Need a new battery?

Re: Need a new battery?

Ummm, don`t actually need a new one at present, can you believe i`m still running the original battery and it`s 11 years old? With a service life like that, when it does eventually pack up, think i`ll be sticking to genuine Harley.:)
 
Re: Need a new battery?

There is a heavier duty version by the same company, CCA 400 instead of CCA 300. Well worth the extra when trying to turn over a Harley. Got one to fit on my Glide, reluctant to change the original battery which is six years old and never been any trouble but I do not want any aggravation on holiday in Europe.
 
Re: Need a new battery?

My battery only lasted just over a year on a new bike, perhaps the quality isn't as good now as it used to be.:mad:
 
Re: Need a new battery?

Battersea said:
Did you use an Optimate (or similar), Dave?
Click to expand...


Yes i allways use optimates on both our bikes,
The wifes battery is 5 years old now, (Triumph Bonneville )
Got mine changed under warranty, luckily.:)

Lets hope this one lasts more than a year.

The batterys do seem to be new old stock though,:mad:
 
Re: Need a new battery?

Devon Coasters, 3 County Borders and New Forest all stamping about in our nice tidy Sussex Coasters bit :frown: ...... wots the matter, ain't you lot got a Region to go to ? :wink: :D


Phil.... :character0010:
 
Re: Need a new battery?

PhillSpace said:
Devon Coasters, 3 County Borders and New Forest all stamping about in our nice tidy Sussex Coasters bit :frown: ...... wots the matter, ain't you lot got a Region to go to ? :wink: :D


Phil.... :character0010:
Click to expand...
The leaders in conversation me thinks:redface:
You did well Col....went into British Replacement Batts yesterday, best they could do was ?90 :frown: they've gone up-market since Brian retired and only do Yasau now:mad:
 
Re: Need a new battery?

Simon_A said:
You did well Col....went into British Replacement Batts yesterday, best they could do was ?90 :frown: they've gone up-market since Brian retired and only do Yasau now:mad:
Click to expand...

A change for the worse then Si, they have done good for me over the years, the old firm bought hundreds off them, I wonder if they are being charged more?

I found a Yuasa for about ?75 on the net.

Got myself the multimeter, checked the batt straight off the Optimate = 13.41v, dropped to 12.84v after 24hrs - 12.7v after 48hrs - still 12.7v after 72hrs. What do you reckon?
 
Re: Need a new battery?

Sounds ok at those figures, think you should consider looking at the starter contactors, or do what the rest of us do...............run it until it goes bang:redface:
 
Re: Need a new battery?

'Until it goes bang' :9399D3F58B324EE1B68, cant do that, might cost too much :wink:
Ive decided to give it a good 'spring clean' cos its been laid-up for so long. 30k service + clutch cover off for a look-see + cam cover off to see how the gear drive is doing and finally check-out all primary circuit connections as you suggest, busy busy :D
 
Re: Need a new battery?

Battersea said:
Ive decided to give it a good 'spring clean' cos its been laid-up for so long. 30k service + clutch cover off for a look-see + cam cover off to see how the gear drive is doing and finally check-out all primary circuit connections as you suggest, busy busy :D
Click to expand...

Good idea Col, never hurts to check. While your at it perhaps you could put on some new handlebars ............................. :wink: :D :D


Phil.... :character0010:
 
Re: Need a new battery?

No load voltage doesn't tell you much Colin, (it's not really no load as there is a bit of load from the security alarm but it's as near 'no load' as makes no difference).
You can give the battery a load test to check it's capacity, put on the lights and measure the volts to see how the battery stands up to a decent load. Take a measurement every so often and see how long it takes the voltage to drop to say 11.5 volts. Have a butchers at the data for a similar battery, somewhere you will find load curves of volts against time for a given load, You could even produce your own load curve for your battery and compare it to the data you find.
If the terminal voltage dies away quite quickly it's obvious that the battery has lost it's capacity and so I would say it's f****d.
These lectric meter fings don't always tell you what's wrong Colin you have to work it out -- that's why some people make a living out of black magic :wink:.

The things that kill these gel batteries are: temperature - they don't like heat.
They don't like ac ripple from battery chargers either - dunno what sort of output you get from an optimate, may be great things to keep the battery charged but might also reduce their life.
 
Re: Need a new battery?

I will try that tomorrow Bob and let you know the results. Im not too sure they will mean anything to me being 'electronically challenged'. :redface:

My Optimate trickle charges at about 13.5v (I think). Having read as much as I can find on sealed batteries, it would appear that charging at anything up to 14v is OK and the general concensus is that they prolong battery life, but who knows? certainly not me.
 
Re: Need a new battery?

Have a look at the Deltran Chargers, seem to work far better than the Optimate on Gel batteries.
 
Re: Need a new battery?

Old_Bob said:
No load voltage doesn't tell you much Colin, (it's not really no load as there is a bit of load from the security alarm but it's as near 'no load' as makes no difference).
Click to expand...

Did the following, what do you think?

measured batt 12.78v
turned Ign on with main beam
25 seconds and voltage dropped to 12.07
1 min. voltage 12.08
2 min 12.09
5mins 12.09
turned ign off
15secs 12.46
10mins 12.67
15mins 12.68

all figures with Optimate disconnected and engine not running, of course. :p
 
Re: Need a new battery?

Not a very long period for the test Colin, probably only about 4-5 Amps so will take some time to drop the volts. Also not easy cos your ignition is on and that may not be good for the ignition module, not sure about that. Measure the volts whilst cranking the engine and see what it measures.
I assume that all this is to just get info - or are you having trouble with starting the ole FB?
 
Re: Need a new battery?

Old_Bob said:
I assume that all this is to just get info - or are you having trouble with starting the ole FB?
Click to expand...

Not as such Bob its just that occasionally the starter hesitates a bit like most Shovel's do - 'press starter - whirr - stop (on compression) - pause for 1-2 seconds - whirr - start. If it was a Shovel it wouldn?t worry me but the TC has never done that before.

It first did it the weekend before we left for France, was on a 200 mile ride out with Region 12 and thought it was a low battery caused by storage without using the Optimate for a few weeks.

Got the battery up to full charge before leaving for France but still had the same problem, not all the time maybe 1 in 4. Simon, Den and me checked it out and found a battery lead very very slightly loose and so assumed that to be problem. Not so, hence this topic.
 
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