Battery questions

[pitzerwm]

I somehow left my key on and drained the battery. When I discovered it, I put the battery tender on it and its been 8-9 hours. The battery is still dead. I read somewhere that a regular battery charger is too much for these types of batteries, but since I'm screwed anyway. I've put it on. What a pain in the butt to even get the cables attached. It started out showing a draw of 10 amps, I turned the key on and all seemed right, I checked it after a few minutes and it now shows 20 amps.

I have 14.5K miles and it is the original battery, but it has been flawless since I bought the bike 2 months ago.

I was able to pull the top forward enough to get the cables on it, but it looks like a pain to remove. It has "extras" attached to the terminals, but is there enough bike cable to be able to pull the top out and disconnect them?

 

[Chupaca]

Little checking..!!

You need to check your manual. There are jumper posts usually under the seat you can charge from some adaptors let you charge through the power port ( cigarette lighter) check to see the voltage you have at the battery, should be 12.7 or above. You can also jump start it with the car and take a long ryde and let the system charge the battery. Once charged you should be fine. The tender will not charge a dead battery...:thumbup:

 

[pegasus1300]

A battery tender will not put out enough current to recharge a dead battery. You must put it on a real battery charger and even then depending on the age/condition of the battery it still might not revive it. If you can get it started by jump start, and drive it around your vehicle system will only bring it up to about 80% of maximum. It really will take a charger to bring it back to 100%,if it can be.

 

[cptjam]

Easy

On a 14RT just remove the cover, Remove the rubber strap, lift the bracket and tilt. Remove negative first, then positive. Lift out. Put on wood or workbench, charge with a regular charger overnight, not a trickle. Then take to batteries plus or autozone for a load test. If it passes, install. If it fails, $120 at batteries plus gets a great one! Just got one last week in Spokane for Ann. Works flawlessly! Joe

 

[Bob Denman]

I would strongly consider this as a good reason to bite the bullet, and get a new battery... :thumbup:
Expensive; but it might save you from troubles down the road...

 

[rick_w]

Your battery should be just fine after charging with a regular battery charger. The Battery Tenders will not charge if the voltage has dropped to around 8 or 9 volts.
Get a Battery Tender and hook the adapter up to the accessory terminals up front. This should take care of you when the bike is not being ridden for several weeks at at time.

I somehow left my key on and drained the battery. When I discovered it, I put the battery tender on it and its been 8-9 hours. The battery is still dead. I read somewhere that a regular battery charger is too much for these types of batteries, but since I'm screwed anyway. I've put it on. What a pain in the butt to even get the cables attached. It started out showing a draw of 10 amps, I turned the key on and all seemed right, I checked it after a few minutes and it now shows 20 amps.

I have 14.5K miles and it is the original battery, but it has been flawless since I bought the bike 2 months ago.

I was able to pull the top forward enough to get the cables on it, but it looks like a pain to remove. It has "extras" attached to the terminals, but is there enough bike cable to be able to pull the top out and disconnect them?

 

[Richard2762]

Just replaced my 2011 RT battery with Lithium Ion battery. 12 pounds lighter and 150 CCA more then Yuasa and smaller for a fast easy fit . Recharges 25% faster then lead/acid. has voltage meter build right into top of battery .

 

[Bob Denman]

Which one did you get? :dontknow:

 

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

i believe a battery tender will only have enough juice to maintain the battery not juice it up to get started. as for connecting i bought from
revzilla a fused battery connector that screws onto the battery then if you have to use it the wire has a quick connect thing on it.
i also bought a microstarter from them just in case that i keep in the bike, very small & powerful, of course i got it after my battery died
last month.

 

[billybovine]

I would strongly consider this as a good reason to bite the bullet, and get a new battery... :thumbup:
Expensive; but it might save you from troubles down the road...

Why get a new battery when you don't know it's bad. cptjam is exactly correct. Charge it. Get it load tested. Pass reinstall. Fail install new one. Simple.

 

[fratzba]

I've fully drained a couple of batteries over the years. None have been successfully brought back to life and been able to hold a reasonable charge.

It's probably time for a new one...

-Fratz

 

[Dubliner]

An electronic battery charger senses the state of charge and adjusts the current needed to charge the battery without damaging the plates. As the voltage increases the charger senses this and will back off as it nears full charge.
Often you can set the charge at a lower rate to prevent it from overcharging from its dead state and once it is showing a charge set it to the higher rate. Ideally you should remove it as even when the machine is turned off, certain presets are drawing from it such as the clock, radio settings and the other electronics such as the ECM. Just by removing these connections and letting the battery stand for a while a certain surface charge will happen allowing for the charger to recognize the battery state. Charging a battery in situ allows a caustic discharge to occur, clean carefully with a baking soda / water solution to remove tracks (seen as a white discharge) .

