Battery problems after only 20 months

Hi RT, just a quick thought for you: if you check your battery voltage immediately after removing a battery charging source (ie battery charger or the bike's charging system) the battery hasn't had time to 'settle'. Leave it for an hour disconnected and you'll get a true reading.

 

Actually that's not so good.

Each of the six 2V cells in a battery are actually at least 2.1v but on modern batteries they are usually 2.3v or even a little bit more.

A fully charged battery will be around 13.8v and can be as high as 14.7v, mine shows 14.4v when fully charged and 13.8 when it has settled.

At 12.6V your spare is in even worse shape.

 

Hi Ade, that looks similar to the Aldi one I bought, the only single difference is (perhaps an important one for us) that it charges at 4 amps irrespective of the size of battery. On my latest Yuasa bike battery it speaks about charging at 1.5amps (from memory)

 

Arghh, again this morning, the Motobatt has failed me.
I charged it fully for Tuesday morning, worked fine Tue and Wed, but this morning there wasn't enough voltage to start up the engine.
I had to swap it out for my spare Yuasa.

Both batteries showed 12.6v, but the Yuasa just had enough to turn her over and she sparked into life.
The bike is kept in an unheated garage so frost doesnt get to it, but the cold does.

Guess i have to go shopping for a replacement, I heard earlier that Motobatt are crap in the cold.
For my Speedie, I am thinking ofthe Yuasa YTX14H-BS it would take a week for them to get in stock at Halfords for £75. It has a higher CCA of 240 compared to the CCA of 200 for the Motobatt.

Are there any other options for a decent long life battery?
They are charging at a steady 13.9v - 14v when the enging is running, so should be enough juice.

I need to install the switch so I can turn off the lights which would help reduce the voltage draw when starting.
As an emergency I could pull the fuse for the headlights and put it in when the engine is running.

 

It's not the first time I've heard of these motobatt failing in cold weather. Just a thought for you RT - on the Bonnies if you pull the headlamp fuse (to save pulling juice on starting) you'll find you really can't start the bike as the starter motor is on the same fuse !!!!!

Don't know if it's the same on the bike in question but worth just keeping in mind ??

Do you have a possibility to leave your bike permanently on charge (when you're not riding it of course!!) using an intelligent battery charger like Aldi and Lidl were selling? If so all battery problems disappear !!!

 

unfortunately not, I dont have power supply to my garage.
I use the bike every week day though, so no way should the charge diminish that much over night.

 

This cold weather really plays havoc with batteries. Ever considered a solar powered charger?

 

see this post, they dont seem to be much good

http://thetriumphforum.co.uk/threads/solar-battery-charger-maintainer.8403/

it is in the general discussion threads right now