Fellow member i need yr advice about how i best go about charging/bringing back to life a battery that has not been used in two years. The battery was installed new into a bike (2002 Fireblade) and never used, it has been kept in a warm dry garage and now is completely dead, probably because of the alarm. My questions are thus, its a Varta, so not a cheapo one. Before i spend £65 on a new one. 1.Can it be slow charged and brought back to life? 2.Its one of those sealed units, will the acid need topping up or the fact its a sealed unit have kept it wet? 3. Is there a chance it will explode if i try and charge it (slow charge), i have heard stories of this happening, albeit gel batteries. All advice greatly appreciated.
If it's been flat for a while my guess would be that it's useless now although you might get it back if you are lucky, If you are going to charge it I would do it off the bike somewhere where it won't do too much damage if it explodes or cover the garage/shed in acid. Is it worth it for £65, I guess only you can answer that.
Thanks Daffy, I take your point mate, i think i may be able to save it, as even though it has only been on a slow charge with a very efficient charger for about 3 hours the terminals are now sparking when moving the connectors. I thought only the gel batteries exploded.
They can all explode, especially when charging as I recall its H2 that's given off when charging. Anyway if the slow charge doesn't work you can try whacking it with a socking great number of amps from a truck or heavy car charger until the volts start to come up or the battery gets hot, stop in either case. Do it off the bike and supervise the dammed thing when doing it. Sometimes whacking them with a larger charge can bring back a battery that refuses to charge. Chances are if its been sitting a long time discharged its probably beyond redemption. Batteries should always be stored in a charged condition. Hope that's of some use, but probably not John
Thanks for all the replies. Charged it for 12 hours and the result was that a bike that had been standing for 4 yrs fired up immediately, Honda's I just love them. First hurdle overcome. Whilst riding it down the M4 with a full tank of 4 yr old fuel the bike came to a complete standstill whilst billowing white smoke from the exhaust. Cue recovery service. The smell of old fuel was over powering and I realised if It hadn't been a full tank I would have put in fresh fuel Doh. Spoke to a mechanic friend who tells me the old fuel was not igniting hence the breakdown. Tomorrow I will drain the tank, clean plugs, run injector cleaner through and see what happens. Anything I have missed please free to add.
Good stuff. If its a steel tank, although the old fuel left you stranded it will have helped stop tank corrosion. So there is some benefit in brimming them before storing. A lot now use a fuel stabilizer to prevent it going "off" but 4 years would be a big ask. Hope you've changed all the fluids, oil, brakes/clutch, coolant etc: and filters oil & fuel. I'd at least check the plugs too Personally and dependent on state I'd buy a cheap oil start it warm it and run it to temp then drain and fill with summit decent, just to flush out the residue but its probably not necessary (I'm OCD)
