Battery Acid

[Anonymous]

my bike was sitting for a month and a half, filled the batt with tap water and recharged at 1 amp for a few days. put it in bike and all was well, the other day. Went out this morning she fired right up. went to store and battery was dead. Question is i probably should not of used tap water, can a shop put some acid in, is that why its not holding charge. just did R/R last year

[Alan Schlosser]

I belive that you only have to top the battery off with water, preferably distilled. I don't think that adding any more acid will help the battery. If you lost the charge that fast, you probably have a bad battery or it isn't charging.

[earlfor]

Re: Battery Acid

Once a new battery has been filled with electrolyte (usually, a premixed bottle of acid and water) additional acid is not added. Water evaporates or boils away, acid does not. Adding acid will result in having the wrong electrolyte combination. Its an excellent way to destroy a battery quickly.

Distilled water is preferable for topping up a battery, but its not the end of the world if you used tap water. :-)

After charging the battery, did you check the battery voltage? If you dont know what the battery voltage was when you started using it, then you dont know if the battery accepted a charge or if there is a short, or something faulty with your charging system. Replacing the R/R last year doesnt mean it HAS to be working this year. :-)

Earl

my bike was sitting for a month and a half, filled the batt with tap water and recharged at 1 amp for a few days. put it in bike and all was well, the other day. Went out this morning she fired right up. went to store and battery was dead. Question is i probably should not of used tap water, can a shop put some acid in, is that why its not holding charge. just did R/R last year

[bwringer]

ASSUMING the charging system works, Sudden Battery Death (SBD, not the more ephemeral sbd) is often due to a broken connection inside the battery.

Of course, your charging system could be poo, causing the poor battery to expend its last precious few contaminated ions.

Got a volt meter?

[Anonymous]

yes i have a meter, got it on charge now. 11.6 before charge

[jimcor]

Did you read the Service column of "Rider"'s Nov issue? A reader sent in a similar problem and Andy diagnosed it as the battery connection. He states that using a screwdriver on your cable to battery post is not enough that the turn of a wrench is needed for proper connection. Try that. Doesn't cost anything and might work.