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Battery Charging? New to that!

I've done my best with what I have. I've spent money as wisely as I know how.
The new battery will work, and it will last along time if I'm careful with it.

Thank you all for your time and advice. I'm lucky to have access to people who know better.
 
can I ask incase I missed something in all of this?did you take battery out and hooked to tender or just pluged it into the harness that you use for all your stuff?
 
I got here late to the party, But!!

Here what I would have done, sorry if someone already suggested this, I didn't read every post.

Put a volt meter across the battery, find out where it's at.

since you took it all the way down to dead, (batteries dont like that).

I would take the battery in to a battery shop and have them do a load test on it.

Never start a run a vehicle, and try to charge it with the vehicles charging system, when it is less than 95% charged, it puts to much load on the charging system, Use a charger for that, set at the correct charging rate.
 
StratTuner said:
After two hours, I note that the charger I have (not the one you would like me to have) is not charging the battery in any way I can measure.
If I left it on for a week, I can deduce that it wouldn't charge this battery sice it made NO progress over a two hour period. I could be wrong about that.
My best guess is that the battery won't accept a charge. If that's true, then it's not wrong to think that it's time for a new one. Didn't someone say that draining a battery completely can damage it? Is that not so? Did that happen in this case? I have measurable evidence that it did.

I have a charger, thank you. I even linked to it. I'm sorry you don't like the charger I have.
To answer your question, No, I did not understand many of the things in the posts.
I'm sorry I'm not as smart as you are. Do you need to rub it in?
Click to expand...
OK. Sorry to have come off like a stuffed shirt jerk.

I have a Delran Battery Tender Jr. It works well for what I use it for and I am familiar with using it and the other chargers I have. When a battery is under a certain voltage this tender, like many "smart" charger/maintainers with 2 or 3 step charging routines, does not recognize it is connected to the battery. Therefore it can be left on for a very long time and it will not do a thing. It runs a simple logic system and then turns the charge current off. If you boost the battery to perhaps 10 or 10.5 volts the Jr. will start a charging regime and this might work for you but this charger is not really made to charge a deeply discharged battery like yours seems to be. We have offered solutions but if they are not for you then a new battery will solve your problem.

Again, I did not mean to insult or demean you. My bad.

PS I worked in the marine electrical supply business for about 10 years and built and maintained battery banks and 110 volt, engine driven, and solar charging systems for my sailboats and customer's boats. I learned a little about 12 volt systems and would like to use that knowledge to help, not hurt.
 
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ziggie said:
can I ask incase I missed something in all of this?did you take battery out and hooked to tender or just pluged it into the harness that you use for all your stuff?
Click to expand...

I connected it to the tender cable.
I did not remove the battery and connect it directly.

the battery tests at 5.8 when I hold the multi meter probes directly on the posts
it tested at 7.3 when it was in the bike.
It seems to have got worse since I replaced it with a new one.

The new battery tested at 12.8. It's in, and when I turn the key, all the bike's electronics come to life as they should.

I'm thankful for:
- this experience made me get a battery tender (even if it's just the Jr. one).
- for all the things I learned about batteries like how to use the multimeter on them
- the good people who offered the benefit of their learning and experience.

(now if you'll excuse me, I'm late for my anger-management classes.)
 
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westgl said:
Never start a run a vehicle, and try to charge it with the vehicles charging system, when it is less than 95% charged, it puts to much load on the charging system, Use a charger for that, set at the correct charging rate.
Click to expand...

Sorry but the above^^^^^^^^^^^^^is NOT true............smaller motorcycle charging systems work at 100 % full output 100% of the time all the time..................if the current is not needed (battery is fully charge) the current is shunted to ground. That is one reason voltage regulators on this type of system generate large amounts of heat and finned to move the heat.
Also some models regulators have a relatively short life partially due to this design.


Larger motorcycles use an alternator similar to cars where the current is regulated by varing the voltage to the rotor changing it magnetic field strength which controls the output from 0 to 100%......as needed.
 
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I was wondering because those lines should have.a 5 amp inline fuse that can blow.also i had one on my yamaha. star that went bad,did the.same thing.replaced it and all was right as rain,just a thought.
 
