I would change your charging practices, I'm not a big believer in the "battery tender" type chargers, all they do is constantly charge the battery. Not being specific on anyone brand of charger here, the charger unit has a voltage regulator built in it. It know that at 12V it needs to charge and will continue to charge until it reaches it's shut off point. This cycle keeps happening as long as you have the charger plugged it. Typically these chargers shut off at 14.8 Volts. Your battery voltage at resting state is 13.6, that means every time this charger comes on it is going over the resting state.

A battery loses 7% of its charge just sitting on a shelf. Even with nothing attached to it.

My suggestion would be NOT to install the charger during the riding season, and once a month install it for one day if the bike has not been rode that month.

 

What you are describing is typical of a Trickle charger, which should never be used as a battery maintainer.
A Float charger such as those make by Deltran, commonly known as Battery Tenders will not overcharge the battery.

 

You should take the time to read my thread, it clearly states the charger shuts of when it reaches maximum voltage, that to me does not sound like a "trickle charger"

What I am trying to relay to him is that whatever he is doing might not be the best practice, that instead of placing a charger on his bike after every ride, he instead charge it once a month for a 24 hour period with something less than 2 amps. Then see if it does not give him better results. I can only speak for mine, during the summer I ride every day rain or shine. So my charging only has to happen in the winter when I am unable to ride. I usually get 4 to 5 years out of a battery.

3 things that will end Batteries life sooner, allowing a battery to drop below 70% state of charge that causes sulfation and not allowing the acid to transfer in or out of the plates, heat from over charging or ambient temp too high causing a rapid discharge resulting in a battery going below its 70% & vibration being over looked, if the battery is not secured so as not to be able to move. The littlest play can do great harm to a battery.

 

If you are not getting 4-5 years from an H-D AGM battery, either you, or the bike, are doing something wrong. I got 5 race seasons from one in my drag bike with no functioning charging system, 15A charges between rounds, 15.5:1 CR, everything you should not do to a battery. A proper Battery tender type maintainer will do nothing but prolong that.


You should do Mili-Amp draw.

Then AC output

Then check stator for opens, grounds, shorts.

Then a loaded battery amp output test, using all the lighting and accessories on, if you do not have a load tester.

13.8-15. VDC is fine. Much higher or lower, I would be looking at the regulator

I should have put this first...... Grounds, Grounds, Grounds. Clean em and check em, all of em, especially whatever grounds the regulator. And check voltage drop on your positive lead at the starter, while cranking, this gives an idea of the condition of the cable, replace, if in-doubt.

Finally, keep your bike tuned and the battery cables cleaned and sealed, or at-least greased.

If you, or your buddies are fairly competent, you will find your issue as you work through my little off-the cuff checklist. I used to fix bikes over the phone, so hopefully this was helpful, if not, then you know what to do with it. Ride safe.

 

"You don't have to think, old chap - read post #6 again and follow the tips in those stickies! "the regulator should be putting out 14.3 - 14.7 vdc at 3600 rpm" etc. If the alarm is working OK there is no need to disarm it, I've had a Datatool on my Glide for many years without problems."

14.1v at 3600. As I said in the original post, the alarm packed up maybe 3 years ago, it has lasted 16 years "old bean".

Optimate charger kicks in at 12v, maintaining 13.2v, 12.5v in battery when charging stops and it goes into monitor mode. I don't usually put the battery on the Optimate during the riding season, only in the winter.

Regards.

 

What did you find when you conducted the tests in those Stickys?!

 

Looks like I will be replacing the stock battery this season; I think this one has done pretty good since '07. Since, I got the bike I rode it every day I could. This included days above 30 degrees and downpours; unless it was raining when I had to leave for work then I took the car (if i got caught in a downpour or hailstorm on the way home, it was a hazard of the trip). During the winter, I placed it on a tender.

I had not had any issues that lead me to believe that my battery was reaching the end of its road until this this winter. A few weeks ago, I was digging around the corner of the garage and was close enough to the tender to notice that the green and/or orange light was not lit. So, either it was not charging or not holding a charge or the tender is shot.

So a couple days ago, I was finally able to take it out for the first time since November...did I mention that I absolutely hate winter and need to relocate? ... @Rog48 find me a nice house for sale in the south ATL metro area ... She started up just fine. After a few minutes of checking everything out, I was sitting with the wind in my face. After an hour or so, I stopped at a store to grab something. When I went to start her up to head home, there was a hesitation -- Followed by a slow spin and then ignition. Yeah, the battery was not feeding the starter all the juice it was asking for.

So, before I find myself stranded at a rest stop, I might need to pick up a new battery.

 

Read the advice in the rest of this thread! Never replace anything without testing, as already suggested. You may well need a new battery, but you can get it tested at many autoparts stores, so do that first. If it tests OK, then use the Stickies previously mentioned to check your charging system to identify your bike's problem.

 

A smart move IMO. Seven years is well beyond the average life expectancy for the factory battery and trying to stretch it is not worth the risk of getting stranded.

Yea, if you have time to kill and want to play with getting it load tested, it won't hurt anything. But that's just putting off the inevitable and highly likely, a big waste of time. Kind of like checking a 95yo male for prostate cancer.

 

Come on down' winters suck here too though. Id move further south if the roads werent so damm straight and flat