Does anyone have any recommendations for looking after the battery over wintertime? I have a trickle charger, is it a good idea to leave permanently attached? I guess they're designed for that but not sure what effect this has over the acid levels long term?
I have my optimate on mine all the time it's in the garage. Spring, summer, autumn and winter. So far so good. :smile:
trickle charge for the bike you may use on a rare sunny winter day. Charge battery and disconnect it for those left over a period of time. Ive often wondered about discharging and draining the acid into a suitable receptacle and whether this may be better but so far doing the above has worked ok for me.
I have been doing this for years with a bike I keep in India. I think I have managed to make it last about 5 years by using this technique. Not bad considering it isn't used for about 10 months of the year.
I like the idea but what a pain, do you flush the acid with water before storage and do you make sure the battery is fully charged before you put in to storage. I cured my battery woes by fitting an odyssey battery, this year will be its 10th year and still going strong.
Not a pain at all spike. I remove the battery and tip it upside down until all the acid has drained out ( its one of those with 6 little holes to fill up with Acid). About 10 months later I kick start the bike; as it can work without a battery, and ride it down to the Battery Wallah who refills with acid and puts it on charge, and then I collect it the following morning. 'Job's a good un' for another season.
I am glad it works for you, my comment was made because if you empty the battery when it is flat you will be emptying away weak acid or water, if you then refill with new acid that could after a couple of cycles give you similar dead battery woes as the acid is too strong. it is clear you have this in hand as it does keep working for you. it is someting others need to be mindful of though.
Spike I don't really understand the chemistry of what I have been doing. I used to buy a new battery every season until someone told me about emptying out the acid. I tried it, and it seemed to work o.k, and I have been using this method for about 10years. I don't charge the battery before storage. Can a battery be charged without the acid? I wondered if flushing the empty battery with distilled water might be a further refinement of this method, any ideas?
Flushing with water is a refinement of this method, if you have the time best is to charge the battery then empty and fill with water then charge again, this allows the ions that are trapped on the plate to be released into the water, it is easier for them to be released than into acid, this should get the plates into a more neutral state for storage, then when your man puts new acid in the battery is instantly in a charged state and the ion balance is more correct. Note: i am no chemist but i have looked at this problem using lead acids with solar arrays, it is a deep subject and i probably know about 2% of it! A good book to read is: Secrets of lead acid batteries, by T.J.Lindsay. it explains things in detail. on amazon and available from CAT in wales.
As an aside I have been looking at dry cell batteries. The reason is they are I believe significantly smaller and lighter. The position of the 900 battery is not ideal for weight distribution and wondered if a dry cell would be better? Anyone use one?
Think I remember that the specific gravity of the acid should be 1.28. Used to mix sulphuric acid and distilled water to get the mix.
There are some lightweight batteries out there, mainly lithium but i have never used one or know if they work with a std charging system, they are quite "awkward" to normally charge without problems. on my own ss i have moved the battery to right behind the headstock but the weight is a killer.