Chestnut said:
Responded in the blown fuse thread. Sounds like the battery, though. You can jump it, take it for a ride (30min or so) to charge the battery. Let it cool off and then check it tonight to make sure it starts.
Click to expand...

Which gear would you jump start the NC in? My guess would be that 1st and 2nd would lock the rear wheel. So maybe 3rd? Anybody done it?
 
tooblekain said:
You can use a regular car battery charger....
Click to expand...

That would not be recommended unless the charging rate of the charger is adjustable and can be set at or below 12AH. Many cheap chargers are not adjustable and will overcharge. Nothing good ever happens when overcharging.
 
VTHokieAg said:
I can reassure you that 7.35 volts is a seriously discharged battery.
Click to expand...

Either discharged or defective. My guess is that it has a bad cell or two. An 8 cell 12 volt battery would put out approximately 7.5 volts if it had 3 bad cells. 1.5v x 5cells = 7.5 volts.

Take the battery to anyplace that sells batteries. most of them will test the battery free and you will know for sure if it is bad.
 
dduelin said:
I could do this, I have done this, but Strat may not be comfortable doing it. Hook up the car battery to the bike battery (car off). In a way electricity is like water and current will flow from a charged battery to a discharged battery (both 12v of course) trying to equalize the voltage, or level, to use the water illustration. The car batt will be about 12.6 or so and current will flow into the +/- 7 volt one. If he checks the voltage of the bike batt at this point the voltage will be 12.4 to 12.6 because the meter "sees" just one battery that is healthy.

Anyway, start the car and let it idle and just leave it hooked up like this for 20 or 30 minutes. Use the alternator on the car to charge the bike. Leave the motorcycle off and don't try the starter. It won't hurt anything to let the idling car charge the combined batteries. Then separate them. The flat battery will have enough voltage by now to wake up the tender and perhaps start the bike. The tender Jr. then will probably have the chutzpah to finish the charge overnight.

If you want to go riding right now hook up the car battery as above and start the motorcycle and ride off.

Just as an aside, system voltage under 10 volts or so won't energize the fuel pump and the fuel injection system won't work so forget trying to bump start the bike. If you turn the key ON and don't hear the whirr of the fuel pump and click of the main relay the bike has no chance of starting.
Click to expand...

Bad idea. The charging rate of the car battery could be significantly higher than that of the motorcycle battery. The alternator on the car can generate enough current to overcharge and fry the motorcycle battery.

Many on here seem to think the voltage is all that matters, but it isn't. If you insist on connecting to a car battery anyway, do not start the car without knowing the charging rate of the motorcycle battery is high enough to handle the output from the cars alternator.
 
belinda k said:
I would find an All Purpose battery charger with multiple settings......
Try a 10 amp charge for 6 hours and then measure voltage. May need to repeat.
Click to expand...

Finally I see the correct advice :) (Except for the repeat part of course) If you cant "bump start", which I have always thought of as "jump starting" when it came to motorcycles, this is what you do.

Do not repeat. If it does not take a charge in 6 hours it is probably bad. Take it to Walmart and have them test it free. Then you can buy the new battery after they confirm what you already know ... its bad :cool:
 
Jay Fridays said:
1) Turn the red dial to the Black "V" side that reads for 2 or 20. (not the red V~)

2) Red probe goes far right in the "V" hole (Voltage)

3) Black goes next to it in the "Com" hole (Common)

CHris s giving you a warning based on 100AH which has no bearing on the charge delivered. I would not go with CHris' knowledge of electricity.

Your bike will only draw the current that it needs. Your house has a 200amp service feeding it, but you only consume what your appliances require. You do not have 200 amps being crammed into your house wires at all times... that's ridiculous thinking.
Click to expand...

If you don't trust Chris then try what Honda says in the owner's manual:

NOTICE
Jump starting using an automobile battery is not
recommended, as this can damage your motorcycle’s
electrical system.

Auto batteries have much higher capacity than bike batteries and have the ability to take and give higher charge rates.

9 times out of ten you'll get away with using a car as the power source - but every once in a while you'll damage something.
 
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