Perhaps removing the main fuse would be sufficient to remove the battery entirely from the circuit. Just be very careful when charging as electronic circuitry is very sensitive to high current and sadly you may blow something and not know it.
Often when a machine is being serviced especially where the battery is concerned the electronics are connected to a separate power source to save presets and fuel mapped settings.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Bob Denman]

Why get a new battery when you don't know it's bad. cptjam is exactly correct. Charge it. Get it load tested. Pass reinstall. Fail install new one. Simple.

I do agree that there's a chance that you can revive it...
I guess that I'm just VERY cautious with stuff that I don't understand fully, and would rather have the expense now; than the potential aggravation later... :thumbup:

 

[MS_Spyderman]

Generally, when a lead-acid battery gets deep discharged as yours did, it will ruin the plates in the battery. That's why they make special deep-discharge batteries for running things like trolling motors. They're designed to use that way. Standard battery plates are too thin to hold up to DD. Get another battery and save yourself a bunch of grief.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

Generally, when a lead-acid battery gets deep discharged as yours did, it will ruin the plates in the battery.

Maybe generally, but not always. I've had LA batteries get totally discharged, get recharged, and continue to work for months or years. They aren't as capable as new, but they still worked. In fact the battery in my Spyder was almost totally discharged when I got it in Dec 2013 from the one month shipping time and it's still working great. The Yuasa battery in my Goldwing was fully discharged about 3 or 4 times during the time I used it. It lasted either 6 or 7 years. Carried the replacement for a year before I finally figured it was time to put it in!

Battery tenders can recharge a dead battery but it'll take 3 or 4 days or longer to do it.

 

[Shiznit98204]

Just replaced my 2011 RT battery with Lithium Ion battery. 12 pounds lighter and 150 CCA more then Yuasa and smaller for a fast easy fit . Recharges 25% faster then lead/acid. has voltage meter build right into top of battery .

Wonder if they have improved Li-ion batteries. I had one in my motorcycle and took it out. I ride all year long and problem with Li-ion was that it did not like sitting in the 20-40 degree weather. Seemed if it dropped below 40 the CCA would drop off greatly. Called manufacture and they told me the cold and those batteries did not get along. At least they warrantied it and gave me a full refund.

 

[timeless]

Maybe generally, but not always. I've had LA batteries get totally discharged, get recharged, and continue to work for months or years. They aren't as capable as new, but they still worked. In fact the battery in my Spyder was almost totally discharged when I got it in Dec 2013 from the one month shipping time and it's still working great. The Yuasa battery in my Goldwing was fully discharged about 3 or 4 times during the time I used it. It lasted either 6 or 7 years. Carried the replacement for a year before I finally figured it was time to put it in!

Battery tenders can recharge a dead battery but it'll take 3 or 4 days or longer to do it.

:agree: Been there & done that many times over the years!!!!!! I have a 2010 RTSE5 with the original battery, left the key on several times & merely recharged & have absolutely no issues.

Often when a battery has been discharged fully the cables will obtain some corrosion, maybe not detectable to the eye, but by just cleaning them will make recharging easier!!!!!!!

 

[pitzerwm]

Thanks to all that offered advice. One thing that I learned DO NOT USE A CAR BATTERY CHARGER on bike batteries. Apparently it toast them. I should have listened to the person that said start it and go for a long ride. We'll never know if the original battery could have been saved, but its a cheap mistake $106. All is well now.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

One thing that I learned DO NOT USE A CAR BATTERY CHARGER on bike batteries. Apparently it toast them.

Only if they are set for too high a charge current for too long. Using a car battery charger, per se, is not a problem. Setting it to too high a charge level is the problem. My car battery charger has a 2 amp selection, which is the same as some battery tenders recommended for bike use. It also has a 10 amp selection and a couple of higher ones. The 10 amp setting would be safe as long as the charger isn't left on the battery more than a few hours. Even the higher current settings are OK if left on for only a short time. Starting batteries will accept a high charge current for a short time, just like they will discharge a high current for a short time. Deep cycle batteries won't. Any quality charger, of the proper type and capacity, will work but only if it is used correctly.

I have also read comments that some Harbor Freight chargers have toasted bike batteries, but that is not a car charger problem. It's a HF quality problem.

If by chance a person connects the charger backwards, which can be done easily if the battery is plumb dead because the safety circuit won't detect it, that will ruin an otherwise recoverable battery.

 

[Bob Denman]

Thanks to all that offered advice. One thing that I learned DO NOT USE A CAR BATTERY CHARGER on bike batteries. Apparently it toast them. I should have listened to the person that said start it and go for a long ride. We'll never know if the original battery could have been saved, but its a cheap mistake $106. All is well now.

Even if it was a bit of a rough ride... :shocked:
Glad to hear that a successful conclusion has been reached! :clap: :thumbup: