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how to connect battery tender cable

StratTuner

StratTuner

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OK... I've looked at youtube, but the installers kind of skip over it....

how do you attach the battery tender cable...to the red/black battery leads?

Which cable do you remove first? Red? Black?

Which cable to you re-conect first? Red? Black?

No, I really don't know this... or I wouldn't ask.
 
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Red to positive black to negative. Says on the batter which is which. Take the Phillips screw out and put the battery tender inline on top of the main cable. Remove which ever first since your only doing one at a time.
 
Red is positive and black is negative. You will also see a + positive and – negative mark on the battery. On many vehicles the positive also has a cover or boot, frequently with at + on it, and the negative won’t. ALWAYS when doing anything electrical on a vehicle remove the negative first and place it away from the battery’s terminal. That keeps you from accidently creating a short. The negative should also be the last to go back on the battery.
As for the tender leads, I put the leads on top of the bike’s wires so bolt goes through tender lead and then through bike’s battery wire. That gives the bike’s wires the most contact with the battery terminal.
 
OK... found it on the net... in more than one place. (Bamamate was absolutely correct in his speedy advice.)
1. remove black connector FIRST
2. do everything you want to red
3. reconnect red
4. reconnect black LAST

I threaded the battery tender cable through the bottom left of the battery compartment. It comes out in the space that allows the left fork free movement. There were already many electrical wires there, so it seems safe. It's not any nearer a heat source than existing electrical wires. (I will zip tie it once the light is better in my back yard!)

The tender is tucked neatly between two existing cable bundles, so it's easy access.

Hooking up the cigarette electrical outlet to the tender is easy. Connecting our Tom Tom GPS showed that it was working!

I know this is a trivial thing for most, but it's a big deal to me. It means I can have a GPS or even charge my dumb phone (I do not carry a "smart" phone on principle) when it needs it.
 
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Growing up I had a neighbor that took the time to teach me and then I worked at several full service gas stations and a parts store where the mechanics took the time to teach me more. I figure I should pass it along just like they passed it to me.
 
I know this is an old post but I referred to it today in order to install a battery tender cable. I have the cable coming out on the right side and attached to the horizontal frame member. It will be useful when I actually get the battery tender and the emergency air pump I intend to buy.

P1040212sm.jpg


My question is that I also want to use it for my GPS on my bars when I am riding. The GPS cords are long (meant for a car) and I don't know how to run all that cable safely when I am using the GPS. It's also used in my car. The GPS will only last an hour on its internal battery.
I could hook up a second pigtail since one will be included with the B.T. but I will still have to contend with all that extra cable .


P1040211sm.jpg
 
I have a lighter socket adapter I hook to the tender cable.then plug GPS in,just like in a car.I run the cable out the frunk to the GPS.just don't leave it hooked up with the bike off,it will drain your battery.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
My 2014 already has the tender installed and it comes out on the left side below the seat.

bad photo

IMG_0557.JPG


Maybe order the tender right from Honda for the 2014 NC.
 
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ziggie said:
I have a lighter socket adapter I hook to the tender cable.then plug GPS in,just like in a car.I run the cable out the frunk to the GPS.just don't leave it hooked up with the bike off,it will drain your battery.

I also have that adapter. Do you close the frunk lid on the cord?
Click to expand...
 
Yes I close the lid on the cord.the cusion under the lid helps to not harm the cord,have had no problems this way.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
I don't know if the wires on your battery tender cord are colored red/black, so make sure that when you attach the connector lead to the battery, that the wire to the battery + POSITIVE terminal is the insulated covered one on the connector, NOT the bare exposed one. You don't want to short it against a grounded part of the bike.
 
StratTuner said:
OK... I've looked at youtube, but the installers kind of skip over it....

how do you attach the battery tender cable...to the red/black battery leads?

Which cable do you remove first? Red? Black?

Which cable to you re-conect first? Red? Black?

No, I really don't know this... or I wouldn't ask.
Click to expand...

It makes it easier to remember the order if you consider WHY the order of removal/reinstallation matters at all. It is simply to keep you from mistakenly causing a short between a battery terminal and some part of the vehicle that your wrench or screwdriver might touch. Assuming a negative ground electrical system (which the vast majority of current-day cars and motorcycles are) you can touch the negative terminal to the car/bike chassis all day long and not worry about arcing. You are, in effect, just duplicating what the negative battery cable is already touching. So, once you get the negative side disconnected, the positive side no longer presents the threat of arcing/shorting if you were to touch your wrench/screwdriver against the vehicle chassis while removing the positive side. If you didn't disconnect the negative side first and went straight to the positive terminal, it wouldn't matter as long as you didn't touch the chassis, or something else leading to ground, but, if you do, it's like having the wrench fall across both battery terminals, it will arc and spark and probably scare you enough to smack your head into something. Of course it is reversed when going back together for the same reasons. Connect the positive side first and you can run your wrench into anything (except the other battery terminal) without fear of arcing because the ground side is not connected yet. Once the positive side is connected, you can connect the negative side with reckless abandon. :D

If you do find yourself working on a positively grounded car or bike, you would just reverse the order and disconnect the positive side first and negative side next, all for the same reasons as above.
 
kgantz said:
It makes it easier to remember the order if you consider WHY the order of removal/reinstallation matters at all. It is simply to keep you from mistakenly causing a short between a battery terminal and some part of the vehicle that your wrench or screwdriver might touch. Assuming a negative ground electrical system (which the vast majority of current-day cars and motorcycles are) you can touch the negative terminal to the car/bike chassis all day long and not worry about arcing. You are, in effect, just duplicating what the negative battery cable is already touching. So, once you get the negative side disconnected, the positive side no longer presents the threat of arcing/shorting if you were to touch your wrench/screwdriver against the vehicle chassis while removing the positive side. If you didn't disconnect the negative side first and went straight to the positive terminal, it wouldn't matter as long as you didn't touch the chassis, or something else leading to ground, but, if you do, it's like having the wrench fall across both battery terminals, it will arc and spark and probably scare you enough to smack your head into something. Of course it is reversed when going back together for the same reasons. Connect the positive side first and you can run your wrench into anything (except the other battery terminal) without fear of arcing because the ground side is not connected yet. Once the positive side is connected, you can connect the negative side with reckless abandon. :D
.
Click to expand...

