Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Battery Replacement, - when?

I went to start my Bonnie (with a break in the weather), and got only a clicking noise from my solenoid. So, I trickle charged the battery a bit, and that made the clicking go faster, but no starter motor activity.

I put a meter on the battery terminals and it showed 11.48 volts. I then put my meter on the power terminal on the starter motor terminal and got intermittant readings, but most of the time no voltage (my wife pushing the ignition button while I read the meter).

Is this just a bad battery (this is the third winter on this stock battery)? Or is this a solenoid problem also?

BTW, after conducting these tests, the battery voltage output dropped to 8.47 volts (seemed like a quick drop to me)

Any electricians on the boards? And if so, any input?

-BT

BT Replace the battery. It has drained to the point that the plates inside have shorted and the water inside has (forgive my spelling) sulfated . When you by a new battery also pick up a trickle charger and keep it on yor bike whenever your not riding.

How long did you trickle charge it for? Sounds like a deeply discharged battery - if you have a battery tender (as opposed to charger) leave it charging for a least a day before trying to start the bike and then leave it connected. Other way of checking if its trashed is to jump start the bike with a 12 v auto battery and then go and ride it for 20-30 miles. I have used this method myself on several occasions with complete success (and no - it doesn't fry the ECM chip - just be careful to connect the positive last and when the engine's running disconnect it first). If the battery is OK then it will charge up and hold the charge . If it is not, and needs replacing then it will start after charging/jumping but will not start the bike again and it's hello new battery time. Hope this helps

Jan

BikerThug.. If you choose to jump start your bike with a car battery just MAKE SURE you do not start the car or truck.

Jumping a bike off with a car is never a good idea, waaay too many cranking amps. I used to do it all the time untill I fried the stator in my alternator.. and no the car wasn't running at the time. Batteries are a bunch cheaper than electrical system parts.... I'd go buy one.

...What Chy said....

Normally, I would say a battery should last five years, but that’s only because I just had to replace the battery on my Valkyrie after five years.
I just invested in a trickle charger called "Battery Tender" to keep my battery nice and fresh though-out the winter. They claim the charger can be left hooked to the battery indefinitely.
I got one for both bikes; I'll let ya'll know the results in five years, or less if they don't hold up to their claim.

Charge the batter overnight. If the no load voltage next day is below 12.2V, you probably have a bad battery. These batteries aren't terribly big, even a 1 amp charger should be able to get it to near full charge in 12 hours. If you get it to full charge, 12.3 - 12.6 volts, measure across the battery and hit the starter. If it drops below 11 volts, the internal resistance is too high and you will still need a new battery. If the battery voltage is OK but the engine still won't crank over, check the voltage from the battery - and the engine case and push the starter button to test the ground cable. Pop the right side cover and do the same with the cable from the battery + to the starter selonoid and the one from the selonoid to the starter. If you see more than 3/4 volt on any of these tests, the cable connections may be loose or corroded or the cable could be bad.

I might only reading this wrong but what do you mean, "measure across the battery"?

"Across the battery" means a volt meter connected between the positive and negative terminals to measure battery voltage.

Gotta agree with this - I only use a freestandng battery (i.e. not in car) as operation of other circuits such as car ignition etc. could cause HV spikes which are not electronic friendly.... As to XS cranking amps, the starter motor should only draw what it can handle (V=IR) so if a starter motor stator burned out it must have already had an internal short in the winding (or a mechanical defect that prevented it rotating freely and generating sufficient back EMF) which would have dropped its resistance and would have allowed XS current to flow and thus BBQ it - think about it, you can run a 60W light bulb off a circuit fused for 100A but the bulb doesn't just blow if the volts are right...fuses only protect the circuit against overloads or shorts i.e. too high a current draw - not the supply power available.

To me, the battery tender is a very poor "charger". While being an excellent tender of an allready charged battery it lacks the charging ability if you are allready most of the way dead. (an overnight charge with the tender won't do the job) I use one on my wife's car in storage and this is what I have found. I would use a regular charger or jump it, get the bike going. Ride it to charge it up (then put the tender on) If I had a problem after that definately replace the battery. I bought an old van 2 years ago that sat in a field for 3 years. The battery looked old but it took a charge. After neglecting to replace it the battery "still" starts every day so I continue "not replacing it if it isn't broke". Talk about knocking on wood, I'll probably walk outside now and it won't start. HeHe

Jerry

I agree with Jerry, You won't get a deep cycle charge from a Tender trickle charger. They're great to leave on the bike all winter but not to charge a discharged battery. In my opinion a 6AMP to 10AMP charge for several hours is needed.

Checkout this site. Some pretty good ideas and maintenance tips for your battery.

http://www.cyclepsycho.com/battery/battery.html

I disagree. (I'm doing that a lot lately...)

A slow charge at a lower amperage is always better than a high amp short-term charge.

Here's a link to some more battery info...

web page

And, you can buy solid-state chargers that also double as battery tenders after they bring the battery up to full charge. I have one. Brent sells one of these also, if I remember correctly....

I agree with you Grump. I got a replacement battery from my Triumph dealer still in the box with no acid in the battery. Filled it at home and put it on a Battery Tender Plus over night and it was fully charged. Never had a problem with it.

It was the alternator that went out not the starter.. when I went to see my old buddy at the Honda store (It was a Honda) and told him I had a charging system problem, his first question was "You didn't try to jump it off with a car did you?" well... uh yeah... and then he told me what I had fried so I assumed he'd seen it before.

Something noone else has mentioned - if you're getting a constant voltage the battery terminal and an intermittant one at the starter motor you could be looking at loose electrical connections.

I've seen people (including one who looked remarkably like me) pull their hair out trying to diagnose starter problems and spend big dollars on new battery, starter, and alternator when the real issue was a loose earth lead or something similar. That will of course not only stop the bike starting properly, it'll also stop the battery recharging properly.

Matt

Another vote for low and slow, particularly w/ low amp batteries. I don't suspect it matters so much with a large capacity, high amp battery make to handle big loads and current fluxuation. But these cycle and lawn tractor batteries aren't much more than a big black flashlight battery. I think you could cook one pretty easily.

Matt,
I've seen many batteries changed due to a loose or corroded ground strap or connection. Done it myself once or twice...
Even the 8D batteries we use in the Cat equipment where I work respond better to a low - slow charge rather than a high amp cook-off. These bike batteries, as pipedr mentions, are not high output batteries with hundreds of cold cranking amps. They need TLC to make them last...

Another thought on the Battery Tender. There's a Battery Tender and Battery Tender Plus. The "plus" is designed for charging AND maintaining. The standard one's trickle only charge won't work like the 2-stage plus.

larryshep, When you put the acid in the battery that evening it would have probably started the bike up then and there. The all night charge really wasn't necessasry

jerry

My bike did the same thing recently in cold weather. I replaced with an Interstate sealed battery. It was $68 including tax. My TBA will be 4 years old in April. I have heard that is about average life of a battery, 3-4 years. If I hadn't wanted one the same day I would have orderd one from Brent.

But perhaps it ain't new battery time just yet...see Battery Rejuvenation...here in the UK you can get a product known as "BatAid" (I kid you not) from Halfords etc. which is the EDTA referred to in the article in tablet form. I have used this in the past with some success - it's worth a go - it's a lot cheaper than a new battery...(PS just to start another "discussion", Halfords 5W40 fully synthetic MC oil works great and its pretty inexpensive compared to Mobil, etc. Been running it all year and bike is good)

Regards

Jan