At this time of year the bike spends most of its time in the garage on trickle fed battery maintenance On two occasions I’ve come to start it only to find the battery fluid has evaporated and it won’t start I managed to save it last time by topping it up and recharging it, bit I’m not sure how much of the brutal activity the battery will stand. Currently I’m using this My question is would a gel battery be any better and not dry out in the same way?
The amalgamated glass mat (AGM) construction is billed as being sealed for life and has no vent, like the simple top-up acid version. Theoretically, that should mean, none of the liquid can evaporate into thin air Of the current AGM batteries I have fitted to bikes that are used infrequently, I’m getting between 3 and 5 years life on a battery condition maintainer. Small plus for the AGM, it can come with higher cold cranking amps (CCA). Hope this helps. Andy
I've got this one installed https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_prod/248664 The old lead acid one used to leak a bit and also discharged quickly when the bike was standing. Eventually it wouldn't recharge.
I have a number of these, and great for bikes that are stood for long periods of time. Will suit the yellow side of the forum too.
I've many of these bolted to the bikes and was just wondering recently if there's merit in removal from the bike and charging once a month with a proper 240amp battery charger this prolonging the life further.
Quite possibly, but that’s the point of a maintained trickle fed charger so lazy owners like me just need to connect, switch on and forget until spring. Seemingly this isn’t the case if you have to periodically check the level of acid and top up if necessary. I’ll give this one a further go and keep my on the level to best judge how often it requires a top up, then I’ll probably just give up and resort to purchasing one of the recommended items above after winter. Coz I’m feeling especially lazy! Thanks for all the advice lads.
What voltage is your 'maintained trickle' charger showing at the battery when it's 'maintaining'? Shouldn't be more than 13.2V for a wet battery (to prevent the electrolyte evaporating). AGM battery 'maintaining' voltage is a little higher at 13.5V AGM for my bikes - no topping up, always on Optimate maintainers, and they're both over 5 yrs old
That's a charging voltage (14.0-14.5) not maintaining voltage. Is it really a maintainer? Looks like it's charge only.
It flashes between 14.1 and the word full and appears to have stopped charging at this point. No bubble activity can be seen One thing I did notice is you can choose between 4A and a 1A charge rate. Not sure but I may have been charging at 4A a 1A might be better suited for a 16ah battery?
1A charge will be less dramatic than 4A for sure (& longer of course). If it's actually stopped applying that 14.1 voltage (i.e. when it's indicating FULL), it'd be worth measuring the voltage to check it has actually shut off. Sounds as if it should shut off until it senses that the voltage has dropped and the battery needs another little nudge back to full. So not really a maintainer - more an intermittent charger that won't bo so kind to your battery i think. Here's the TwoTyres thread where I listed all the relevant charge/maintain voltages, etc. I'm using this unit on 1 car & 2 spare bike batteries over winter and it's doing its job. Good value I think, especially as they retrospectively gave me the forum discount after I'd bought it https://www.ducatiforum.co.uk/threads/lithium-and-lead-acid-battery-charger-for-just-£34-95.101407/