So that explanation leads me to a question. When both battery cables are connected the power path forms a loop. When you disconnect the negative cable and then place a wrench on the positive terminal to loosen it do you get a shock? The path is then from positive terminal through you to the ground.
 
pahondafan said:
So that explanation leads me to a question. When both battery cables are connected the power path forms a loop. When you disconnect the negative cable and then place a wrench on the positive terminal to loosen it do you get a shock? The path is then from positive terminal through you to the ground.
Click to expand...

I never have but, not being an electrical engineer, I'm not sure I know exactly why we don't get shocked. Perhaps it is because the vehicle is on rubber tires and I usually am too (in the form of sneakers or rubber soled shoes) or perhaps it is because we humans don't really conduct electricity well enough or perhaps the voltage is too low. I do know that I never received a shock while working on my home phone system until the day I was doing it outside, with no shoes on, with my feet in some wet grass. That was the first time I ever felt even the slightest "tingle" while working on the home phone.
 
I was doing it outside, with no shoes on, with my feet in some wet grass
Click to expand...

Wow, about the only thing you missed was flying a kite with a key on it.:) My shed has a wood floor so I guess I'll be okay, and I usually wear shoes while working on the bike.
 
kgantz said:
I never have but, not being an electrical engineer, I'm not sure I know exactly why we don't get shocked. Perhaps it is because the vehicle is on rubber tires and I usually am too (in the form of sneakers or rubber soled shoes) or perhaps it is because we humans don't really conduct electricity well enough or perhaps the voltage is too low. I do know that I never received a shock while working on my home phone system until the day I was doing it outside, with no shoes on, with my feet in some wet grass. That was the first time I ever felt even the slightest "tingle" while working on the home phone.
Click to expand...

I'm also not an electrical engineer, but I did go to school for it for a few years...

Electricity is like water in how it flows (an example I always hated, but it works)
two pieces to electricity voltage and amperage.
If you think of a water fall voltage is how high the water fall is, and amperage is how much water is going over the cliff.
Much like a standing at the bottom of that waterfall high voltage is something you can feel, but high amperage is what would kill you.

Car batteries are 12V DC there isn't enough potential energy (another word for voltage, or the energy in the waterfall based on height) to jump through you to get to any ground source you happen to be touching through the resistance your body is providing...

When lightening strikes it is on the scale of millions of volts, and 50,000 amps (check the cold cranking amps on your motorcycle/car battery and you might find a number around 200-800)
A jolt of static electricity has about 10,000 volts and 0.1 amps.

Telephone lines run at a fairly low voltage and amperage in a house (50V no idea how many amps, but it's a signal line so not much), except for when the telephone rings then it jumps up to about 130 volts (and it goes AC instead of DC) and a fairly decent respectable of amperage (used to be to drive the coils to make the solenoids go back and forth hitting an actual bell to ring...) working on telephone lines is generally safe, unless the phone rings. Though barefoot on wet grass, even 50V can provide a nice little tingling sensation.

Generally you need about 1 amp across the chest to kill some one (stops the heart, which is finicky about electrical impulses telling it to contract and not release) though it takes a certain threshold of voltage to allow that much amperage through the human body (varies from person to person depending on resistance) That is why some people suggest to be safe when ever working with electricity put one hand behind your back not touching anything that is grounded, preferable the left hand, makes it that much more likely that any jolt traveling through the wrench will go through your right arm, and down through your right leg, and completely avoid your heart...
 
I was working on a phone line in my basement one day,this is when I found out even these lines can zap a person.it wasn't much more like a tingle,just wasn't excepting it.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
If I remember correctly, phone lines carry their own (low voltage) power supply... so you would feel something.
 
ziggie said:
I was working on a phone line in my basement one day,this is when I found out even these lines can zap a person.it wasn't much more like a tingle,just wasn't excepting it.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

As noted in above post, the phone line has about 48 volts DC on if. Probably can't hurt you but you could feel it. Don't put your tongue on the wires to test it!
 
Don't confuse the motorcycle ground with earth ground. The power company uses the earth as the return path for electricity back to the transformer or substation.. For single phase power as in your home, the transformer up on the pole or out in the yard is fed by one hot wire, and the return path is through the earth back to the power substation.

The "ground" on the motorcycle could better be called "common". It uses the motorcycle frame as the return path. The common on the motorcycle is not electrically referenced to the earth. Therefore standing on wet grass, having rubber tires, etc has little to do with completing an electrical path from the motorcycle battery through your body.

The resistance of your skin is high enough that the 12 volt electrical system can't produce enough current through your body to hurt you or allow you to feel it. (Current = Voltage / Resistance). However if you place a wrench across the battery, the resistance of the wrench is so low that much current will flow through the wrench, and sparks will fly.
 
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