that battery its plenty to test with. Get everything figured out before you go get your new battery.

I'd use a standard flooded unsealed battery, they're cheap and bulletproof.

[pontiacstogo]

Big Crank AGM;

http://www.batterymart.com/p-Big-Crank-ETX15L-Battery.html

I bought my first Big Crank in 2004 and it is still going strong. I have them in 3 x bikes and have NEVER had to recharge any of them. The bikes are stored in an unheated garage during Central PA winters and I don't even bother to disconnect the batteries anymore. They still crank the bikes over when I fire the bikes up each spring.

[BassCliff]

Hi,

I think a properly initialized AGM battery is the most worry-free and trouble-free option. I'm very happy with my Yuasa AGM battery, but there are others that are just as good or better, maybe even cheaper. There' a short list on the mega-welcome.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[Big T]

Charging the battery won't hurt it, but overcharging it will.

2 amps is overkill, you may have boiled it dry

Is it an AGM battery, or one of those "sealed" batteries that have a strip on top that pulls off?

Anyway, replace it with an AGM battery and test from there

[Steve]

Here is another vote for the sealed AGM battery from Batteries Plus. (Note that AGM is a construction type, not a brand name.)

Littleroot, look carefully at your 2/10 charger. Is it manual or automatic? If it's automatic, does it have a 'float mode'?
If it's not an automatic model with a float mode, that might be what killed your battery. Even a 2-amp charger can kill our small batteries. Most of our batteries are rated at either 12 or 14 amp-hours, so the charger should not exceed 1.2 or 1.4 amps. Having a float mode is best, an automatic charger is good, a manual charger just takes too much work to remember to take it off the battery after a certain amount of time.

BassCliff also touched on a rather important part ... properly initializing a battery. You can limit your new battery's capacity by simply sticking it in the bike and hitting the starter switch. Properly initializing it will ensure its full capacity.

.

[GSXXZRX]

I needed a battery for my Blackbird. P.O. had one of those 19.99 pieces
op junk in it.
So I did some battery research. AGM: stands for Absorbed Glass Mat.
Seems the battery is manufactured with fiberglass sheets between
the lead plates. Makes it more vibration resistant, won't leak in an
accident. From what I read, an AGM battery can be fully discharged
and still take a full charge.
AHH I found it. Very useful knowledge. Here ya go.

the same cost as gelled:

Since all the electrolyte (acid) is contained in the glass mats, they cannot spill, even if broken. This also means that since they are non-hazardous, the shipping costs are lower. In addition, since there is no liquid to freeze and expand, they are practically immune from freezing damage.
Nearly all AGM batteries are "recombinant" - what that means is that the Oxygen and Hydrogen recombine INSIDE the battery. These use gas phase transfer of oxygen to the negative plates to recombine them back into water while charging and prevent the loss of water through electrolysis. The recombining is typically 99+% efficient, so almost no water is lost.
The charging voltages are the same as for any standard battery - no need for any special adjustments or problems with incompatible chargers or charge controls. And, since the internal resistance is extremely low, there is almost no heating of the battery even under heavy charge and discharge currents. The Concorde (and most AGM) batteries have no charge or discharge current limits.
AGM's have a very low self-discharge - from 1% to 3% per month is usual. This means that they can sit in storage for much longer periods without charging than standard batteries. The Concorde batteries can be almost fully recharged (95% or better) even after 30 days of being totally discharged.
AGM's do not have any liquid to spill, and even under severe overcharge conditions hydrogen emission is far below the 4% max specified for aircraft and enclosed spaces. The plates in AGM's are tightly packed and rigidly mounted, and will withstand shock and vibration better than any standard battery.
Even with all the advantages listed above, there is still a place for the standard flooded deep cycle battery. AGM's will cost 2 to 3 times as much as flooded batteries of the same capacity. In many installations, where the batteries are set in an area where you don't have to worry about fumes or leakage, a standard or industrial deep cycle is a better economic choice. AGM batteries main advantages are no maintenance, completely sealed against fumes, Hydrogen, or leakage, non-spilling even if they are broken, and can survive most freezes. Not everyone needs these features.

[littleroot]

Charging the battery won't hurt it, but overcharging it will.

2 amps is overkill, you may have boiled it dry

Is it an AGM battery, or one of those "sealed" batteries that have a strip on top that pulls off?

Anyway, replace it with an AGM battery and test from there

Looks like I got a AGM style - label says it is a YUASA YTX-14AH

Curent voltage is 13.1 after about four hours on a .75 AMP battery tender which was reading full. It just seems like that is all this charger will push it to.

I am going to put it on the 2AMP for an hour and see if I notice even a tick going up.

http://www.bikebandit.com/product/15739?WT.mc_id=1484958&CAWELAID=338441512

[Steve]

AGM batteries main advantages are no maintenance, completely sealed against fumes, Hydrogen, or leakage, non-spilling even if they are broken, and can survive most freezes. Not everyone needs these features.

Maybe not everyone, but owners of 750 and 1100E bikes certainly do.

The battery lives under the airbox. You can't even see the battery to check the water level without minor surgery to the bike.


.

[argonsagas]

Looks like I got a AGM style - label says it is a YUASA YTX-14AH

Curent voltage is 13.1 after about four hours on a .75 AMP battery tender which was reading full. It just seems like that is all this charger will push it to.

I am going to put it on the 2AMP for an hour and see if I notice even a tick going up.

http://www.bikebandit.com/product/15...LAID=338441512

There is nothing wrong with 13.1 volts right after disconnection from the charger.

The voltage reading you get when checking it at least one hour after disconnection is more important as there will always be a voltage drop, and the second reading will tell you more about battery condition.

[littleroot]

My AGM battery (still) seems OK

Is a good test of my AGM battery to give it a full charge, get my 13.1 volts, and then wait 36 hours without usage and test again? I did this and my voltage was 12.9. Think the battery is good? I saw another test which said to crank the starter twenty times with the plug wires pulled or something like that - I forget.

Please let me know your preferred method.

I think I'm doing pretty good condsidering: I ran the bike for about 25 miles yesterday, using the starter about 8 times, and event with a failed R/R and it only dropped to 12.7.

-Bob

There is nothing wrong with 13.1 volts right after disconnection from the charger.

The voltage reading you get when checking it at least one hour after disconnection is more important as there will always be a voltage drop, and the second reading will tell you more about battery condition.

[Dave8338]

I think your battery is fine. Now how's the R/R set up going?

[littleroot]

I think your battery is fine. Now how's the R/R set up going?

Thanks for your interest. Here is the latest.
-Bob

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?p=1035892#post1035892