Pressed my luck

[Tulefog]

I have a 2013 RT, and i thought i could get one more year out of the original battery. No such luck. beautiful Saturday morning, and the battery is most sincerely dead. At least it happened in my garage. I ordered another on Amazon and should be here in a few days.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I have a 2013 RT, and i thought i could get one more year out of the original battery. No such luck. beautiful Saturday morning, and the battery is most sincerely dead. At least it happened in my garage. I ordered another on Amazon and should be here in a few days.

When I began to have Battery concerns ( 14 RT ) .... I bought a " Lithium battery jumper " device and carried in the Spyder .... Only had to use it once, but that was for jumping another Spyder..... Mike

[Little Blue]

Good thing it happened in the Garage.
Do you use battery tender on your Spyder? .....

2013 is 7+ years for a Spyder battery. ....

[ARtraveler]

You did real good on getting seven years out of the OEM. I used to live in AK, so got in the habit of changing the battery out at three to four years. So, I have never had a battery failure to record. And, you know that Murphy's Law is out there. You got lucky having it happen in your garage. Most get half way out or more, stop for gas or lunch, turn the Spyder, and NOTHING.

[Shadowrun]

2013 OEM battery?

...That must have been the best battery off the assembly line that year!

[Peter Aawen]

2013 OEM battery?

...That must have been the best battery off the assembly line that year!

Nah, I got much the same 7+ year life outta the OEM battery in my 2013 RT, as have a few others reported here. Only replaced my RT's battery a little while back, when it started showing signs of slow starting if I didn't ride for a couple of weeks & had just left the Spyder sitting there, not on a battery tender!

I think the trick to getting a long life from your battery is to USE them by ryding your Spyder regularly/often; keep the battery charged up properly; and NEVER store/leave the battery standing by starting out with less than a Full Charge!

That said, as soon as they start showing 'slow starting' symptoms, it's time to start thinking about getting a new battery. And beware, always connecting your battery to a battery tender can be a trap, cos if it's always topped up before you try to start it up & then leave home, you'll never know if the battery is getting tired until you've stopped it while out ryding somewhere & it fails to start again!! I don't usually connect up to a battery tender unless my Spyder is going to be standing for more than a week - and I think that regular slight drain followed by full top up charge is probably good for them/their longevity... they tend to last longer if they're regularly USED & then Re-Charged properly, within their recommended 'state of charge' limits of course!

[Tulefog]

Thanks for the info, it sounds like i did get the exception. i take a short ride most weekends with my neighbor.
i think i will get a battery tender, sitting all week probably is not good for it, and the cost of a tender is not that much.
Thanks everyone and take care.

[canamjhb]

Peters comments are right on. Years ago I kept my bike on a battery tender all the time when not riding. One time I was heading out for a 10 day trip. Loaded the bike, took it off the tender, it started just fine. Rode a little over 300 miles and stopped at a motel. The next morning I had zero battery. I mean there was NOTHING when turning the key on. I thought someone had stolen my battery. There were police in the motel parking lot investigating car prowls and I reported a missing battery......until I pulled the side cover off to see it was still there. For me, it's tender use only when not weekly riding..... Jim

[beerandchips]

When I began to have Battery concerns ( 14 RT ) .... I bought a " Lithium battery jumper " device and carried in the Spyder .... Only had to use it once, but that was for jumping another Spyder..... Mike

Which battery jumper did you purchase?

Steve

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Which battery jumper did you purchase?

Steve

I'd have to go check it. But that Brand might not be sold anymore ..... The brand doesn't matter - it's a Lithium Ion battery jumper .... there are dozens x 2 brands..... google it and see what the current prices are now ( probably less then mine ) .... they do come in different strengths ( just like batteries do ) .... so depending what you are primarily going to use it for ( spyder or a large engine ) .... Post a new Thread asking what others have bought to get a feel for what you need ..... Mike

[beerandchips]

I'd have to go check it. But that Brand might not be sold anymore ..... The brand doesn't matter - it's a Lithium Ion battery jumper .... there are dozens x 2 brands..... google it and see what the current prices are now ( probably less then mine ) .... they do come in different strengths ( just like batteries do ) .... so depending what you are primarily going to use it for ( spyder or a large engine ) .... Post a new Thread asking what others have bought to get a feel for what you need ..... Mike

I just went to Amazon and picked one. Seems all are pretty much the same.

Steve

[taxmyzer]

I got 6 years out of 2013 battery.

[MRH]

On the battery jumper, get more than you think you need. I've had one that I thought would be enough, and finally replaced it with what I should have bought in the first place. Night and day difference:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[safecracker]

You tube "Project Farmer", he has a really good comparison of lithium jump starters. Bruce

[Sopher]

I've always had my battery on a tender. the _one_ time someone tripped over the cable and it unplugged... now the battery is dead. it wont even charge. Bought in 4/2019. I can never seem to get more than 24months out of a battery. even while tendered.

[MRH]

I've always had my battery on a tender. the _one_ time someone tripped over the cable and it unplugged... now the battery is dead. it wont even charge. Bought in 4/2019. I can never seem to get more than 24months out of a battery. even while tendered.

A tender can’t charge a truly dead or very low battery. You’ll have it jump it first and ride the Spyder for a bit to get an initial charge in there. Chances are that your battery is fine if you haven’t done this yet.

[Possible]

I've always had my battery on a tender. the _one_ time someone tripped over the cable and it unplugged... now the battery is dead. it wont even charge. Bought in 4/2019. I can never seem to get more than 24months out of a battery. even while tendered.

How long was the battery unplugged? Even a couple of months of being unplugged shouldn't kill it completely dead. Unless you have a
parasitic drain of some kind. I'd be checking to make sure you don't have something running all the time. Even something like an aftermarket
theft deterrent system can have a slight drain.

[Peter Aawen]

I've always had my battery on a tender. the _one_ time someone tripped over the cable and it unplugged... now the battery is dead. it wont even charge. Bought in 4/2019. I can never seem to get more than 24months out of a battery. even while tendered.

- Possible may be on to something there.

But digging a little deeper, when you ryde, how long do you ryde for?? Lots of 'short' runs will kill any battery PDQ!! You should try to ryde for AT LEAST 30 mins at 'faster than just down to the local shop' speeds AT LEAST once every couple of weeks; and if you are using a battery tender ALL the time but your batteries are still failing within 24 months, maybe you should check out the tender &/or change your tender use cycle as well! That's really not a great life or even an acceptable life for a modern battery with a properly working on-board charging system &/or a proper 'shore power' charging cycle! Is there anything else about your ryding/Spyder use/power use that's much different from most - vos most Spyders using even just reasonable quality batteries should get better battery lufe than just 2 years?!?

Still, as mentioned earlier, using a tender ALL the time is not really such a great idea, cos it can hide a failing battery by giving it a light 'cover charge' rather than a 'proper' & full re-charge.... then that, teamed with rydes that aren't long enough/at high enough revs to FULLY re-charge your battery can mean you NEVER actually get to charge it properly, progressively draining it further down; and batteries REALLLLYYYY don't like starting from a 'less than fully charged' condition, then being 'topped up' just a little, left for a day or so, then repeat!! Regular use followed by a full & proper recharge is good; regular use but never fully/properly re-charging is NOT!!

[dginoregon]

2013 STL still going good. Although this winter I have had to use my battery tender, not getting out as much!

[RudyB]

What is a lithium battery jumper